Notes From the Shallow End by Andy Flannagan: A Book Review

This book literally took my breath away! “Notes From The Shallow End” is a collection of stories “behind, beyond and between” the songs on Andy Flannagans Album “Drowning in the shallow”.

I happened to go to a concert. Andy is an amazing storyteller and has an endearing style to the way he presents his craft. I thoroughly enjoyed the concert and had to buy the book to hear about how a man could write such amazing songs that softly yet compellingly tug at the core of your being.

Andy is a London-based Irish singer-songwriter who was once a doctor and gave it all up to work with young people, offering them hope through music. His “About Author” Page also says that his “campaigning songwriting dragged him into the political arena, so he can now be found annoying MP’s around parliament” – I want to hang out with this cool guy.

I must say that I’m truly inspired by this selfless and brilliant storyteller. A firm favorite of mine from the Album and Book is “Drowning in the shallow”. In this story, Andy talks about a time he was living in Luton, United Kingdom and knew he needed to be living in London, to get more involved in the political scene there. Fear of the unknown and failure held him back for a long time, even though he knew that was where he really needed to be. He did conquer his fears and now lives in London. I think many of us have been to this place in our lives before. The surprising thing is often when we finally do or go where we were meant to go, we wish we had done it sooner.

Andy says this: “ Yet getting to that place of the challenge means conquering some fears and being prepared for a level of discomfort that the world trains us to avoid. For too long I settled for the comfortable and the familiar. I am obviously a slow learner, because this wasn’t the first time that I had been reminded that my fear of failure (and losing control) was holding me back from experiencing life in its fullness” – Andy Flannagan I can totally relate with that!

I have certainly taken away with me some deep truths and some questions that I need to answer for myself. But the essence is that I have come away wanting to do better tomorrow. Would I recommend this book? Absolutely! Buy your copy on Amazon.

You might want to listen to the album too and let the melodies stir you up and sit in your spirit before you read the book. It will certainly make reading the book an amazing experience.