This would have been a much better portrait of his father if Michael Frayn had not spent so much of it musing why he didn’t remember more about various pivotal incidents. And for a memoir about his father’s life, there is a bit too much about his own teenage years. Adolescent self-absorption and angst is just not that interesting! I understand why it was so important for him to write this honest and sympathetic book, and in a way it was quite moving to read, but as someone outside his family, I didn’t feel it was very successful. It is not a criticism to say that in this beautifully writtten memoir Frayn circles around and around his father, getting ever closer, never actually fully understanding the man. For sure, isn't that how it is with all of us? But, as you would expect of a writer and thinker of Frayn's stature, there are insights a-plenty both into the way his family has shaped him but also into how family shapes all of us.
What do You think about My Father's Fortune (2010)?
I'm going to spoil the plot of this book and announce that NOTHING happens. Ever.
—Michelle
Have started this but can't really be bothered to continue - and haven't.
—estesman
Interesting and informative, but prefer his fiction!
—ewuraama
Warm hearted yet objective - I really liked it
—Soup
