21st-Century Yokel by Tom Cox

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This is the first book from what we might call Tom Cox’s second era, publishing with Unbound, in which he frees himself from the constraints of commercial publishers’ ideas about what we want to read.

The chapters are really a loosely related collection of essays, as Ring The Hill which followed 2 years later. They are rich in their exploration of place, his Dad takes a leading role within the ensemble cast.

We must be similar ages, and so part of his exploration of identity and your place in the world resonates – here he reflects on his Grandparents and how by the time they were in their mid-forties they took on the persona of “old” people, while we approach a similar age still wondering what we are going to do with our lives when we “grow up”. We have been re-watching Butterflies, at the end of the 70s a sitcom about those in their mid-forties, and it provided echoes of that same contrast.

At one point he recounts passing some hikers going in the opposite direction who tell him to go a different route, as the way they had come was so difficult… “Head they known me, they would have realised that ‘I wouldn’t try to go that way if I were you – it’s difficult’ is one of the three main motivation hiking phrases a person can say in my vicinity...” (p11) the other two being mention of a good pub, the routes associations with 17^th century witchcraft. I felt a connection to a kindred, stubborn, spirit.

The other quote I wish to share is “I made a couple of attempts to stop buying books in the distant past but I’ve since realised it’s an absurd denial of who I am as a person. The fact is, books have always been very kind to me, and I can’t stand to see them sitting alone in shops, unloved.” (p220) something I feel I need on a t-shirt.