Stuart: A Life Backwards
There are books you read and then put on the books shelf, occasional there are books you want to shout about and make people read. Alexander Masters "Stuart: A Life Backwards" most definitely falls in to the last category. If you see it read it.
The book tells the real life story of Stuart Shorter, a homeless addict, as well as Alexanders mission to understand how Stuart came to the life. It actually achieves something many writers search for in that out of the chaos of Stuarts life you begin to understand a real person. The kind of person you would normally cross the road to avoid. The kind of person you would, probably not unfairly, judge, pigeon hole and define - before possibly giving them some spare change.
The book describes Stuart as "Thief, hostage-taker, psycho, and street raconteur." It is brutally honest about Stuarts life; The child abuse, the rapes, the drugs and Stuarts eventual death. Despite this and the fact that it ends on his funeral it is a very human uplifting story.
Becuase of the way it describes and unpicks the life of a chaotic homless person its also a very funny book. In a past job I worked with addicts and recognised the personalities. The brutal bland honesty of they have about their world combined with secrecy and suspicion. The fractured reasoning and wildly unrealistic ambitions. If i were honest i would say that this book actually made me laugh and cry at the same time. But i'm not so i'm not going to.
You really should read this book, no really you should read this book. It won't change your life but it might make you think.
The book tells the real life story of Stuart Shorter, a homeless addict, as well as Alexanders mission to understand how Stuart came to the life. It actually achieves something many writers search for in that out of the chaos of Stuarts life you begin to understand a real person. The kind of person you would normally cross the road to avoid. The kind of person you would, probably not unfairly, judge, pigeon hole and define - before possibly giving them some spare change.
The book describes Stuart as "Thief, hostage-taker, psycho, and street raconteur." It is brutally honest about Stuarts life; The child abuse, the rapes, the drugs and Stuarts eventual death. Despite this and the fact that it ends on his funeral it is a very human uplifting story.
Becuase of the way it describes and unpicks the life of a chaotic homless person its also a very funny book. In a past job I worked with addicts and recognised the personalities. The brutal bland honesty of they have about their world combined with secrecy and suspicion. The fractured reasoning and wildly unrealistic ambitions. If i were honest i would say that this book actually made me laugh and cry at the same time. But i'm not so i'm not going to.
You really should read this book, no really you should read this book. It won't change your life but it might make you think.
posted by gerbil at 5:33 pm
3 Comments:
I am going to be on the lookout for this. I hope it is available in my favorite used book shop.
If you ever get the chance do so. However, I'm guessing given the nature of the book that its likely that its print run will be limited to the UK.
i was a homeless person from the same area as stuart in the book a life going backwards i was fortunate to be part of the film as an extra. i played one of 6 friends he had and was on set for nine days in london it was a eye opener for me to read his book and be in the film,i hope the film will open peoples eyes, when they pass a homeless person on the street just pause for a second and realize that they are human aswell as you and in there madness they are human beings just like themselfs
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