Blessed: The Breakout Year of Rampaging Roy Slaven

by John Doyle

Who is Rampaging Roy Slaven? An Australian icon, a raconteur, an athlete of unsurpassable - and some may say improbable - sporting feats. Whether it was riding Rooting King to another Melbourne Cup victory, commentating the Olympics or hobnobbing with the country's upper crust, Rampaging Roy Slaven has lived an extraordinary life.

But even some of the greatest men come from humble beginnings. Before he shot to fame as Australia's most talented sportsman, he was just another kid in Lithgow, trying to avoid Brother Connell's strap and garner the attention of Susan Morgan from the local Catholic girls school.

Blessed follows one year in the life of the boy who would become Rampaging Roy Slaven, a boy who, even at the age of fifteen, knew he was destined for greatness but had to get through high school first.

Genres: Fiction, Humor

250 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 28, 2021

About the author

Television Critic, Soccer coverage, at the The Globe and Mail, Canada
Writer fella.
Books: The World Is A Ball: The Joy, Madness & Meaning of Soccer published May 2010. National Bestseller, Canada.
Also published, United Kingdom, Rep. of Ireland, Croatia.
And Published in the U.S. by Rodale.
A Great Feast of Light: Growing Up Irish in the Television Age, published 2005, Doubleday Canada. And a bunch of other countries...big-time popular too.

Reviews

[Libby · Rating 4 out of 5]

I tried not to rush through this book as I usually do. It’s a book to be savored like a fine wine. I have been a fan of Roy Slaven (John Doyle) and his sporting commentary buddy HG Nelson (Greig Pickhaver) since the late 80’s. I have many fond memories of hearing them call state of origin games and the Sydney olympics. I am a long time listener of their radio shows and tune in when I need a laugh, which is often. I was intrigued to learn of Slaven’s upbringing, filled as it was with much magic and Catholic repression. I could sympathize on many fronts having had the joy of being taught by nuns at an all girls Catholic school though my sporting prowess was nowhere near that of young Roy.

It is worth noting that the book is written by John Doyle in the voice of Roy Slaven as a boy who also speaks about John Doyle as a boy. Trust me it works somehow.

I actually met the characters one night at a fundraising event around 2008. We were all there to raise funds for ASPECT. My children are neurodiverse and my daughter attended an ASPECT school. John Doyle is a patron of APECT. I didn’t know much of his personal story other than his sister was on the spectrum. The book gives some insight as to his childhood experiences. John Doyle’s description of his family and his sister is raw and deeply touching. I remember myself being bewildered as to why my daughter seemed trapped inside of herself and why everything seemed so hard and painful. It broke my heart reading about Jen and made me so grateful for the advances made in early intervention services.

This book was incredibly heartwarming and nostalgic for me on many levels. Part of me wants to go back to a simpler time when bush walks were the best entertainment and “the pictures” were something special. I don’t miss the Catholic guilt and caning by nuns though. This one is a keeper and I will re-read it when I need cheering up and to remember that simple things are often the best things.

[Angela · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blessed by John Doyle

Synopsis /

Blessed: The Breakout Year of Rampaging Roy Slaven

Who is Rampaging Roy Slaven? An Australian icon, a raconteur, an athlete of unsurpassable - and some may say improbable - sporting feats. Whether it was riding Rooting King to another Melbourne Cup victory, commentating the Olympics or hobnobbing with the country's upper crust, Rampaging Roy Slaven has lived an extraordinary life.

But even some of the greatest men come from humble beginnings. Before he shot to fame as Australia's most talented sportsman, he was just another kid in Lithgow, trying to avoid Brother Connell's strap and garner the attention of Susan Morgan from the local Catholic girls school.

Blessed follows one year in the life of the boy who would become Rampaging Roy Slaven, a boy who, even at the age of fifteen, knew he was destined for greatness but had to get through high school first.

My Thoughts /

The year is 1967. The place - Lithgow.

A town which is situated in the Central Tablelands of New South Wales in Australia. The city itself sits on the western edge of the sandstone country of the Blue Mountains and is considered to be the first true country town (two hours' drive) west of Sydney.

For all my non-Australian GR friends who would like to get a glimpse of what life was like in a rural country town in Australia during 1967 I'm not altogether certain this would be the best one to start on, but I can certainly guarantee you it will be the most entertaining. I will warn you that the language in used in this book, while not rude; ruder; or, rudest - it is wholeheartedly Australian. [Side Note: You might need your Urban (Australian Slang) Dictionary while you read!]

This autobiographical outing chronicles what John Doyle sees as the big year of his youth and has been written through the eyes of his alter ego ‘Rampaging Roy Slaven’. John Patrick Doyle AM is an Australian actor, writer, radio presenter and comedian best known for his 'character' Rampaging Roy Slaven. Now, to give you some context, ‘Rampaging Roy Slaven’ has been a multimedia star for over 35 years and he perceives his alter ego, John Doyle, as a bit of a twot and a crawler.

1967, and the world is changing - advancing in technology. For those lucky enough to afford 40ft aerials, television has arrived and, if you are really lucky, you might be able to get one or two stations, but certainly not ALL of them (yes, even with a 40ft aerial).

We find Doyle dealing with the peculiarities of his Catholic boys' school education [trying to avoid Brother Connor's strap]; a sudden attraction to girls [Susan Morgan from the local Catholic girls school], the changes in popular music and also, the familiar rituals of the Church. Roy lives with his Mum, Paulette, after his hopeless Dad disappears early on. His alter Doyle, lives with his family - mum, dad, brother and two sisters. This young Doyle is portrayed very sympathetically. He has 'uncool' interests - like running the local meteorology station; but, he’s perceptive about himself and others. Study for him is an escape. Retreating to the beer room behind the family shop and immersing himself in anything from geology to Beatles records to take his mind anywhere else. The passages that describe the suffering of Doyle’s sister Jen are heartbreaking. Jen is severely autistic. He recounts episodes where she is trying to punch herself or, she gorges food without chewing until she’s sick. Inside, the fridge is tied shut with a belt. Outside, Doyle spends hours sitting in the car with Jen while she screams. Both the Catholic and public school refuse to educate her. In a story full of teenagers racing towards adulthood, Jen is imprisoned in her own body, unable to take part. This home, described in all its beauty and its ugliness is without a doubt the emotional heart of this book.

Doyle chronicles the tales of life in an all-boys Catholic school and describes the sometimes odd and scary habits of the Brothers, especially Hubert, or ‘Sherb’, or 'Sherbie' (as he gets called), who, appears to be in the early stages of dementia and eventually, winds up wandering around smoking with the boys and doling out strange but sweet life advice. Here's a snippet from English class with Brother Connor:

"I believe', It's a song of hope, boys. Isn't it? It's beautiful. But. Is there something missing from our fine Bachelors' lyrics? Anyone? Slaven?"

"There's no mention of Rugby League, Brother."

"No. There's not. I'll grant you that. Dean?"

"They don't mention Our Lord, Brother."

"Well observed, Dean. Although, isn't God tacit to the song? Tacit? Doyle?"

"Does that mean implied, Brother?"

"Implied, yes. God in nature, boys. There is God in nature." Brother Connor noticed Brewer scribbling. "Read it out, Brewer, whatever it is you are writing. Come on. Share it with us."

Brewer started giggling.

"Read it out".

"Ummm…every time I smell a silent Benson fart, a forest dies."

Roy’s (remember, Roy is the cocky alter ego to Doyle) - Roy's athletic gifts are blooming but he doesn’t lord them over anyone: he’s kind at heart and stays on the periphery. His observations from there are telling. Now all this might lead some to question how much of this is strictly, ahem, ‘The Truth’, but chances are yes, it definitely all happened this way. Or, if it didn’t, then it should have!

Here is how Roy remembers it:-

In the men's A-grade cricket I was on a bit of a roll. I had been seeing the ball really well and opened the innings each week with Harold, and often had to retire to give someone else a bat. In the last seven matches I hadn't been dismissed and had an average of five hundred and seven.

O'Brien finishes the game with eight tries. A record. I scored three and Dean barged over late in the game off a sweet little pass from Flynn that fooled everyone. Including Dean. The final score was fifty-two to nil. The High School team grudgingly shake hands with us and they slope off. We stand as a team in a circle, Brother Hugh in the middle. We say a Hail Mary together.

The book ends with Doyle and his mother driving through Lithgow in their new car. His mum asking, 'are you happy'? Doyle simply responds, 'yes'.

Extremely humorous, very moving in parts, and will always be a memorable read for me.

[Genevieve · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would never have picked this out for myself, my Dad asked me to read it because he thought it summed up what his childhood in Australia was like. It was light, warm, funny, moving and nostalgic.

[Brendan Brooks · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bloody wonderful. I listened to the Audiobook and bought the paperback. John Doyle narrates the story of the year that established the young uber-talent Roy Slaven and in doing so, tells the story of his own childhood, the 60s Lithgow and Catholic school experience.

[Rebecca · Rating 3 out of 5]

Only John Doyle would have his alter ego ‘Roy Slaven’ write a memoir, with himself as a secondary character.

Lithgow, NSW in the 1960s has been wonderfully captured, along with the small town injustices, Catholic-prejudices towards feminism and education.

Bravo, Slaven.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Doyle's Roy Slaven is an iconic Australian fictional character that, alongside Greig Pickhaver's HG Nelson, has lived long in the popular consciousness since the early 1990s. A superb creation that combines the adulation many Australians feel for their sporting heroes with an absurdist's eye for the strange and funny, Slaven is perhaps one of the most relatable representations of Australians' lives in the Sixties and Seventies. Both an everyman and a superman, Roy Slaven is a celebration of how the ordinary can be spectacular, and the spectacular ordinary.

That John Doyle has decided after about 30 years to write Slaven's autobiography is of interest in and of itself. Like any cartoon character who has never really aged and has been all things to all people fixing Slaven's life into a specific place and time runs the risk of giving him a reality that can't be shook loose. Thankfully Doyle has used Slaven as his entry point, his agent, into his own youthful days. Make no mistake; as much as this is a fictional autobiography, this is even more a tale of a pivotal year in Doyle's life.

At this point it (probably doesn't) need to be said that I am a huge fan of Doyle and of Slaven, so this review will be biased accordingly. Also, whilst I am a few years younger that Doyle/Slaven, I can identify with much of what is written herein. 'Blessed..' will have echoes for so many Australian men who grew up in similar circumstances to Doyle and to Slaven. Some of the story's elemenst and characters are unfamiliar to me and I suspect many of my contemporaries. The divide between Catholics and Protestants is a yawning chasm herein that possibly doesn't exist for that many of those who will read this book. The clannishness of a country town is also going to be alien for some. However there are plenty of striking similarities. The excitement of seeing TV for the first time. Dealing with a dysfunctional family life, wondering if you're the only one going through the crap you've been dealt with through no fault of your own. Defining your world through your small clique of mates, the shared interests you might have for sport or popular culture. Working out what it means to be in love and then what happens with S-E-X.

At it's heart 'Blessed...' is an ode to a long gone time in a man's youth, a nostalgic musing on what it meant to be a teenager at such a time and place as Lithgow, 1967. The minutiae of the book may be unique to Slaven and Doyle, but the universality of the themes will speak to more people than not. Doyle's book will also find fans thanks to his seemingly effortless prose, dominated by the naturalistic language of his characters. The argot of Slaven and his fellow Lithgowites is recognisable and relatable to anyone who has grown up hearing or speaking Australian English in the last few decades of the 20th Century. The author has produced credible dialogues between his characters that if not literally true are culturally and socially true.

There are plenty of other positives to take away from 'Blessed..'. It is a book that speaks to and of small town Australia, and perhaps even small town anywhere. The references to movie theatres, furniture stores, local beauty spots, takeaway feeds and public facilities are all fixed in Doyle's representation of Lithgow 1967, yet many readers will think of similar places in their own back story.

Finally this is a gentle yarn, a story that muses on a great many things and without offering any great truths for answers it at least positions one so that you can appreciate the ebb and flow of life. Literary drama and comedy aren't aggrandised through torturous or ecstatic moments in the re-imagined lives of Doyle's characters. Small victories and small losses signify the change from child to adult, the parochial to the cosmopolitan.

'Blessed: The Breakout Year of Rampaging Roy Slaven' is a great read that is highly enjoyable and deceptively meaningful. It may not speak to all potential readers, but those who connect with Doyle's narrative, characters and prose will come away happy that they have.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars

This book makes a nice counterpoint to Kate Grenville's A Room Full of Leaves, which I read earlier this year. Blessed is marketed as a normal memoir (but on the basis that its subject, Roy Slaven, is widely known to be a fictitious character); yet it also contains descriptions of the author's (John Doyle) early life that is understood to be autobiographical. Inversely yet similarly, aRFoL is a fictitious memoir of a real person; it is marketed as fiction, yet carries a serious pretence of being a recently-discovered, previously unknown memoir.

This blending of fact and fiction makes Blessed a slippery beast to classify. The librarian in me is amused to see that it has been catalogued 3 different ways by my three nearest libraries - once as fiction; once as biography; once as nonfic related to a TV show.

Blessed introduces us to a 16-year old Roy Slaven, living in Lithgow, country NSW in 1967. It is a significant year for both Slaven and Lithgow; for Roy, we see a blossoming of his unbelievable sporting prowess, and the start of a better life for both him and his single mother; for the town of Lithgow, we see it tentatively entering the modern age, post-Vatican II, with the arrival of television and The Beatles, and with the Vietnam War on the horizon. Through Roy's eyes we also meet his classmate Doyle, and learn a little about his family and his developing world view.

This is an affectionate portrait of a bygone era, and there's a lot to relate to: small Aussie country towns; Catholic schools; eccentric/mad/nasty priests/monks/nuns; first love; The Beatles; the simple delights of riding around town without parental oversight. It is a sweet but not too sentimental view, as befits the innocence of the narrator; yet there are glimpses here and there of a more hardnosed reality - drugs, homosexuality, physical abuse - waiting for more worldly readers to notice. Through Slaven's and Doyle's family life, we also see some of the more frustrating aspects of that era - the stigma associated with single mothers/divorce, the problematic nature of Catholicism, and the desperately sad plight of Doyle's sister Jen, who suffered terribly from her autism, at a time when autism was able to be diagnosed, but not yet able to be treated.

Besides the descriptions of Catholic education (which resonated with me strongly, even though my experiences were much later), the highlight for me is the characterisation of Slaven, his mum, and Doyle - so interesting, likeable and vivid. Blessed has been a great comfort read, made me laugh and cry, and its upbeat ending left a grin on my face.

[Des · Rating 4 out of 5]

John Doyle takes you on a hilarious and personal journey to Lithgow in 1967.
This autobiographical, feisty and humorous look at himself through the eyes of his alto ego Roy Slaven is funny, engaging and what all his fans were waiting for.
His ridiculous and sardonic humour finds all of the ludicrous parts of his life to tear apart.
Anyone who has played winter sport in Lithgow will be instantly draw to his absurdly true descriptions of the climatic zones of his high school classroom.
The book is indispersed with respect and disdain of the catholic church, social mores, sport and life’s absurdity.
It’s all very funny and so enjoyable.
Get it now for your books shelves to sit next to Fatso The Wombat.

[Peter Anderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just loved this romp through 1967

THIS IS NOT A BOOK REVIEW

What it is is a “thank you” to Roy Slaven and his third best friend John Doyle. The story has so many similarities to my own school experiences.

I think if you are a male of a certain age (I’m 75) who was brought up as a Catholic (and who has probably given away the religion either while still at school or not long after) and who was educated at an all-boys school run by one of the many orders of religious brothers then this book will really resonate with you.

I was baptised a Catholic and educated at Marist Brothers Mosman (and at the nuns school opposite up to second class). I can truthfully say that I don’t have a pleasant memory of my whole schooling. I also only remember one brother who actually cared about our education. Being caned for not getting French grammar correct just seems so barbaric in hindsight.

But back to Blessed; Roy and John have so accurately captured the spirit of attending a brothers school in the 1950{s and 1960’s. Thanks guys!

Regards,
Peter

[Cher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Start was crazy good lost me a bit at the end

[Sally Edsall · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I could give this 6 ⭐️ I would.

A wonderful piece of writing, this is a novel and memoir, narrated by a fictional creation of the author, who is the long-standing comedic alter ego of the author.

Most Australians will be familiar with the comedy genius of John Doyle as 'Rampaging' Roy Slaven and Grieg Pickhaver as HG Nelson.

Doyle as Slaven takes us to Lithgow, their home town west of Sydney in 1967 when Roy and Doyle are classmates at the town's Catholic boys school, de la Salle College.

It both a coming-of-age novel and a memoir - a year in which Roy's astounding (fictional) sporting career is emerging, and Doyle's writing, comedic and sports commentating skills, as well as his atheism, are taking shape.

It is by turns very very funny (I made my partner suffer through readings aloud several times), and very poignant. I developed a tear in my eyes. More than anything else, it prefectly evokes an era when Catholics versus Publics was a standard part of small town (and suburban) life , when a woman was blamed for her husband absconding & divorce was a sin, when kids tore around with almost unfettered freedom, and priests and brothers were capricious, sometimes cruel, and sometimes great teachers (often by accident) by turn. It also has great affection for small town community life. It does not discount the darker sides of life such as domestic violence, deserted wives and outrageous pressure brought to bear by the church.

Doyle has inhabited Roy Slaven for ao long that as he says in a short sentence towards the end, they need each other. Roy, who, of course, has been a champion at every sport to which he has turned, is nonetheless a modest chap, even rather surprised at his own prowess. More than anything else, he loves his Mum, who is starting to emerge as an independent woman, mainly due to an economic and social situation which makes her poaaible to improve circumstances for herself and her son through work opportunities.

Can't recommend it highly enough.

[Monkey God · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was surprised by the restraint in the novel. I thought it would be full of the bombast of the character of Roy Slaven, but the thing that caught me was the kindness of the author and narrator. I was sad that it ended and I realised I wanted Roy and his mum to be ok and lead a better life.

[Peter Langston · Rating 3 out of 5]

The concept of writing the most important year of a fictional character's life seemed a good one. The fact it would be written by not only a talented writer but someone with a level of understanding about the character that goes beyond even intimate ... well, I was moved from interested to compelled.

Unfortunately, I may have approached this work of double fiction with a bit of truth on the side, with a level of expectation that was almost dooming the experience to failure. I had reasoned that Doyle would show us the trace elements in the boy "Bot" Slaven that have been mined as treasure from Rampaging Roy Slaven but not so. There is nothing of the man in the boy, save for a tendency to romanticise life beyond all reason and still expect it to turn out for the best. The sporting prodigy arises but bugger all else.

It was only when I stopped reading to discover HG's friend and deemed it a coincidence they possessed identical names, that I really began to enjoy the book. Read at the level of a tale of a year of living dangerously close to the maniacal Slater family, negotiating your parents failed marriage, leaning about the love beyond the parental and experiencing the death of a revered character, all the while transitioning from boy to man ... well at that level, it works very nicely. I wish I had come to that decision earlier.

How much of the descriptions of Doyle and his family are autobiographical, I can't tell you, although many of the basic elements of the author's story, aired in other forms and other media, ring true.

Its not an overtly funny book. The humour varies: sometimes sardonic, sometimes black and at times, teenage-boy crude but then, a teenage boy is telling the story and largely, the characters he is telling you about are teenage boys. In the main, its more romantic than funny. Romantic in that broad sense. That gentle sense. A way of viewing the world which protects you from hurt that does no one good. The absolute nature of truth is not an excuse for telling it. As such, the young Roy and his Mum and pretty much all of his mates, have by closing the book, found paradise indeed ... and strike me roan if it isn't in Lithgow.

That's okay. There are a lot worse places to end up.

[Dennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I finished this book, I thought it was the best book I had ever read. It completely held my attention, so much so that I read well past my usual bedtime, something I haven't done since I read with a torch under the blankets after lights out. Yet when you analyse it there is nothing really to it. It is a simple story of John Doyle's alter-ego Roy Slavin growing up in Lithgow New South Wales. It is an account of a financially struggling single mum coping in a poor mining town after her husband has done a runner and her only son growing up and attending the local Catholic School. It is a tale of gradual improvement as mum, who was pregnant at 16, goes from nightshift at the Berlei factory to the typing pool at the Lithgow Small Arms Factory after teaching herself and practicing typing at home at night while Roy starts to reveal his prodigious sporting ability in a totally humble way. Author John Doyle builds in a role for himself as Roy Slavin's best mate. I found the book to be gripping. Maybe I'm biased as I like Roy and HG on radio. Give it a read, you won't be disappointed. I think I'll read it again.

[Jared Hansen · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very odd book that promises the barnstorming absurd achievements of Australia's most implausibly precocious wunderkid, beloved (fictitious) sports presenter and former quintuple national rep Roy Slaven, but in practise is a kitchen sink memoir about Lithgow in the 1960s. The bits that are about Roy's backstory in sport are a bit pedestrian in their delivery, and meanwhile there is an awful lot of philosophy and reflection, making this book seem far too thoughtful and mature a piece to be a product of Slaven. It felt as if the genesis was Doyle wanting to write a memoir and the idea being judged as unmarketable, but the solution to fictionalise it wasn't fully embraced in terms of its potential for storytelling.

The writing and dialogue is quite good and there are one or two fun episodes, but the absence of any real plot makes it feel like the first few chapters of a Peter Carey novel stretched to 300 pages.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Australian writer John Doyle delivers a memoir with a twist. It's an account of a single year from his youth - 1967 - told from the perspective of his fictional alter-ego "Rampaging" Roy Slaven. As Slaven describes his own experiences in that year, when he blossomed into becoming the all-conquering master of nearly every sport played, he also describes his friend John Doyle, the Doyle family, and the life that they led.

Doyle signals from the outset that Slaven is an unreliable narrator, so who knows how much of this story is the truth of Doyle's upbringing. I had a similar education to Doyle's, and much of it rang true to me, in terms of the types of teachers that he had, and the way that boys' education was delivered then.

The book rattles along in quite an entertaining fashion overall, but Doyle also provides some insight into some serious social issues that there simply were not answers for in that era.

[Anthony Harkness · Rating 4 out of 5]

Given that Roy Slaven (aka John Doyle) was born around the same time as me and that we both went to Catholic schools (De La Salle and Marist) I could heartily resonate with this clever depiction of Year Ten school and Catholic country life in Lithgow. Along with the mad caricatures of the religious brothers that taught him there was a deep warmth and underlying respect there for those men. And it's plain damn hilarious ... but in that typically Roy Slaven understated manner. Later in life I played football with one of Roy's sporting heroes who came from that Year Ten class so I feel as though I almost know Roy.

It's a quick read but a good one with a touch of Aussie grace wrapped around simpler times.

[Damien · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like 'Lapsed' by Monica Dux, this is a must-read for any Australian male who went to a Catholic all boys school in the 1950s or 60s. While on occasions I found confusing the relationship between the book's protagonist, Roy Slaven, his friend John Doyle and John Doyle the author of this book, the conjuring up of the ethos of the times is flawless. For those of a certain age, this book provides a lot of food for thought. For others less connected to that particular time and place I am sure the book will entertain as only Rampaging Roy Slaven can do.

[Peter Stuart · Rating 3 out of 5]

I found myself wondering what parts may be solely creative and what parts may be semi autobiographical, very much hoping that the more concerning components of the whole were the first and not the latter.

I found several of the undercurrents (no spoilers) disturbing and frankly horrific in one particular case, and to reiterate, left the work hoping that they were imagined, but with the impression that it was likely not. So for that reason three stars.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Endearing story of a year in the life of the fictional Roy Slaven and his friend John Doyle (author) in high school. So pleasant to read of Roy and John enjoying their catholic schooling under the tutelage of the Brothers. That was my experience as well with the Christian Brothers. One of those stories that you do not want to end, primarily because the characters in the story are so, well, nice.

[Mark Dunn · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great read. Very clever, in as much as it’s an account of the fictional character Roy Slaven, as told by John Doyle (who plays Roy Slaven in the duo of Roy and HG). Slaven then tells much of the story of Doyle’s life growing up in Lithgow, albeit through the eyes of Slaven. Touching stories both from Slaven’s fictional plife as well as Doyle‘s real life, and a lot of fun along the way

[Andrew Wright · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not only is John Doyle superb commentator and genuinely funny comedian, he can add to his list of achievements the role as an author.

Blessed, his story as a schoolboy for one year encapsulates his quirky sense of humour, and his superb sense of description and comedic timing.

Enjoyable from the 1st to the last page, the book cries out for a sequel.

[Miriam Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

The best way to describe this book is heartwarming, but without being trite or sentimental. Occasionally made me chuckle, once produced some tears, but was consistently heartwarming, and very well written. A very engaging read.

[Denita · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have listened to Roy & HG many a time on the radio and have enjoyed their wit. This book was along the same lines and so funny. I loved it and I would love to read more on the life of Rampaging Roy.

[Helen · Rating 5 out of 5]

For those who have listened to Roy and HG, this would be required reading. For those who haven't, you should. The book tells the story of the phenomenon that is Rampaging Roy Slaven at its humble beginnings.

[Andy Lou · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a wonderful read. Some lovely turns of phases and musings. Loved

[Jay Dwight · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed the read. Plenty of laughs.
Plenty of memories too - having gone to high school in Lithgow.

[Brett · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant! Just brilliant!

[Michelle Murray · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a delight. A great trip down memory lane for those who grew up in the 60’s. Thank you John Doyle.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful book, funny and poignant all at once.