"Bill's remarkable capacity for entertaining reminiscence and his mastery of the pointed, effective anecdote .... a myriad of stories, some them really funny, some of them tragic, some of them heroic ... a history of aspiration, of struggle, of dogged endeavour and persistent courage, of sheer practical goodness in the most hostile of environments - and all this without being in the slightest self-serving or self-important.
Bill's style is couthy and chatty, but there is seriousness too. He is too clever a writer to labour his points, but he has plenty of serious messages to communicate. He can write with insight about break-ins, intimidation, delinquency, illness and death, deprivation, funerals, prisons, courts, hospitals, football and goodness knows what else without losing his upbeat, yet always realistic, spirit. Indeed, this books contains many pertinent reflections for our times."
From the Preface by Harry Reid, former Editor of The Glasgow Herald.
