24 in ’24 Challenge – Book 12 “Mean With Money” by Hunter Davies

The journalist and writer Hunter Davies writes on a variety of subjects – here is my review of his memoir of his childhood and here is what I wrote about his book telling the story of a family separated in childhood and later reunited. My twelfth book of the summer 24 in ’24 Challenge is his collection of newspaper columns which he wrote about money and financial matters Mean With Money.

The author presents himself in these writings as careful with money if you are being polite and miserly if you aren’t. He’s a man who seeks out bargains which aren’t always bargains and tries to save every last penny. He is clear too that he is easily distracted by the chance for money to make more money and frustrated with a family who don’t care about these things as much as he does. How far the author is really like this I don’t know and he may well have invented this irascible, middle aged man as a persona to make the columns more interesting but the book is written with a dry wit and is often very funny. The author is clear that he is well off and doesn’t pretend that all his problems are the same as those of the reader but the way that he writes does ring a bell even with those of us who could never be described as rich.

He writes about investments, the unhelpfulness of banks, finding a cheap deal on consumer products, the things he really likes to spend money on and how so many of his investments fail. These things may not be your problems but the writing is entertaining enough that you sympathise with the writer. Each piece is quite short so you can dip in and out of the book easily.

This book was written about twenty years ago so some of it is no longer relevant but the author is telling stories and not giving financial advice so that doesn’t really matter. I read this book quickly and enjoyed it a lot.

I am now half way through my challenge to read 24 books in the three summer months and am just about keeping to schedule – I have been enjoying the variety of books I have chosen and rather wonder why they had lingered on my to-be-read pile for so long.