Above Average: A collection of mildly amusing bike messenger anecdotes and other unbelievable stories, interspersed with a smidge of autobiographical bits.
by Mark GallagherPublish: Mar 04, 2021Biographies & Memoirs Book Overview
“Above Average” is an autobiography of an ex-bike messenger and ex-computer games programmer who has a catalogue of amusing and sometimes downright unbelievable stories. There are a number of accounts of Mark’s semi-anarchic adventures while working as a bike messenger, including stories of mounted police chases through the streets of Glasgow, hanging on to the backs of buses and trucks and retaliatory action against aggressive bus drivers.
Mark also recounts his initial introduction to the world of computers, just at the beginning of the home computer boom, leading up to his time as a professional game programmer, where he co-designed and wrote a game which would get ripped off. The game in question went on to become Grand Theft Auto, one of the greatest selling computer game franchises of all time.
During a trip to New York, he also once found himself dressed as a Nigerian Chief, sitting amongst around 500 dignitaries, while watching his future wife dance for the president of Nigeria.
These are stories of a life lived and rarely compromised, a sometimes emotionally charged journey, consisting of almost impossible circumstances brought about by being in the right place at the right time, none of which could ever be imagined or replicated.