'This important memoir about growing up brings tears, laughter and goosebumps - sometimes all at the same time. It is utterly compelling. Johanson is a natural storyteller. With unique turns of phrase and a delicious sense of humour, his human generosity and wisdom guide the reader through a most unusual set of life circumstances. Intelligent, sensitive, erudite, fascinating, confronting and subtly hilarious! A pleasure to read.' - Liz Vercoe, creative writer and artist

'This is an extraordinary story of courage and resilience. Johanson creates a deeply moving account of a remarkable capacity to overcome an upbringing encased in a rigidly restrictive cult and punitive family interactions. His saga is set in Melbourne suburbia in the 1950s-1960s, full of local adventures. The author is a man I know now as a generous, warm, kind and humorous professor. How he became that man is a story that will enrich every reader's life.' - Dr Sam Ginsberg OAM