Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood

Short answer: One of the dullest books I've ever read. Too many vegetables, not enough meat. Long answer: This book reminds me why I always say no when friends tell me I should write a book about my own life. When you are a child on the outskirts of an interesting story it makes for a VERY DULL reading. This is made all the worse by the author's need to articulate even the most...more

Short answer: One of the dullest books I've ever read. Too many vegetables, not enough meat. Long answer: This book reminds me why I always say no when friends tell me I should write a book about my own life. When you are a child on the outskirts of an interesting story it makes for a VERY DULL reading. This is made all the worse by the author's need to articulate even the most uninteresting conversation or event. If it were a fifth of the size (minus most of the dialogue and internal musings) it would be a good read.   hide

Definitely hairaising at times. Often hilarious. I loved learning more about this British/Rhodesian farming family's way of life. A quick read that I couldn't put down.

A reminder of my African childhood. Loved it, I laughed and I cried. a reminder of Africa before it was westernized with satellite TV and the internet, and lost its innocence.

Wonderful absorbing read - highly recommended. Couldn't put it down. Will definitely reread!

If a friend gives you this book for Christmas, you not only got a stunningly well-written memoir of a odd childhood in Africa, you have learned that your friend has superlative taste in books and respects yours as well.

Fabulous!

Read this quite a while ago, but I love a book that teaches me about a different way of life.

This book is absolutely hilarious and refreshingly un-politically correct without being obnoxious. Alexandra's years of growing up in Africa is an honest account of a white girl in Africa who feels more African than anything else but who also found it hard to fit in with it different cultures. The pain of being in a dysfunctional family, her mother losing a baby boy and then becoming an...more

This book is absolutely hilarious and refreshingly un-politically correct without being obnoxious. Alexandra's years of growing up in Africa is an honest account of a white girl in Africa who feels more African than anything else but who also found it hard to fit in with it different cultures. The pain of being in a dysfunctional family, her mother losing a baby boy and then becoming an embarrassing alcoholic is described without over-the-top sentiment.   hide

Loved it. fascinating story about a white girl growing up in Africa.