Acclaimed actor Sam Neill takes the listener (and reader) on a ramble through his life and experiences. Neill, at the age of 75 and with the motivation of an unwelcome medical diagnosis to spur him, took the initiative to set out his memoirs.

For the audio listener, Sam’s dry wit and personality pours through, and makes for an engaging and entertaining insight into his life and experiences. You can feel the trepidation over his health crisis. Reflections on his early life are vivid, and by turns amusing and poignant. The narration at all points is warm and engaging, just as you’d expect of one of the great actors of the last 40 years, right?

There are points in the story that do start to feel like an extended list of ‘people I know’, but the yarn never feels tedious. I found the author’s reflections on his early life, particularly his wistful reminiscences of times and places long gone, of family members loved and now lost, particularly poignant and easy to identify with. His memories of his life as an actor are filled with hilarious anecdotes, the punchline often at his own expense. I found myself waiting for a return of serve from best frenemy Bryan Brown after a few of these anecdotes.

This is a memoir in a very real sense. It rambles across time and subject matter from chapter to chapter, stepping into the present at intervals as the author updates the reader on his current circumstances, before sliding back into the past. If you’re looking for a comprehensive bio, you may find this approach a little frustrating, but I found the conversational tone very easy to stay with.

For those who are a fan of the actor or enjoy a view into the behind-the-scenes life of actors and the film industry, you will thoroughly enjoy this. For the casual listener with no particular affinity for either the subject or the setting, I think you will still find this an entertaining, and at times emotive, audiobook to listen to.

At 12 hours listening time, Did I Ever Tell You This? makes for an easy listen over a long weekend.

Reviewed by Shaun Johnston