Feed The Goat, by Shaun Goater

I suspected Shaun 'The Goat' Goater's "magnificent octopus" wouldn't be in danger of winning any literary awards but I was disappointed with the banality in which his exciting career was written up. It read as if it had been typed up from a dictophone, full of the sort of football cliches normally reserved for post-match interviews.
Most disappointingly on a couple of occasions a few genuinely interesting events seemed to be unfolding only for the narrative to then skip to another game without anything being revealed at all, for example on the back cover the text says that Goater was signed by Man U as a political move following a disastrous pre-season tour but there is no mention of this in the book.
The occasional revelation was enough to keep me going though, like the fact that Goater didn't think much of Keegan's man-management (or lack of it), mainly because he kept dropping him, but again this is not explored in detail; Goater never wonders why or mentions what might have been mitigating circumstances, i.e., his advancing age for a footballer.
For me though, the book was a trip down memory lane because for much of Goater's story I was able to say 'I was there', as I followed City through the outrageous ups & downs (even by their erratic standards) that coincided with Goater's time at the club.
I'm still a fan of The Goat, I even met him once & have his autograph in my passport, he's a thoroughly decent & honest man who worked hard to get where he was, I just wish he had put some of that hard work into his book especially when he played a big part in some momentous events for City, it was such a shame that a bit more care & literary craft was not applied to the re-telling.
2/5

Post Office, by Charles Bukowski

Such is the author's literary standing & cult status I almost felt obliged to enjoy this book & rate it highly, but I needn't have worried because after reading this novel I now find myself in complete agreement with the fulsome praise I've seen elsewhere. For me Bukowski's lauded originality is in describing the dull, repetitive, unskilled labour of a mail worker's life yet managing to fill it with hilarious irreverence as well as with the profound pathos of life.
5/5