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Jump to navigationJump to searchThe Bankruptcy Diaries by Paul Broderick (view source)
Revision as of 08:20, 9 May 2018
, 08:20, 9 May 2018no edit summary
Originally based in Bristol, Paul soon follows a girl, and the lure of a better job with a bigger paycheque, to London. But the capital is expensive, and girls are expensive, and public sector workers don’t earn all that much, even with London-weighting. Debts that started off small but still significant soon spiral into larger, uncontrollable borrowing.
Paul is a spender of the [[''Save Karyn]] '' ‘Swipe, sign, it was mine’ school of thought. While he does buy a few gadgets (and, oh the memories of the early noughties when you could shell out two grand on a computer compared to the 1/10th of that I spent on this new one yesterday ) his major weakness is holidays: romantic breaks, stag dos, foreign weddings he’s not fussy as long as it’s abroad. He’s also someone who can’t say no, so even when he knows he’s in the red, has maxed out every card and will need to apply for another just for this trip….he still does it. With friends on bigger incomes encouraging him to spend what he doesn’t have, but his family judging him harshly when he does, he’s can't win. But it seems that when the going gets tough, another holiday makes it quite alright.
The diary style works well as it moves the story on, though you do have to pay attention to the dates as some entries are much further apart than others. It’s a very chatty, punchy book, a little like a not quite as good male ''Bridget Jones's Diary'' and it’s funny a lot of the time even if you don’t agree with how he rationalizes his spending decisions. I read it quickly over a few days on holiday and it was a great book to travel with as you can pick it up and put it down easily without losing the momentum.
