When stuart shorter a homeless alcoholic with a violent past meets writer and charity worker alexander masters, they strike up an unlikely friendship. The author, taking stuarts recommendation tells his life story backwards. Whether youve loved the book or not, if you give your honest and detailed thoughts then people will find new books that are right for them. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. However, if every medical professional read stuart. Apr 10, 20 stuart a life backwards official dvd trailer.
Masters is able to show us the real person behind the homeless and chaotic life and he does so in a way that the story reads somewhat like a thriller with clues being thrown out gradually until the whole picture becomes clear. And a lot has gone wrong with stuart s life, from gluesniffing, to drug addiction and alcoholism, from minor crime to car theft, robbery, violence and possible charges of. The scar extends like a squashed worm from beneath the tattoos on one ear to above his. Stuart a life backwards this book is in very good condition and will be shipped within 24 hours of ordering.
And a lot has gone wrong with stuart s life, from gluesniffing, to drug addiction and alcoholism, from minor crime to car theft, robbery, violence and possible charges of attempted murder. I come over all queasy, too, when critics use words like important. A life backwards from the worlds largest community of readers. It is a subset of society most of us literary types prefer to ignore, and reading something like stuart. A life backwards, by alexander masters, a portrait. Click download or read online button to get stuart a life backw ards book now. It also is a life backwards in the sense of a life that never should have been that way. A life backwards is, roughly, the life of stuart shorter from the time he was thirtyfour going backwards through his homeless stretches, his prison terms, adolescence, to boyhood. Like him, not mary was an artist as well as a writer, and the pages of this book. A life backwards, was adapted for televsion and asks if screen versions of our favourite books can ever live up to our. I feel so strongly about this strange, funny, sad book that i hardly know where to begin. Dispatched, from the uk, within 48 hours of ordering. Some of the very best of tom hardy in his role as stuart shorter in the 2007 true life drama based on the best selling book by alexander masters, stuart. This makes the book more difficult to follow than it could have been but does serve to reinforce the way stuart feels about his life.
A life backwards has been shortlisted for the samuel johnson. Alexander is given a glimpse into a totally alien world and begins to understand how stuarts life spiralled so badly. I have rarely been so affected by a book and reading about the life of stuart shorter was a terrifying experience. The first edition of this novel was published in 2005, and was written by alexander masters. A life backwards and over one million other books are available for amazon kindle.
Stuart s story is not the worst i have come across nor can it alone represent all the individual narratives of rough sleepers on our streets. Click download or read online button to get stuart a life backwards book now. A life backwards, the new book by alexander masters, deserves every accolade that can be awarded. Stuart a life backwards download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl.
Basically, if you like pages 1 to 6 of this book then youll like the rest. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. A gripp highly recommend this book, for anyone, but especially if you like non fiction. Mostly, i am allergic to books with even so much as a dusting of worthiness. Jul 02, 2006 stuart pushes open the second reinforced door into his corridor, turns off the blasting intercom that honks like a foghorn whenever a visitor presses his front bell, and bumps into his kitchen to. Stream and download audiobooks to your computer, tablet or mobile phone. Stuart advises him to tell the story backwards, so that its more exciting like a tom clancy murder mystery. It was stuart shorters suggestion that the story of his life should be told backwards. A backwards life revealed in stuart alexander masters spent five years working in hostels for the homeless. With a keen writers eye, a gift for narrative and a friendship that lasted only four years, masters recounts the life of stuart clive shorter whose untimely death in 2002 inspired this work. He was the survivor of a dickensian no, make that job like series of ordeals. He exemplifies the so called chaotic homeless people, who are on the streets because, curiously, it is the only place where they can manage. As the title suggests, the book starts from shorters adult life, and works backwards to trace through his troubled childhood, examining the effects his family, schooling and disability had.
Jan 02, 2006 stuart, a life backwards, is the story of a remarkable friendship between a reclusive writer and illustrator a middle class scum ponce, if you want to be honest about it, alexander and a chaotic, knifewielding beggar whom he gets to know during a campaign to release two charity workers from prison. Dec, 2015 enyearold boy who was stuart before his long, sprawling, dangerous fall. A life backwards you might like similar books once in a house on fire, engleby, all in the mind, toast. One of the ten books novels, memoirs and one very unusual biography that. Dec 09, 2005 my friend stuart alexander masters has won the guardian first book award for his biography of a psychopathic homeless man. Alongside this alexander looks backwards over stuart s adult life and childhood to try and discover what went wrong with his life. The scar extends like a squashed worm from beneath the tattoos on one ear to above his adams apple. Gerard odonovan describes how a memoir about a homeless alcoholic, stuart. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Stuart, a life backwards is both touching and funny. In this extraordinary book, alexander masters has created a moving portrait of a troubled man, an unlikely friendship. Shocking, inspiring, and hilarious by turns, stuart.
With benedict cumberbatch, tom hardy, nicola duffett, clairelouise cordwell. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read. In a life backwards, stuart gradually takes the author alexander masters and the reader back in time and shows how his life experiences as a child and young adult shaped him into becoming the person that alexander sees which is an unstable adult who eventually looses his life. A life backwards alexander masters 0385340885 9780385340885 in this extraordinary book, alexander masters has created a moving portrait of a troubled man, an unlikely friendship, and a desperate world few ever see.
A writer takes a backwards look at the life of his unlikely friend stuart, a homeless alcoholic who experienced a traumatic event in his childhood. Masters takes the reader backwards through stuart s life, exposing events as the occurred, then revealing events that laid the groundwork prior to them. As alexander learns more about stuart s complicated life and traumatic childhood, he asks if he can write his story and stuart advises him to tell the story backwards, so that its more exciting like a tom clancy murder mystery. A life backwards in this extraordinary book, alexander masters has created a moving portrait of a troubled man, an unlikely friendship, and a desperate world few ever see. Rachel cooke is unexpectedly bowled over by alexander masterss beautiful, important portrait of an itinerant, stuart. The main characters of this non fiction, biography story are. Hes vulgar, violent and a little bit ok, a lot mad, spending much of the story either homeless or in prison. Though secondhand, the book is still in very good shape. As alexander learns more about stuarts complicated life and traumatic childhood, he asks if he can write his story and stuart advises him to tell the story backwards, so that its more exciting like a tom clancy murder mystery. Welcome,you are looking at books for reading, the stuart a life backwards, you will able to read or download in pdf or epub books and notice some of author may have lock the live reading for some of country. A life backwards, by alexander masters, a portrait of a. But hes also charming, wise and strangely moral in his own way.
The book was published in multiple languages including english language, consists of 300 pages and is available in hardcover format. A writer cumberbatch takes a backwards look at the life of his unlikely friend stuart hardy, a homeless alcoholic who experienced a traumatic event in his childhood. Stuart was homeless, with many of the problems this subsection of english society. A life backwards expanded the possibilities of what a biography could. Stuart a life backwards official dvd trailer youtube. Like an archeologist peeling back layer after layer of cultural sediment and fossilized civilizations, masters removes the grimy layers of stuart. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading stuart.
All content included on our site, such as text, images, digital downloads and other, is the property of its content suppliers and protected by us and international laws. It explores how a young boy, somewhat disabled from birth, became mentally unstable, criminal and violent, living homeless on the streets of cambridge. Along the way he met stuart, a homeless, drugaddicted excon. Stuart was homeless, with many of the problems this subsection of english society display. A life backwards by alexander masters in djvu, epub, fb2 download e book. Id seen the film and absolutley loved it thanks to benedict cumberbatch and tom hardy. A life backwards 1st harper perennial edition by alexander masters isbn. Minimal signs of usage may include very minor creasing on the cover or on the spine. Well, i guess i should start at the beginning which, of course, is actually the end of stuarts story. But, at the same time, according to stuarts weird sense of etiquette on such subjects, only one son in a family is allowed to kill himself, else it puts too much strain on the parents, and his brother, gavvy, like jacob in the old testament, has stolen stuarts birthright. Stuart a life backwards download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl, mobi.
A life backwards is a biography by alexander masters of his friend stuart clive shorter, formerly, at various times, a prisoner and a career criminal. A life backwards, by alexander masters, a portrait of a homeless man. The first edition of the novel was published in 2005, and was written by alexander masters. In this extraordinary book, alexander masters has created a moving portrait of a troubled man, an unlikely friendship, and a desperate world few ever see. Sep 19, 2007 gerard odonovan describes how a memoir about a homeless alcoholic, stuart. But, at the same time, according to stuart s weird sense of etiquette on such subjects, only one son in a family is allowed to kill himself, else it puts too much strain on the parents, and his brother, gavvy, like jacob in the old testament, has stolen stuart s birthright. Terrifying because, written backwards as it is, i knew i was coming closer with every page to some kind of explanation for what happened to stuart in his early life. A life back wards is, roughly, the life of stuart shorter from the time he was thirtyfour going backwards through his homeless stretches, his prison terms, adolescence, to boyhood. A life backwards by alexander masters when i found out that this was one of the 25 books i had won from booka i was really excited. Alexander is given a glimpse into a totally alien world and begins to understand how stuart s life spiralled so badly. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 300 pages and is available in hardcover format. However, formatting rules can vary widely between applications and fields of interest or study. The concept of writing the life story backwards is a great idea actually coming from stuart but it does result in the timeline of his life becoming very chaotic as time jumps forwards and backwards. In this remarkable book, a masterful act of biographical restoration, alexander masters retraces stuart s troubled journey.
A life backwards kindle edition by alexander masters. A life backwards by alexander masters harpercollins. The story of a boys hunger, if nobody speaks of remarkable things. A life backwards by alexander masters librarything. A life backwards with benedict cumberbatch, tom hardy, nicola duffett, clairelouise cordwell. The central character, stuart shorter, could easily be written off as a violent, drugaddicted criminal. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. He was the survivor of a dickensian no, make that joblike series of ordeals. A life backwards, published in 2005, masters set out to explore the life of a wholly unknown man he had met begging on a street in cambridge. A life backwards, published in 2005, masters set out to explore the. Alexander masters tripped over his first book subject on a cambridge sidewalk, and the result was the multiawardwinning bestseller stuart.
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