I stumbled across Nigel's Fat, Forty and Fired a few years ago, I think at the library, and I loved it. I can't remember the details of it now, but Nigel is hilarious. He has a good heart and is honest about how he trips through life. His dedication to sorting out a proper work-life balance is inspiring and useful.
When he emailed me (I guess I'd emailed him at some point to tell him how much I'd loved his book) to let me know that Fit, Fifty and Fired Up was about to be released, I knew I had to read it. And obviously, I'm biased. The author emailed me! I'm practically a rock star now, and I owe him all the thanks in the world for that.
But he went a step further. When I tried to purchase the book on Amazon, I discovered that it was not available in paperback. And I don't have an eReader (Luddite tendencies). I promptly emailed Nigel to report my dismay, and he promptly responded that he'd have one shipped out to me. !!! I read it within two days of receiving it.
Fit, Fifty and Fired Up is a series of ruminations and stories that come to Nigel as he's turning fifty and looking to set some goals for the next decade. He's father to four fired up kids, and husband to a beautiful wife. They all moved from England to Australia and seem to be enjoying their time down under. Nigel's parents and brother are back in the UK, and there are some touching tales of him calling his father with Alzheimer's. Really sweet stuff.
Nigel's put in many years in corporate advertising, but every once in awhile he gets the urge to change things up, take a year off and devote himself to the real priorities in life, like family. That happens once again in this book. He doesn't claim to have all the answers (or probably any, if you really pushed him), and he always admits his mistakes.
I loved reading about his car rides with family, his various goals, like losing weight, and his devotion to the freedom of nude swimming. I don't know a more articulate way to say: he's a very interesting person. And you can catch him on TED talking about work life balance!
Nigel, the only thing I'd say that's a slight criticism of your book is that I didn't get to know more about your wife Kate's good qualities. The picture of you two at the end is so endearing. I want to know her for more than her Armenian good-byes, vodka tonic requests and wandering shopping trips.
General consensus: This book is a smile and a sigh of relief because we're all in this thing called life together. Nigel reminds us that there's no perfect way to do it. We all make mistakes but let's do our best and try to remember to enjoy ourselves along the way.
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