No, not a staid account of lost youth by an elderly gent looking back on his long-lost younger days through rose-tinted specs.

This is, instead, a comic novel by former regular Evening Press letter-writer and one-time columnist Bryan Marlowe.

Archibald Sinclair Cholmondley (pronounced Chumley) is a bit of a Jack-the-lad, dodging and diving and coming up with one dubious scheme after another to earn a crust in post-war Britain.

Despite it all, however, he's well-intentioned at heart, and lives by his own, self-imposed code of conduct.

Archie's scheming often lands him in hot water, but his innate survival instinct usually saves the day.

Bryan, a former policeman, says he is now working on a thriller set in the Far East during the 1960s. "My agent thinks it might make the screen," he says. "We'll see!"

Memoirs Of An Errant Youth is available at Borders and on Amazon.

Updated: 09:07 Saturday, April 22, 2006