Born in 1958, the only child of a dinner lady and a sheet-metal worker, Geoff Dyer grew up in a world shaped by memories of shortages and the Second World War. It was a time of airfix models, wargames, conkers and frugality: Geoff’s father splurges on a mono record player – before imposing a blockade on buying records.
Aware of the monumental social change he lived through, Geoff Dyer now has a life his parents would barely recognise, and which seems inconceivable now: grammar-school education leads to books, prog rock (on a new stereo), girls, beer and, eventually, a place at Oxford. But far from being a story of hardship overcome, Homework is a celebration of opportunities afforded by the post-war settlement.
Chaired by Claire Malcolm
“If you’ve read Dyer before then you’ll need no persuasion to read this book. If you haven’t, it’s the perfect place to start.” – John Self, the Times
“Moving, atmospheric, truthful, perceptive and hilariously funny.” – Tessa Hadley
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