A Boy Called Bob: Becomes an AFL Footballer

by Bob Murphy and Tony Wilson

• ISBN13: 9781760641429
• Publish Date: 2 July 2019
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 16 March 2023
• Publish Country: AU
• Imprint: Piccolo Nero
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 228
• Language: English

Reviews

This was enjoyable. But I don't necessarily think this is a great read. The narrative is very disjointed and somewhat random. I'm not the target audience so perhaps it'll be more popular with them - but it made it feel clunky and like a pasted together scrapbook - particularly as there were a lot of asides and random facts and thoughts. Some were funny. The story about the dead cat, half stuck in the ground was hysterical. And I very much enjoyed;

RIP Shaka. And RIP Paddy too, who lasted longer than Shaka, but died when Dad accidentally ran over him in the driveway.
There's a saying that cats have nine lives. That wasn't really the Murphy experience.
But the other saying is: there's more than one way to skin a cat.
That one we can relate to.

Some were encouraging. A lot were full of gratitude for getting the chance to achieve his dream. The second half was more cohesive - but it felt more like a whole other book than the same narrative. I enjoyed hearing about his life and anecdotes and I was riveted to hear his feelings about the 2016 Grand Final.

I did enjoy it and I'd say a large part of my enjoyment came from the fact that I'm a doggies supporter and I love Bob. That year holds my own special memories - my footy team won their first grand final in 62 years, I got married, I became an auntie to my adorable niece - 2016 was a great year. I was devastated on Bob's behalf at not getting to play and Luke Beveridge was my hero for publicly acknowledging his career and input.

Definitely worth a read if you're a Bob Murphy fan or a die hard doggies supporter. Overall 2.5 stars, rounded up to 3.