Blog Tour -XYZ by William Knight

Here is a little about the book:

XYZ

Jack Cooper is a depressed, analogue throwback; a cynical, alcoholic Gen-Xer whose glory days are behind him. He’s unemployed, his marriage has broken down, he’s addicted to internet hook-ups, and is deeply ashamed of his son Geronimo, who lives life dressed as a bear.

When Jack’s daughter engineers a job for him at totally-lit tech firm Sweet, he’s confronted by a Millennial and Zoomer culture he can’t relate to. He loathes every detail – every IM, gif and emoji – apart from Freya, twenty years his junior and addicted to broadcasting her life on social media.

Can Jack evolve to fit in at Sweet, or will he remain a dinosaur stuck in the 1980s? And will he halt his slide into loneliness and repair his family relationships?

XYZ is for every Gen-Xer who ever struggled with a device, and for everyone else who loves emojis … said no one ever.

Review

Well of course I loved this book. Why wouldn’t I? It’s humorous satire fiction about my life. Ok well, not exactly my life, I’m not male, I don’t have kids and I’m not divorced. I also don’t drink excessively and I don’t need to work right now. BUT, IF I DID, this book would be exactly about my life.

Ok, I guess I’m stretching it just a little here, but William Knight has written a wonderful book about the perils of the Millennial and Zoomer cultures and how we Gen-Xers are pretty much clueless anymore when it comes to technology. That is where this book is exactly like me. I have turned into a bumbling mess of technology, when once a savvy guru.

In Jack Cooper’s Words….

“At a stroke of evil genius, grown adults rushed to form sideways faces from punctuation and add cartoon rolling eyes to the middle of otherwise serious messages. We fear misunderstanding and must explain ourselves with miniature pictures. But if you have to point out your jokes, cannot express your emotions, are unable to construct arguments, or are otherwise challenged with words, then perhaps you should pick up the phone — and not the smart one either — the one with the coiled wire and a receiver.” – William Knight. XYZ

And, that sums it all up right there folks, nothing more to say. No, seriously I am kidding, I always have more to say. But that quote is just in the preface, and I found it to be so true. William Knight did an excellent job making me laugh and chuckle at my own life and my own mistakes with this brilliantly written book about a man who is truly experiencing another “coming of age” he never expected. But its not all laughs and giggles, because going through a mid-life crisis for Jack Cooper certainly isn’t easy, nor would anyone expect it to be. Between dealing with his wife which he still clearly cares about, his teenage daughter, and his young son who insists on dressing like a bear, there are a few relatable dark sides to the novel. It’s filled with a mixed cast of personalities and I feel sure each and every one of us has met a few of these characters along the way, and may be sitting next to one of them right now. Overall, if you are into satire, cynicism and dry humor, then this one is for you. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and it gets a 4 star rating from me. This one was right up my alley.

Thank you so much to William Knight, Rachel Gilbey from Rachels Random Resources, and Amazon Digital Publishing for a copy of this book for my honest and unbiased opinion.

Purchase Links

Amazon UK

Amazon US

About the Author

William Knight is British born writer and technologist currently living and working in Wellington, New Zealand. He’s chased a portfolio career which began in acting, progressed to music, flirted with handbag manufacturing and was eventually wired into technology in the late nineties.

“I had my first feature published in Computing magazine back in 2003 and subsequently wrote about the many successes and failings of high-tech for the Guardian, Financial Times and the BBC among many others publications. I now work as an IT consultant, and write blistering content for technology firms :-)” says William

The Donated (formerly Generation), his debut novel and a Sci-tech Thriller, started in 2001 and was ten years in development. XYZ, “A mid-life crisis with a comic vein”, took far less time. “But I think it’s funnier and better. Yay. Jazz hands!”