The title is a clever wordplay, with the middle two words revealing the memoirist’s preferred pronunciation of his family name. But has his life been ‘good’ to this point? He’s certainly in a great space now, listing his career titles as actor, writer, producer and presenter; however, his early life was nowhere near as rosy.
Fa’Aoso was born in Seisia, in the Bamaga region of Cape York, to a Tongan father and Torres Strait Islander mother. He has a long Tongan name but is called Aaron (or ‘Bruiser’) by convention. Bruiser is apt. The book begins with Fa’Aoso fighting another man to recover his cousin’s bike. Fa’Aoso has the charismatic presence suited to a warrior: huge frame and laser eyes, combined with martial arts training. The opponents he fights are both external and internal.
He lost his father and grandfather at age five and lost his way shortly afterwards. He tried to make a career out of football. Although he had the natural ability, he lacked the ‘stick-ability’. Roller-coaster relationships, run-ins with the law and associations with the criminal underworld in Kings Cross made him seem rudderless.
And then came ‘Remote Area Nurse’: the series commissioned by SBS and shot in his backyard. He had found his calling on stage and screen. His desire to see more Indigenous faces onscreen (and behind the camera) fires his ambition.
This is an often raw and confronting memoir. It can be a little too blokey in style, but its honesty saves it.
Reviewed by Bob Moore
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