Homebush boy

by Thomas Keneally

As a schoolboy in suburban Sydney in 1952, Tom Keneally was a Romantic. He had visions of following in his hero Chatterton's poetic footsteps. He dreamt of triumphing on the running track or rugby field. He had hopes of winning the heart of the beautiful but aloof Bernadette Curran. The one role he did not foresee himself playing was priest, until the momentous day when Bernadette announced her intention of becoming a nun. In this memoir, Keneally conjures up his youthful self and those who influenced his life. It provides an insight into the future novelist, and an evocation of adolescence that is as funny as it is poignant.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, Autobiography, History

180 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

Thomas Michael Keneally, AO (born 7 October 1935) is an Australian novelist, playwright and author of non-fiction. He is best known for writing Schindler's Ark, the Booker Prize-winning novel of 1982, which was inspired by the efforts of Poldek Pfefferberg, a Holocaust survivor. The book would later be adapted to Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List (1993), which won the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Often published under the name Tom Keneally in Australia.

Life and Career:

Born in Sydney, Keneally was educated at St Patrick's College, Strathfield, where a writing prize was named after him. He entered St Patrick's Seminary, Manly to train as a Catholic priest but left before his ordination. He worked as a Sydney schoolteacher before his success as a novelist, and he was a lecturer at the University of New England (1968–70). He has also written screenplays, memoirs and non-fiction books.

Keneally was known as "Mick" until 1964 but began using the name Thomas when he started publishing, after advice from his publisher to use what was really his first name. He is most famous for his Schindler's Ark (1982) (later republished as Schindler's List), which won the Booker Prize and is the basis of the film Schindler's List (1993). Many of his novels are reworkings of historical material, although modern in their psychology and style.

Keneally has also acted in a handful of films. He had a small role in The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (based on his novel) and played Father Marshall in the Fred Schepisi movie, The Devil's Playground (1976) (not to be confused with a similarly-titled documentary by Lucy Walker about the Amish rite of passage called rumspringa).

In 1983, he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO). He is an Australian Living Treasure.

He is a strong advocate of the Australian republic, meaning the severing of all ties with the British monarchy, and published a book on the subject in Our Republic (1993). Several of his Republican essays appear on the web site of the Australian Republican Movement.

Keneally is a keen supporter of rugby league football, in particular the Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles club of the NRL. He made an appearance in the rugby league drama film The Final Winter (2007).

In March 2009, the Prime Minister of Australia, Kevin Rudd, gave an autographed copy of Keneally's Lincoln biography to President Barack Obama as a state gift.

Most recently Thomas Keneally featured as a writer in the critically acclaimed Australian drama, Our Sunburnt Country.

Thomas Keneally's nephew Ben is married to the former NSW Premier, Kristina Keneally.

Reviews

[Carole888 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this brief glimpse into the author’s life in 1952, his final year of high school, and his stories of Sydney from back then. An interesting memoir from a great writer.

[Greta · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thomas Keneally is one of my favorite authors with his vast body of fiction writing and non-fiction, but this memoir about his boyhood in Australia educated by the Catholic church left me bored. Perhaps if I had been a boy raised among brothers in a catholic school setting, then I could appreciate his personal story more. I will continue to like his story telling very much, as long as it isn't about being educated by the catholic church.

[Mark Glidden · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great memoir by one of Australia's greatest writers. Very poignantly written, Keneally evokes a plethora of emotions that speak to the awkward adolescent within each of us, all whilst opening his early life to readers. For Australian Catholics, there is an added sense of pathos as Keneally details the inherently Catholic struggle between the call from God and the call of our own ambition.

[Brian · Rating 2 out of 5]

Perhaps it is the gulf between one boy brought up in the Western Suburbs of Sydney and another. I read the whole thing, right through, and it was a most painful exercise, alleviated only by the knowledge that all have vastly different perspectives of 'normal'.

[Sam · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting especially for Sydney-siders and fans of the author, and perhaps history buffs.

[Sunshine · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 instead of 5 stars because I am not interested in sport and even less interested reading about it.

[Deb · Rating 3 out of 5]

Listened to the audio book. I never seemed to get caught up with the story.

[Biggus · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting enough memoir of a child and teen, brought up to believe in staggeringly toxic fairy tales.