A BONZA Life

The Story of a Baby Boomer

Non-Fiction - Autobiography
246 Pages
Reviewed on 04/17/2020
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Author Biography

I am a Baby Boomer. Born and bred in Brisbane, I lived a very Boomer life in a small house with my WW2 soldier dad, stay at home mum and my 5 siblings.

We walked to school and stayed and played within a 2 mile radius of our home with other Boomer families for 20 years before venturing out into the world with other Boomer mates, and eventually starting our own families to produce another generation.

Historians will be surprised how simple a life we lived in the suburbs with few pressures and plenty of support from government. We needed and used a vivid imagination to entertain ourselves as there was no TV initially and little to do and see as there was always a financial struggle.

I have long since adapted to a changed world which I am sure we created by liberating society but it has been an interesting journey for me with school failures, pop revolutions, clashes with police over Vietnam and unfulfilled dreams over the high expectations of the ideal world we boomers had envisaged.

Later, as a boomer advocate, I tried to influence the thinking of many politicians with inter-generational thinking and was an advocating for boomer reform long before we truly became the nuisance 'ok boomer' generation depicted today.

I am now a boomer Facebook and web site editor and once again recently demonstrated against ageism in the workplace outside Australian Parliament in Canberra and will continue to support my generation in any way I can.


    Book Review

Reviewed by K.C. Finn for Readers' Favorite

A Bonza Life is a work of non-fiction written in the format of an autobiography by author Brian Murphy. As the title suggests, there is a strong influence of Australian culture on the life of the author, but the book also seeks to define and explore the Boomer phenomenon of the mid-twentieth century and what it really meant to grow up in such turbulent and changing times. Murphy recounts his life from early childhood influences in Brisbane out into a much wider exploration of the world alongside the backdrop of changes to global politics, perspectives and cultural shifts along the way.

Both educational and heartfelt, author Brian Murphy lets his readership into a touching perspective on the Boomer generation and the magnitude of what this new generation has experienced in terms of the shift in human history. I really enjoyed the cultural intelligence and awareness of the author as he draws his parallels between his own life experiences and the achievements of the generation as a whole as a result of their adaptability and a new perspective on life after the Second World War. The Australian-isms of the piece also give it a unique and intimate narrative feel that stops the work from ever becoming clinical or textbook-like, and Murphy’s warmth exudes from every page as our trusted guide through his past. Overall, A Bonza Life provides exactly what it promises as an education on the Boomer experience, but is also a heartfelt and highly engaging true-life story.