Jimmy Barnes: My way of dealing with trauma is to make light of it.

Long before Cold Chisel and Barnesy, long before the tall tales of success and excess, there was the true story of James Dixon Swan, a working class boy whose family made the journey from Scotland to Australia in search of a better life. Did you know this was the story of Jimmy Barnes?

Raw, gritty, compassionate and darkly funny, Working Class Boy is the childhood memoir of this rock legend. Of this Australian rock icon who’s amassed more #1 albums than The Beatles. Our very own Jimmy Barnes.

Jimmy visited Booktopia recently to chat about this memoir. We learnt that his “way of dealing with trauma is to make light of it,” so that’s why you’ll find humour in this book.

Jimmy goes on to say that writing this book was cathartic for him: “It was really great to get it out. I see a lot of this stuff as wounds that I’ve had since I was a child, and writing the book’s brought them out in the open, put some air on them so they’ll start to heal.”

The one thing about life is, we all have our stories but this a common story, we’re all just trying to survive. We’re all getting through it the best we can.

And about the sequel, Jimmy says, “I’ve already started writing it!”

Working Class Boy

by Jimmy Barnes

A household name, an Australian rock icon, the elder statesman of Ozrock - there isn't an accolade or cliche that doesn't apply to Jimmy Barnes. But long before Cold Chisel and Barnesy, long before the tall tales of success and excess, there was the true story of James Dixon Swan - a working class boy whose family made the journey from Scotland to Australia in search of a better life...

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About the Contributor

Anastasia Hadjidemetri

Anastasia Hadjidemetri is the former editor of The Booktopian and star of Booktopia's weekly YouTube show, Booked with Anastasia. A big reader and lover of books, Anastasia relishes the opportunity to bring you all the latest news from the world of books.