Ben Dirs – författare

Wayne Barnes - one of the most-experienced international referees in history and criminal barrister to boot - uniquely lifts the lid on a lifetime of trying to keep the biggest names in the sport on best behaviour.There aren't many people who can say they've been the thirty-first man on the pitch during a World Cup humdinger, Grand Slam decider or Premiership and European Cup final; listened to the sobs of a 20-stone prop as he tries to belt out his national anthem; heard the crunch of bones after some of the mightiest hits known to the game; or been yards away from the greatest players of the last twenty years, doing almost impossible things with a rugby ball - especially when you're a working-class lad from the Forest of Dean, wondering how you ever got there in the first place.Candid, humble and warmly told, Throwing the Book is a definitive account of what it means to be a rugby referee and a love letter to the sport that has provided Wayne with so much. Covering his childhood days, family life, career highs and lows, side-step into law, as well as what's next in store for Wayne both on and off the pitch, this book reveals the man behind the referee for the very first time.Serious when it needs to be, but also rich in good humour and humanity, Throwing the Book is a memoir to remember.

Wayne Barnes - one of the most-experienced international referees in history and criminal barrister to boot - uniquely lifts the lid on a lifetime of trying to keep the biggest names in the sport on best behaviour.There aren't many people who can say they've been the thirty-first man on the pitch during a World Cup humdinger, Grand Slam decider or Premiership and European Cup final; listened to the sobs of a 20-stone prop as he tries to belt out his national anthem; heard the crunch of bones after some of the mightiest hits known to the game; or been yards away from the greatest players of the last twenty years, doing almost impossible things with a rugby ball - especially when you're a working-class lad from the Forest of Dean, wondering how you ever got there in the first place.Candid, humble and warmly told, Throwing the Book is a definitive account of what it means to be a rugby referee and a love letter to the sport that has provided Wayne with so much. Covering his childhood days, family life, career highs and lows, side-step into law, as well as what's next in store for Wayne both on and off the pitch, this book reveals the man behind the referee for the very first time.Serious when it needs to be, but also rich in good humour and humanity, Throwing the Book is a memoir to remember.

We all need something to believe in, whether it's God, money -- or naked table tennis. But has anyone actually cracked the secret of how to live a happy life?Meet acclaimed comic bloggers Tom Fordyce and Ben Dirs, two men in search of meaning in a meaningless world of work, Facebook and microwave meals for one. It's time to become 'karma chameleons' and try some very different ways of living. What follows is a weird and wonderful year sampling life as silent monks in the far north of Scotland, and as witches in an East End coven; weeks spent living solely on the Internet as avatars, and entirely in the real world, as naked as the day they were born. And along the way, Tom and Ben encounter a whole host of odd, hilarious, charming people, all fellow travellers on a quest to find the secret of happiness . . .From the authors of We Could Be Heroes, longlisted for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year