- Hawks, Tony.
Round Ireland with a Fridge.
London: Ebury Press, 1998.
ISBN 0-09-186777-0.
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The author describes himself as “not, by nature” either a drinking or
a betting man. Ireland, however, can have a way of changing those
particular aspects of one's nature, and so it was that after a night
about which little else was recalled, our hero found himself having
made a hundred pound bet that he could hitch-hike entirely around the
Republic of Ireland in one calendar month, accompanied the entire way
by a refrigerator. A man, at a certain stage in his life, needs a
goal, even if it is, as this epic quest was described by an Irish
radio host, “A totally purposeless idea, but a damn fine one.” And
the result is this very funny book. Think about it; almost every
fridge lives a life circumscribed by a corner of a kitchen—door
opens—light goes on—door closes—light goes out (except when the
vegetables are having one of their wild parties in the
crisper—sssshhh—mustn't let the homeowner catch on). How
singular and rare it is for a fridge to experience the freedom of the
open road, to go surfing in the Atlantic (chapter 10), to be baptised
with a Gaelic name that means “freedom”, blessed by a Benedictine nun
(chapter 14), be guest of honour at perhaps the first-ever fridge
party at an Irish pub (chapter 21), and make a triumphal entry into
Dublin amid an army of well-wishers consisting entirely of the author
pulling it on a trolley, a radio reporter carrying a mop and an ice
cube tray, and an elderly bagpiper (chapter 23). Tony Hawks points
out one disadvantage of his profession I'd never thought of before.
When one of those bizarre things with which his life and mine are
filled comes to pass, and you're trying to explain something like,
“No, you see there were squirrels loose in the passenger cabin of the
747”, and you're asked the inevitable, “What are you, a comedian?”,
he has to answer, “Well, actually, as a matter of fact, I
am.”
A U.S. edition is now available.
June 2005 