How to Dodge Flying Sandals

Daniel Nour’s debut memoir blends humor, heart, and cultural reflection into a thoughtful coming-of-age story about identity, family, and belonging, writes Jenny England.

If there’s one thing a debut memoir needs to attract readers these days, it’s a catchy title.

How to Avoid Flying Sandals? with Daniel Nur There is definitely one. It instantly draws you in and you instantly want to know more.

Daniel’s collection of early life experiences is told as a series of 37 short “how-to” advice chapters created from snapshots of his life. These are deeply ‘How to Die’ many more ordinary experiences such as ‘How to Swim’ And ‘How to Dance’. Each episode explores various elements of her development into adulthood as part of her unique coming-of-age journey. I especially liked how he used as much detail as needed to bring each experience to life on the page.

In this thoughtful memoir, he sensitively approaches, with warmth and humour, the subject of growing up as the only son of bicultural Egyptian-Australian parents in Sydney. It describes how he eventually found peace and acceptance as a gay individual living and thriving in a complex, multicultural Australian world.

In three parts ‘How to Return to Your Roots’ (to contain ‘Departure’, ‘Wander along the Nile’ And ‘Supreme Council of the Armed Forces’), Daniel shares his journey to his homeland of Egypt in an attempt to understand everything about it and incorporate it into his completely different life in Australia. last part, ‘How to Pay Your Dues’It is a thank you to everyone in his field who helped him become the person he is today.

Daniel Nour is no stranger to writing. As a journalist, his work has appeared in many respected magazines. Meanjin Quarterly And Eureka Street. He won the NSW Premier’s Young Journalist of the Year award in 2020. He is also a member Sweatshop Literacy MovementSupported by the Australian Government Creative Australia.

Still relatively young, Daniel has a full, interesting writing career ahead of him. My thoughts on this subject are echoed in a letter of recommendation sent to him after some work experience at 2SSRFM. ‘A bright and promising young man with a great career ahead of him’but with the addition of ‘he dresses badly’gives the reader another small clue about his interesting personality (p. 70).

A great read, an experience and insight at once. I’m sure there will be more to come.

How to Avoid Flying Sandals? Simon & Schuster Australia.

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