The Xenophobe's Guide to the Aussies (Xenophobe's Guides)

Highlights the unique character and behavior of the nation. Frank, irreverent, funny--almost guaranteed to cure Xenophobia.

The author is named Joseph Kenneth Hunt, but he is called ¿Ken¿. Until he was 14 years old he believed his name was Kenneth Joe Hunt. All his school records are in that name. But needing his birth certificate for something or other, the truth was revealed. According to his mother he was called Ken after his uncle, and because his father is called Joe. Had he been called Joe, he¿d have been nicknamed ¿Little Joey¿ (which is a baby roo).

In fact it turns out that his father¿s name is not Joe, it¿s Percy - Percy Joseph Kelly Hunt. He was called Joe because his real name would also have made his younger days intolerable. Joe¿s father died when he was about two. When he was 21 he changed his name to Hunt after his stepfather, but retained the name Kelly. He thought of hyphenating it to Kelly-Hunt but that would have made his later life intolerable.

It further transpires that Kelly is not the family name. Joe¿s father was press-ganged by the Royal Navy, jumped ship in Portsmouth and assumed the name Kelly.

Proof of Ken¿s lack of concern over this confusion has resulted in his daughter being named Jo.

During his life Ken has managed a dodgem track, picked fruit, been a messenger boy, painter, accountant, business consultant and owned a general store. In Australia he has lived in three states and eight towns and cities. He has travelled widely in Europe, Canada, America, China, Russia, Asia and big-time islands like Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, Grand Cayman and the Bahamas.

He claims the fact that the latter are all tax havens has made no difference whatsoever to his appreciation of them