The portrayal of the minutiae of student Steve Marr's life will no doubt evoke nostalgia in many, but at times it weighs too heavily, almost overshadowing the plot. The plot is already busy enough.
It includes Steve trying to come to terms with his mother's death, his relationship with his father, his Catholicism, sex, booze, drugs, politics, teacher training, love, unionism and the protest movement.
Somehow he manages to both rub shoulders with the rich and right-wing and those involved with Wellington's underbelly. Dogging his every faltering step is the mysterious ex-cop Gull.
McGill describes the book as fictional autobiography. It is based on his 1960 diary, but he says none of the incidents and interactions happened to any living or previous living person, "least of all me". That is reassuring. I was beginning to feel quite miffed about having a pretty uneventful time when I was a student in Wellington in 1972.
The strength of the book is in its portrayal of the agony and awkwardness of the transition to adulthood, particularly as it relates to Steve's foray into first love and his relationship with his father. A less eventful story could have made this more powerful.
• Elspeth McLean is a Dunedin writer who attended Wellington Polytechnic in 1972.
