WITH A FATHER LIKE MINE
BOOK REVIEWS
With a Father Like Mine“After the international success of ‘Once Were Warriors’ many people have assumed that alcohol, abuse and violence are problems that impact primarily indigenous families. This book shows that the descendants of respectable Irish and English pioneers can be just as vulnerable”.
“Not for the faint of heart. Chamberlain looks back on his extraordinary life, affected to this very day by his father's alcohol addiction. It reads as a thriller, full of warm humour and of rich characters, from all over the world. The challenge of human existence is laid bare. There are wonderful lessons in here for us all, man or woman, young or old. We experience highs and low. We must summon up our courage to battle on through our various challenges despite mental triggers that tell us to take the easy road, or to give up, to avoid the confrontation with the possibility of failure when trying to do something worthwhile and special. It never flags, gripping you into the wee small hours.”
“With a Father like Mine, chronicles an astonishing life, haunted by a boyhood shared with a charismatic, but alcoholic father.
For any writer the task of organising a consistent narrative from the multiplicity of stories buried within his head is a daunting enterprise, but Mark Chamberlain offers us a wonderfully vivid memoir, impassioned and intense, which says a great deal of value about the messy business of being human.”
“With A Father Like Mine is really honest memoir. Mark Chamberlain tells the story of life as the son of an alcoholic but not to bring the reader down. Excessive drinking is a serious issue and it is a sad story in some ways but he manages it so well and interspersed with stories of his amazing life you don’t feel down.
It’s not until you finish the book that you actually realise to phenomenal effect that early childhood had on his life and his close childhood friend who had a similar life went completely the other way so you get that incredible contrast as well. It’s an amazing read with some very confronting messages, very topical ones in our current climate.”
“By the end of the story it becomes impossible to categorise the man. He is and was the son of
an alcoholic, a student who swung from indifferent to gifted, a boy who developed a number of less than admirable survival skills, a man who understands the attractions of alcohol, who often struggled to contain the rage within him, who ultimately failed to find salvation in the faith that was instilled in him via his Catholic roots, a dope-smoking trans-Atlantic sailor, an enthusiastic traveller, a loving but often difficult to love husband and father, a man who possessed the skill to build a family home, a man who at times struggled to understand the torment within him, whose experience and hard-won understanding of human behaviour.”
“Warmest congratulations on your book – a sobering read which is captivating!!”
“Mark grew up in provincial New Zealand, in a poor home, with family addiction threatening to seal his fate. His memoir is a story of tragedy and triumph, love and loss, struggle and success. With a Father Like Mine is a book that stirs the soul and provides inspiration and a ray of hope to all those suffering from family addiction. This is not a melancholy book that will bring the reader down, quite the opposite. It is essentially a story of triumph despite adversity.”
– Customer review on 30/06/2015 '
It’s only a lifetime.
This Pink Floyd philosophy was my recurring thought as I read With A Father Like Mine by M.O. Chamberlain. We live in an adulation society, where only the writings of the rich-and-famous receive notice. Yet this memoir from a less-than-famous New Zealander deserves studied attention.
Mr. Chamberlain was sixteen years young when he first stood up to his alcoholic father and told him to leave Mom alone. By then, the author was carrying the father’s four important tenets of life—dogma to which M.O. Chamberlain would return again and again:
1) No one approves of you just as you are;
2) Whenever life gets tough, find an escape;
3) Life is completely unpredictable; and
4) Immediately solve any frustration, difficulty, or problem.
Using these instructions like four cylinders of an engine to power his way through the next four decades, Mr. Chamberlain describes multitudes of people who come in and exit his life. Through it all, the four scripts would never leave him.
Nor do we leave Mr. Chamberlain as he takes us through the decades of his life. Along the way, he mentions a number of writers that have influenced him: Janet Frame, Gustavo Gutierrez, Eckhart Tolle, and Thomas Merton. He drops a bevy of New Zealand colloquialisms as well: I’ll wipe you, fair dinkum, holus bolus, stitch him up, and taking the mickey out of me. The reader accompanies Chamberlain as he travels to distant lands: Australia, South Africa, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia, USA, Fiji, and Saudi Arabia. Across the globe and into the tiniest hovel, Mr. Chamberlain conveys his story through honesty and anecdote.
Mr. Chamberlain’s rationale for marriage was noteworthy: I only wanted someone with whom to travel. Yet there is always one person that is front-and-center with Mr. Chamberlain: his father. It is the central success of the memoir that the title is consistently referred to and repeated. In doing so, Mr. Chamberlain answered three questions for me:
1) Is it enough that parents “did the best they could?” (Yes, but they did a pretty lousy job);
2) Which is better, to be raised without a father or by an abusive father? (the former, if you can live to tell the tale); and
3) Does the world really need another white-male memoir? (Yes, definitely).
With A Father Like Mine is a valued memoir. Told with memory, humility, and reflection, the book takes the reader to new places--enriching our lives in the process. We should all follow M.O. Chamberlain’s lead and write our own memoirs, remembering the number one rule of this genre.
It’s only a lifetime.
This book by the author M.O.Chamberlain is a great read.
Of course, many of us do not grow up as a child experiencing a situation like this author has.
However, through Mr. Chamberlain's excellent writing and vivid descriptions on what it was like, we all get to appreciate what life is like growing up with an alcoholic in the house and the everlasting effects it has on the entire family.
Well done M.O.Chamberlain! Your book is very enlightening.
Book Review: With a Father Like Mine (from getfrank)
Publisher: SHIHVillage Books $32.99
M.O. Chamberlain has written a memoir that hits the reader between the eyes with its powerful account of what it is like to be the son of an alcoholic. Reading this book provides the reader some idea of the ramifications of this addiction on all aspects of a Man’s life…
“Having grown up in the crazy, unpredictable world of an alcoholic family, the prospect of things turning to custard did not faze me; I felt at home with it, and, having learned all about adjusting at an early age, I was ready to roll with the punches, only too willing to be flexible and spontaneous with whatever was thrown at me.”
The authors C.V. includes free-lance writing, teaching in Saudi Arabia and being a Probation Worker in Northland. This book provides valuable insights into each of these professions and provides considered thought as to how things could be done a good deal better. The author’s strength of opinions are in line with his tenacity for life in general …
“Strange the way pride is able to operate, even in circumstances expected to eliminate it. We survivors of alcoholic homes are just as good at fostering superior notions as the children of the rich. Yes, we were denied the good things and lacked advantages, but that gave us pride in believing we were tougher, better able to deal with whatever the world could throw at us.”
The true beauty of this book is the author’s ability to write about his experience of pain and anguish whilst also celebrating his joy of a loving wife.
- Tim Shadbolt, author, Mayor of Invercargill.
“Not for the faint of heart. Chamberlain looks back on his extraordinary life, affected to this very day by his father's alcohol addiction. It reads as a thriller, full of warm humour and of rich characters, from all over the world. The challenge of human existence is laid bare. There are wonderful lessons in here for us all, man or woman, young or old. We experience highs and low. We must summon up our courage to battle on through our various challenges despite mental triggers that tell us to take the easy road, or to give up, to avoid the confrontation with the possibility of failure when trying to do something worthwhile and special. It never flags, gripping you into the wee small hours.”
- Lloyd Edwards, England.
“With a Father like Mine, chronicles an astonishing life, haunted by a boyhood shared with a charismatic, but alcoholic father.
For any writer the task of organising a consistent narrative from the multiplicity of stories buried within his head is a daunting enterprise, but Mark Chamberlain offers us a wonderfully vivid memoir, impassioned and intense, which says a great deal of value about the messy business of being human.”
- Patrick Wallis Burke
“With A Father Like Mine is really honest memoir. Mark Chamberlain tells the story of life as the son of an alcoholic but not to bring the reader down. Excessive drinking is a serious issue and it is a sad story in some ways but he manages it so well and interspersed with stories of his amazing life you don’t feel down.
It’s not until you finish the book that you actually realise to phenomenal effect that early childhood had on his life and his close childhood friend who had a similar life went completely the other way so you get that incredible contrast as well. It’s an amazing read with some very confronting messages, very topical ones in our current climate.”
- http://www.grownups.co.nz/read/interests/entertainment/edi-a-father-like-mine
“By the end of the story it becomes impossible to categorise the man. He is and was the son of
an alcoholic, a student who swung from indifferent to gifted, a boy who developed a number of less than admirable survival skills, a man who understands the attractions of alcohol, who often struggled to contain the rage within him, who ultimately failed to find salvation in the faith that was instilled in him via his Catholic roots, a dope-smoking trans-Atlantic sailor, an enthusiastic traveller, a loving but often difficult to love husband and father, a man who possessed the skill to build a family home, a man who at times struggled to understand the torment within him, whose experience and hard-won understanding of human behaviour.”
- Peter Jackson, Northland Age.
“Warmest congratulations on your book – a sobering read which is captivating!!”
- Pat Lynch, CEO Catholic Education Office.
“Mark grew up in provincial New Zealand, in a poor home, with family addiction threatening to seal his fate. His memoir is a story of tragedy and triumph, love and loss, struggle and success. With a Father Like Mine is a book that stirs the soul and provides inspiration and a ray of hope to all those suffering from family addiction. This is not a melancholy book that will bring the reader down, quite the opposite. It is essentially a story of triumph despite adversity.”
- Torbay Newsletter
– Customer review on 30/06/2015 '
- A story of how the father's influence over the son surpasses the divide of miles of land, sea and the seemingly impenetrable curtain of the grave. Far from being just about a paternal relationship the novel takes you on a journey across the world with nothing but a backpack hitchhiking across America to dragging an entire family through the mental deserts of Saudi Arabia. Rich with short stories from across the globe and insights into a man's struggle to free himself from addiction this book will keep you engaged until the end. I highly recommend it.
- Tactfully guided through a maze of adventure and insight, this book was entertaining as well as an eye opener. Experiences from countries across the globe, including, of all places Saudi Arabia. Being caught up in dangerous situations and unthinkable circumstances MO Chamberlain discovers himself and proves you can take yourself to the places in life you dream of as a child. Not for the faint hearted, superb read!
It’s only a lifetime.
This Pink Floyd philosophy was my recurring thought as I read With A Father Like Mine by M.O. Chamberlain. We live in an adulation society, where only the writings of the rich-and-famous receive notice. Yet this memoir from a less-than-famous New Zealander deserves studied attention.
Mr. Chamberlain was sixteen years young when he first stood up to his alcoholic father and told him to leave Mom alone. By then, the author was carrying the father’s four important tenets of life—dogma to which M.O. Chamberlain would return again and again:
1) No one approves of you just as you are;
2) Whenever life gets tough, find an escape;
3) Life is completely unpredictable; and
4) Immediately solve any frustration, difficulty, or problem.
Using these instructions like four cylinders of an engine to power his way through the next four decades, Mr. Chamberlain describes multitudes of people who come in and exit his life. Through it all, the four scripts would never leave him.
Nor do we leave Mr. Chamberlain as he takes us through the decades of his life. Along the way, he mentions a number of writers that have influenced him: Janet Frame, Gustavo Gutierrez, Eckhart Tolle, and Thomas Merton. He drops a bevy of New Zealand colloquialisms as well: I’ll wipe you, fair dinkum, holus bolus, stitch him up, and taking the mickey out of me. The reader accompanies Chamberlain as he travels to distant lands: Australia, South Africa, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Bolivia, USA, Fiji, and Saudi Arabia. Across the globe and into the tiniest hovel, Mr. Chamberlain conveys his story through honesty and anecdote.
Mr. Chamberlain’s rationale for marriage was noteworthy: I only wanted someone with whom to travel. Yet there is always one person that is front-and-center with Mr. Chamberlain: his father. It is the central success of the memoir that the title is consistently referred to and repeated. In doing so, Mr. Chamberlain answered three questions for me:
1) Is it enough that parents “did the best they could?” (Yes, but they did a pretty lousy job);
2) Which is better, to be raised without a father or by an abusive father? (the former, if you can live to tell the tale); and
3) Does the world really need another white-male memoir? (Yes, definitely).
With A Father Like Mine is a valued memoir. Told with memory, humility, and reflection, the book takes the reader to new places--enriching our lives in the process. We should all follow M.O. Chamberlain’s lead and write our own memoirs, remembering the number one rule of this genre.
It’s only a lifetime.
This book by the author M.O.Chamberlain is a great read.
Of course, many of us do not grow up as a child experiencing a situation like this author has.
However, through Mr. Chamberlain's excellent writing and vivid descriptions on what it was like, we all get to appreciate what life is like growing up with an alcoholic in the house and the everlasting effects it has on the entire family.
Well done M.O.Chamberlain! Your book is very enlightening.
Book Review: With a Father Like Mine (from getfrank)
Publisher: SHIHVillage Books $32.99
M.O. Chamberlain has written a memoir that hits the reader between the eyes with its powerful account of what it is like to be the son of an alcoholic. Reading this book provides the reader some idea of the ramifications of this addiction on all aspects of a Man’s life…
“Having grown up in the crazy, unpredictable world of an alcoholic family, the prospect of things turning to custard did not faze me; I felt at home with it, and, having learned all about adjusting at an early age, I was ready to roll with the punches, only too willing to be flexible and spontaneous with whatever was thrown at me.”
The authors C.V. includes free-lance writing, teaching in Saudi Arabia and being a Probation Worker in Northland. This book provides valuable insights into each of these professions and provides considered thought as to how things could be done a good deal better. The author’s strength of opinions are in line with his tenacity for life in general …
“Strange the way pride is able to operate, even in circumstances expected to eliminate it. We survivors of alcoholic homes are just as good at fostering superior notions as the children of the rich. Yes, we were denied the good things and lacked advantages, but that gave us pride in believing we were tougher, better able to deal with whatever the world could throw at us.”
The true beauty of this book is the author’s ability to write about his experience of pain and anguish whilst also celebrating his joy of a loving wife.