Review: Brilliantly Snarky
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 5, 2014
When I first picked up this book, I expected a rather dry, yet interesting account of a life in law enforcement in New Zealand, much as Chester Porter's autobiography was an account of a life in Australia's legal system. I quite forgot that "brilliant" has a particular meaning in the Queen's English, very often with a snarky twist. During the course of this book, Glenn Wood proves himself quite snarky, often wonkey and at times even a bit gonzo. It is one of the funniest books I have ever read, eliciting from me quiet chuckles, not-so-quiet guffaws, and even peals of laughter accompanied by tears. I frequently annoyed the Wife with my outbursts, and annoyed She-Who-Must-Be-Obeyed even further by sharing aloud the bit that amused me...well, at least the ones not too profane for mixed company. She laughed too.Woods has a deft touch when it comes to relating the events of his life in an absurd and absorbing manner. He begins with his life just before deciding to join the police and ends with his starting out as a working police officer, but he majority of the book is occupied by his quasi-military and usually harrowing training period as a police cadet. Though the narrative is not quite in the same vein as the "Police Academy" films, he nonetheless manages to portray himself and his fellow cadets and instructors (all whom you get to know quite well) as if they were players in a Ritz Brothers' film, with the film written and directed by the inmates of Bedlam. The lengthy periods of hilarity are tempered now and then with moments of deep feeling and insight. The vocabulary is not American English, of course, but the humor transcends national and cultural divides.