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DNUK Book Review: "Watch My Back" by Geoff Thompson
By Scott Taylor
www.door-network.com
We’ve all been there, walking around town with the little lady,
bored as she drags you around the latest clothes shop trying on
outfit after outfit. You sneak away telling her you’ll meet her back
at the car before you throttle her with the chiffon scarf she’s
holding, and on the way back to the car park decide to pop into the
nearby bookstore to find yourself a new paperback to prop up the
toilet brush holder in the bathroom, dug out from its dog eared
location a couple of times a day for a quick five minute read whilst
your body busies itself with other things, before being plunged back
into it’s cubby hole awaiting your next visit.
You walk into the shop and see a shelf covered entirely with books
bound in black, menacing figures adorned over the front covers
glaring at you while large red letters at the top of the page
declare their name in a large red font. Reading these books you’ll
find they all follow a similar format. How the subject had a shitty
childhood and how they fell into a life of small time crime before
hitting the big time and being the toughest fighter/gangster/mob
boss on the block. Not that these books are bad by any means, but
there’s little from book to book that distinguishes it from the last
tale of hardship, heartache and hard knocks. Seemingly endless books
seem to gel into one, and you find you can’t distinguish between
these stories as time rolls ever onward.
Geoff Thompson’s first foray into writing could easily be lost in
amongst these other heavyweight autobiographies, following a similar
format in cover design. Although bound in black, with Geoff looking
suitably menacing on the front cover whilst the words, “Watch My
Back” emblazon the top of the book almost dictating that you can
expect a collection of fight stories inside, you would be mistaken
for either bypassing or assuming this book was another ‘play it by
numbers’ bad boy autobiography.
No, if ever the saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover” was
appropriate, this would be a prime example.
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From beginning to
end Geoff's story takes you by the lapels and leads you through
his fascinating and sometimes disturbing career, from his
abusive childhood to his ultimate decision to give up the doors
and the violence, and realise his dream of being a writer.
Geoff's story is unlike many of his contemporaries, simply
because he's not afraid to tell us about the fear he's
experienced, and how's he's attempted to deal with it. In fact,
fear plays a very large part in Geoff's book, and how it can be
confused with the side effects of Adrenalin racing its way
through the body. Geoff goes into fascinating detail about how
Adrenalin affects our decisions and actions when faced with a
'flight or fight' situation, and it's easy to see he's
researched the topic extensively.
Thanks to his understanding of the adrenal effects encountered
when facing dangerous situations, Geoff not only gives us
examples of times adrenalin has played a major part in hostility
encountered on the door, but also some invaluable advice on how
to mask, control and utilise the effects of an adrenal burst,
helping us to differentiate between it's effects and those of
uncontrolled fear.
Focusing on the 'fear factor' really gives Geoff's book that
edge of believability over some of his contemporaries, as it
humanises the story told and shows you that although formidable,
Geoff is like every other door steward out there, not a machine
but a regular person doing a thankless and sometimes dangerous
job.
The tales that Geoff weave as he charts his course through his
many years on the door range from life threatening situations to
light hearted tomfoolery, from quiet introspective to overt
displays of aggression and from the gratification of being
'known' to the gut wrenching fear of believing he'd killed a
man. Each one expertly told and written in such a way as to draw
the reader in and attach an emotional connection to each and
every situation, even if you disagree with the actions taken at
the time.
This is a book that more than deserves to be in your home.
However, it's a book to avoid if you're looking for something to
skim through when you're sitting on the toilet. This book
deserves nothing less than for you to clear your schedule for a
couple of days and settle in, because sure as hell when you
enter Geoff's world, you'll be hard fought to put the book down
and do anything else until the last page is turned.
It's a classic book, and I guarantee it'll leave you assessing
your own life on the door when you hit that final page.
Scott Taylor.
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