Candid and inspiring 'Observations of a Very Short Man' will make you laugh out loud. As he recounts stories from his life with his trademark humour, honesty and insight Marsh frequently poses questions that make you pause and reflect. Questions such as - are you slogging away in a job you don't enjoy to buy things you don't need to impress people you don't like? Or have you ever felt overworked and underlaid? And how is it that self-help books can sometimes be no help at all? Marsh's self deprecating humility makes a refreshing change from those so called experts who claim they have all the answers.
Couples warning! Buy two copies of this book and read them in separate soundproof rooms. This book is seriously funny and disarmingly wise. An irresistible invitation to laugh your way back to a better view of the world
- Stephanie Dowrick
Nigel Marsh is a stressed, overweight mortgage slave struggling to balance a high-pressured career, a marriage and the demands of four children under eight. Then the unthinkable happens - he loses his job.
After the initial shock (and some unpleasant surgery), Nigel decides to embrace life outside the office and spend a year taking stock.
What follows is a candid and often hilarious account of how he attempts to master the art of hands-on parenting, lose 20 kilos, train for an ocean swimming race and come to terms with the growing realisation that he's an alcoholic. Along the way we discover what men (or this man) really think about sex in marriage, being good dads, work, love, football, family, religion, self-help books and sharks, just for starters.
'Fat, Forty and Fired' is a rare gem, a highly entertaining, thought-provoking and inspiring memoir about falling off the hamster wheel and surviving.
Enjoying Top 10 success in Australia alongside Dan Brown and John Grisham in 2005, influential magazine BRW declared it one of the best books of the year
. In 2006 it was translated and published internationally, as well as being adapted for radio & stage.
A very honest, funny book. You'll laugh out loud - and shed a tear.
- David Koch, Channel 7
This book is wake up your wife
funny, really funny, screamingly funny.
- David Vickers, ABC
As thought-provoking as it is entertaining.
- Sunday Herald Sun
So brilliant and funny that I neglected my wife and kids for a day so I could read it.
- The Sun-Herald
A thoughtful book that considers modern lifestyle options with measured sensitivity.
- Sydney Morning Herald
Highly entertaining – offers a frank insight into marriage, family and the gender divide.
- Sunday Telegraph