Life's a Banquet by Robin Bennett

Shaun Baines

Life’s a Banquet is the unofficial but essential ‘guide book’ to negotiating your way through life –through education, family life and business, to relationships, marriage, failure and rejection.

Aged 21, Robin Bennett was set to become a cavalry officer and aged 21 and a half, he found himself working as an assistant grave digger in South London –wondering where it had all gone wrong.

Determined to succeed, he went on and founded The Bennett Group, aged 23, and since then has gone on to start and run over a dozen successful businesses in a variety of areas from dog-sitting to cigars, translation to home tuition. In 2003, Robin was recognised in Who’s Who as one of the UK’s most successful business initiators. Catapulting readers through his colourful life and career, Robin Bennett’s memoir is an inspiring tale.

My Review

A playful, but honest look at one man's life.

Life's a Banquet is a modern day romp focusing on a galleon of a man who seemingly cuts a swathe through both life and business. There is bonhomie by the bucket load with some standout comedic moments. Robin Bennett reminds me of the Captain Jack Sparrow character in the Pirates of the Caribbean films. Not in the least bit nautical (though the author lived on a house boat for a spell), he seems to land on his feet despite, not because of, his derring-do.

Life's a Banquet is an effortless, pleasant read. The author is in love with language, which is not surprising given his background in translation. It was easy to be swept up in the word play and the joy the author clearly feels in writing. I leapt from chapter to chapter, barely noticing how the hours flew by.

The book also acts as an insight into entrepreneurship and the attitude needed to succeed. When success is fleeting or out of reach, it looks at how that same attitude steers the ship through choppy waters. Failure comes in many guises, including the author's own short-comings to a heart-wrenching account of starting a family. This is not a straight navigation from port to port. There are plenty of opportunities for a shipwreck.

More memoir than self-help, Life's a Banquet lives up to its title. I heartily recommend it. It is available on Amazon here. Should you enjoy it, please leave a swash-buckling review