In any other writer’s hands, a memoir focused on their grandson’s season of under-16s football could be dismissed as self-indulgent twaddle. This is not ‘any other writer’, though. This is Helen Garner. Her observational skills and her ability to drill down into character and place, make this not only an excellent memoir but also an examination of nascent masculinity, ageing, and the place of sport in contemporary life.

Garner worried that she’d said all she needed to say in previous books, and there was nothing that interested her enough to write about. Even when she started this memoir, she worried that it was a book that didn’t deserve to be written. Helping ease her into the memoir is the fact that a footy season has a narrative of its own: a beginning, middle and end. Her skill is in recording it, then retelling it in a way which makes it relatable. Garner attends training and games and is invisible to the players. This is not a book where intimate, longstanding knowledge of footy is needed. Garner doesn’t understand all the rules; she just adores her grandson and the Western Bulldogs. It’s the love of both – rather than the intricacies of football – which leads the reader through the narrative.

In a boost to the narrative (or perhaps the reason behind it), her grandson, Amby, plays well, as does the team. Garner is justly proud. Amby also carries injuries throughout the season, which has her concerned. But footy is physical and she writes about the vitality of Amby’s athletic body’s ability to run, kick, chase, tackle, then recover and do it all again next weekend. She also writes about her own body: she’s 80, and her eyes and ears are failing her. She has, however, the mental acuity of a much younger woman and the ability to stay current, such as using ‘versing’ – the contemporary offshoot of versus. Amby’s season runs parallel with Garner’s beloved Bulldogs. These AFL professionals win occasionally, lose consistently, and still her favourite players remain loved. Amby’s team is having a wonderful season, winning more than they lose.

Sport in general, and footy in particular, is a physical space, where controlled aggression is considered an essential component on the way to winning … but there’s a fine line. These are still boys, albeit on the verge of becoming men. They make many mistakes, both sporting and behavioural. Fights break out on the field; homophobic and sexist slurs are hurled. Amby doesn’t fight but confesses his inner anger to his grandmother. This is a welcome meeting of literature and sport via the portal of life-writing and, despite Garner’s initial misgivings, chronicling the year of these almost-men was a consummate choice.

Reviewed by Bob Moore

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Helen Garner writes novels, stories, screenplays and works of non-fiction. In 2006 she received the inaugural Melbourne Prize for Literature, and in 2016 she won the prestigious Windham–Campbell Prize for non-fiction. She was honoured with the Australia Council Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature in 2019. And in 2023 she was awarded the ASA Medal for her outstanding contribution to Australian literature. Her works include Monkey Grip, The Children’s Bach, The First Stone, Joe Cinque’s Consolation, The Spare Room, This House of Grief and three volumes of her diaries. She lives in Melbourne.

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