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emeraldgarnet's review against another edition
3.0
Crude at times. If you like the TV show of the same name then you will like this book.
punkinmuffin's review against another edition
3.0
A bit late to this particular party but I enjoyed Benjamin Law's memoir of growing up in a Chinese-Australian family on Queensland's Sunshine Coast in the 1980s. First published nine years ago, Law traces his family's origins from rural Malaysia and mainland China, his mono-maniacally hardworking father and his hilariously unfiltered mother raising five children in the murderous Queensland humidity. They do battle with unkillable cockroaches, go to theme parks, weather marital breakdown and hoarding and still, somehow, love each other and even enjoy each others' company right up until the time of publication and (presumably) beyond.
bldownunder's review against another edition
5.0
Hilariously funny, heartbreaking at times, Benjamin Law's autobiographical novel is an inspiring one. As someone who grew up in Australia, having moved to Brisbane and with Asian relatives, I related to Benjamin's stories in so many ways. Even if I weren't, his experiences at school, fighting with his siblings, desiring approval and being scared shitless growing up, are all such cornerstones of being a young adult in modern society. I felt so much emotion reading this, and his prose has made me want to go out and buy everything else he's written. Benjamin Law is someone to keep an eye on, as a voice we should be listening to in Australia and beyond.
shannonprewett's review against another edition
4.0
Not in chronological order is the only major thing I disliked about it!
_rusalka's review against another edition
4.0
I think Ben Law is one of the best things about Australia at the moment. His insights regarding culture, race, sexuality, and how this impacts on our institutions, and therefore on us is incredibly important, particularly as one of the few media voices that is not from the majority background. Full disclosure, I have a little crush. We met him and his sister Michelle the day I bought this book, and as he signed it I was speechless. This is still teased about in this house, as it's been the only time in Lexx and my 16ish year relationship that he has seen me completely lost of words.
I really, unbiasedly, enjoyed The Family Law series as well. So I was really looking forward to picking up the book that it was based on.
If you are looking for a blow by blow replica of the show, this is not it. This is a jumble of short stories and musings about the Law family in random order. Some content matches with the show, some does not. Some feels like family in jokes I just cannot ever understand, some had me snorting with laughter.
The thing that I got from this book, which is echoed in the show and the social media profiles (@mrbenjaminlaw on twitter and instagram. Warning, there is a lot of snark and pithy remarks, and some butts on instagram) is this family is just content on being themselves. I feel some of this is personalities, but also part being the first ethnically Chinese (parents are from Hong Kong) family in Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast in QLD. You can apologise for who you are, or you can just carry on.
And I think carrying on and being themselves is what the Law Family really do best, which we can all learn from.
I really, unbiasedly, enjoyed The Family Law series as well. So I was really looking forward to picking up the book that it was based on.
If you are looking for a blow by blow replica of the show, this is not it. This is a jumble of short stories and musings about the Law family in random order. Some content matches with the show, some does not. Some feels like family in jokes I just cannot ever understand, some had me snorting with laughter.
The thing that I got from this book, which is echoed in the show and the social media profiles (@mrbenjaminlaw on twitter and instagram. Warning, there is a lot of snark and pithy remarks, and some butts on instagram) is this family is just content on being themselves. I feel some of this is personalities, but also part being the first ethnically Chinese (parents are from Hong Kong) family in Caloundra on the Sunshine Coast in QLD. You can apologise for who you are, or you can just carry on.
And I think carrying on and being themselves is what the Law Family really do best, which we can all learn from.