Life's a Ball is the self-told story of an average bloke who lives the second half of the 20th century--the earliest part of which was influenced greatly by the effects of the first half on his immediate family forebears. His fortunes fluctuate as Life's ball bounces one way then another. Wartime and post war childhood, bitter sweet teenage, school successes and abject failures, sexual and social awakening, sports, marriage, parenthood, divorce, deaths, the swinging fortunes of work ethic, travel, remarriage--and life for ongoing living. Set in Wonthaggi, Sandringham, Brighton and St. Kilda in Victoria, then in Brisbane, Bribie Island, Goondiwindi and Caboolture in Queensland, Australia, the personal story may well typify the effects on family life influenced by the political and peer (social) pressures of the time. It is fascinating, explicit. It is told to pass on the mistakes, the pleasures, the rewards and perhaps knowledge to his son, and to relative family children to give them all an insight into their own formation through family influences over the 20th century and before it. It is the first of a series of four.