With enormous pride, I can tell you that my autobiography Faster, Louder, Riskier, Sexier – a Wonderful Life with ADHD, is now available on Audible, read by the inimitable Charles Robert Fox, who narrated Old Man Sailing, the Good Stuff and at least two of the Voyage books.

But this is the big one. This is the book I am really proud of. It was the first to be written (although the last to be published).

When I was 68, Tamsin my wife, raised the possibility that I might have this thing that makes 5% of the world’s population slightly odd – at least, when viewed from the perspective of the other 95%.

And sure enough, when I went for the test, they told me that not only did I have it, but I was in the “1% of the most severe cases”.

At last, I had achieved something!

On the other hand, it can be a crushing experience to have your whole life explained to you when you are practically at the end of it. I dealt with it the way I deal with everything: I wrote about it.

It made pretty depressing reading. If this was an autobiography, I didn’t much care for the central character.

So, I wrote it again.

And again.

Over the course of seven years, I rewrote that book six times. Each time, I looked for the fun. I looked for the jokes, the uplifting stories. Most of all, I wanted an exciting life – Faster, Louder, Riskier, Sexier…

And it was all there: First love at 14, the obsession with boats – the thrill in discovering that people would pay me to write (I would have paid them to let me).

Charles Fox, after narrating the last nail-biting chapter, wrote to me: “I really enjoyed the book – quite a whirlwind between funny reminiscences and very personal observations. I think this will do very well.”

I could have told him that. Reviewers of the first edition (before I changed the title) said:

Excellent book, interesting and amusing; an honest review of a life spent chasing an idea. Many painful truths I recognise in my own life, perhaps I too have ADHD? Not written as a self-help book, but it certainly made me reconsider my life decisions and maybe answered some questions. Thank you.

..

Insight into an ocean adventurer’s ADHD history and coping strategy – not for the faint-hearted! John Passmore is soo readable, always a real pleasure to read
..

The book was interesting from the very beginning. So honest and open, unlike some other personal memoirs. John knows instinctively how to take his reader on the journey of a life well lived.
John would argue that he is forgetful, but I would say that the details which he has recalled from his childhood and right through an eventful life make this an exceptional read. Entertaining and informative.

..

Even under the new title, someone found it: “Well written, great point of view and sense of humor.”

If you don’t have an Audible account, and would like to order the book as part of their free trial, you can do so through my link. Then, if you carry on, Amazon will send me a little thank-you: https://www.audible.co.uk/pd/B0GXL6LPSX/?source_code=AUKFrDlWS02231890H6-BK-ACX0-507044&ref=acx_bty_BK_ACX0_507044_rh_uk