....the stories are very familiar."

"... I just read your book and really enjoyed it. Growing up in the western suburbs around the same time, the stories are very familiar. That is, I knew so many people in similar situations. Incredibly, you make reference to a friend of mine who died in 1985. ... was a good mate of mine up until he was kicked out of home around 1984 and I didn't see him a lot after that. I was at school when a mutual friend from another school turned up and told me what had happened. It was horrible. So was the funeral, my first one... I still think of him; he had a heart of gold."