Awareness Daze
WF Howes -- audiobook, December 2024
National Wash Your Nose Day, Feeding Tube Awareness Week, Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day…
On January 1, 2022, Dan Brotzel decided to observe a different awareness day or fake holiday 365 days in a row.
He had no idea what he was letting himself in for.
Dressing up as a gorilla then a daffodil, growing a ‘tash (sort of), eating fish fingers with custard, working for a food bank and signing up for a marathon, Dan both learned a lot and amassed a huge collection of wristbands.
He met fascinating people: a town crier, a hermit, a man born intersex, a stationery fetishist. Some people were facing life-changing challenges while others were movers and shakers in the strange world of made-up holidays.
As the days passed, he wondered what it all meant, in a world where World Lymphoma Awareness Day clashes with National Double Cheeseburger Day.
Reviews
“A master story-teller and observer of people and relationships”
Christy Lefteri, Songbirds and The Beekeeper of Aleppo
"Proof that fake holidays can inspire real change... I've learned more in these 200 pages than in a whole year of social media platitudes. This curious, creative, compassionate study of awareness days charmed even a fake holiday cynic like me.'"
Francesca Lawson, Creator, Gender Pay Gap Bot
'A genuinely laugh-out-loud writer'
CM Taylor, author of Premiership Psycho and Staying On
