A Good Likeness

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View books by Paul Arnott.

Dazzlingly well written memoir of an adoption - Rated
Speaking as an adoptee an awful lot of books about adoption are turgid, analytical or frankly self-obsessed. It was an incredible relief to read this astonishingly well written account of a Londoners surprise journey to find out he was in fact genetically Irish. There is something of the Greek myth about it all, but alongside a great story he weaves in a lot about the real origins of adoption from Moses to the Orphan Trains. What I most loved about it though was that it made me laugh out loud more than any supposedly comic book I've read for years. A great account from a potentially great writer.

A Useful Read - Rated
I read extracts from this book in The Times and immediately had to go out and buy it. At that time it was the only book in the book shop that touched on the experience of reunion when I was needing to know that other people had felt the same as me. It doesn't delve very deep but there are plenty of other books on the subject if thats where you need to go. This book follows his journey of discovery, not just of his birth family but of his own feelings about being an adoptee.Running along side this are historical and social issues but first and foremost it is a personal story of adoption written with both humour and passion.
Every reunion is unique and this book can be a useful read for both adoptees and birth mothers.

An adopted man's experience in tracing his birth family - Rated
This is a subjective, yet informative tale of the author's experience in tracing his birth family. It is a text-book case of an 'adoptee' in his 30's with his own family wondering about his own past. It is basically a story with a happy ending, but the author frequently points out that his case is by no means a typical one and that his search for his birth family was fortunately aided by the relationships he formed with various people along the way, and the help which they gave him

This is a book which may be helpful to those searching for their birth families, but I think it may be also useful reading for those who are closely connected with one who has been adopted as the author addresses various issues which are not always easy to discuss and it may help those interested in 'knowing what it feels like' to better understand the thoughts of an adopted person.

All aspects of adotpion through true story - funny, novel - Rated
Paul Arnott's excellent book gives a brilliant and, above all, funny account of how he traced his birth parents. To give a flavour of the style, suffice to say that it was the size of his head - big ! - and the realisation that his younger son had the same - big - head that led him to wonder what big-headed people had spawned him.

The journey of discovery takes him to Ireland and a whole clan of big-headed men.

Not just this personal story, though, is related. A Good Likeness also gives you - alongside convincing dialogue and personal detail - a potted history and current state of play in the all too often obscure and traumatic adoption maze.

Very good, all round.