A life backwards is a film about human diversity and the things we all share. With benedict cumberbatch, tom hardy, nicola duffett, clairelouise cordwell. The main characters of this non fiction, biography story are. Respect and sympathy for a psychopath are unexpected outcomes of this book.
An unlikely friendship bloomed and in a new book, stuart. 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. In this extraordinary book, alexander masters has created a moving portrait of a troubled man, an unlikely friendship, and a. Stuarts life and way of thinking momentarily exposed. This brilliant biography, winner of the guardian first book award, presents a humbling portrait of homeless life, and is as extraordinary and unexpected as the man it describes. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 300 pages and is available in hardcover format. Click download or read online button to get stuart a life backwards book now. Stuart shorters brief life was one of turmoil and chaos. 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 1st harper perennial edition by masters, alexander isbn. Stuart s life and way of thinking momentarily exposed. At a swoop, it has solved the major problem of writing a biography of a man who is not famous. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want.
In this extraordinary book, alexander masters has created a moving portrait. Like a break in the hedgerow during the country lane part of a journey. I would hesitate to use the term friendship, but there is warmth and respect, and it is largely mutual. It explores how a young boy, somewhat disabled from birth, became mentally unstable, criminal and violent, living homeless on the streets of cambridge. I feel so strongly about this strange, funny, sad book that i hardly know where to begin. Stuart s backwards inspiration has turned out to be excellent. Stuart a life backwards download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl. 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. Told backwards stuart s idea it starts with a deeply troubled thirtytwoyearold and ends with a happygolucky little boy of twelve. Stuarts backwards inspiration has turned out to be excellent. I feel so strongly about this strange, funny, sad book that i hardly. Aug 14, 2014 explore lorelieofthesacs board stuart.
A life backwards by alexander masters and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. A life backwards is a writers quest to give voice to a man who, beneath his forbidding exterior, has a message for us all. A life backwards, masters takes us on a gripping journey through stuarts troubled youth, introducing an unforgettable man with a. Books are seen by some as a throwback to a previous world. 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. 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. He led, as he said, a very controversial, unpleasant life. Gerard odonovan describes how a memoir about a homeless alcoholic, stuart. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. The story shifts from incidents in stuarts life to the relationship between him and masters. He was studying for an msc degree in mathematics with the open university, and working as an assistant at a hostel for the homeless in cambridge, when he wrote his first book. A life backwards, was adapted for televsion and asks if screen versions of. He exemplifies the so called chaotic homeless people, who are on the streets because, curiously, it is the only place where they can manage. A life backwards, by alexander masters the independent.
A life backwards, by alexander masters, a portrait of a. A life backwards an excerpt from alexander masters book about his unlikely friendship with a mentally ill man. 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 harpercollins. A gripping whodoneit journey back in time, it begins with masters meeting a drunken stuart lying on a sidewalk in cambridge, england, and leads through layers of hellback through crimes and misdemeanors, prison and homelessness, suicide. However, if every medical professional read stuart. The first edition of the novel was published in 2005, and was written by alexander masters. Trouble is, i also had a book to read for french over the summer, and the details of all three keep getting all mixed up in my head. Stuart was homeless, with many of the problems this subsection of english society. Yet the stuart depicted in this book was also a man with a fierce sense of justice and honor a frank, funny. A life backwards is a biography by alexander masters of his friend stuart. In this extraordinary book, alexander masters has created a moving portrait of a troubled man.
A life backwards is a rare, droll, moving film that grows to understand the maddening complexity of life and subsequent near hopelessness in trying to find the factors behind someones life. 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. Stuarts story is not the worst i have come across nor can it alone represent all the individual narratives of rough sleepers on our streets. See more ideas about stuart a life backwards, tom hardy and benedict cumberbatch. A life backwards, the new book by alexander masters, deserves every accolade that can be awarded. 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. Though a life backwards, it is also a life in the present. A life backwards is a remarkable account of a free fall into the. Well, i guess i should start at the beginning which, of course, is actually the end of stuarts story. Stuart shorter spent his late teens and adult life alternating between the streets and prison with occasional, mostly short lived, forays into accommodation. 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.
In this remarkable book, a masterful act of biographical restoration, alexander masters retraces stuarts troubled journey. A life backwards isbn 0007200374, the biography of stuart shorter. A life backwards is the story of an extraordinary friendship between a reclusive writer and illustrator and a chaotic, knifewielding beggar whom he gets to know during a campaign to release two charity workers from prison. A life backwards, by alexander masters the new york. If it available for your country it will shown as book reader and user fully subscribe will benefit by. Yet the stuart depicted in this book was also a man with a fierce sense of justice and. Therefore it need a free signup process to obtain the book. A life backwards, by alexander masters, a portrait of a homeless man. Shocking, inspiring, and hilarious by turns, stuart. A life backwards, it may prevent the health service from contributing to further marginalisation of the already marginalised. Original post by 418am im doing my coursework in year 2 of my langlit alevel on comparing stuart. Even with a wellknown person it can be boring work to spend the first fifty pages reading facts and guesses about grandpa, granny, mum, dad, subject aged one, two, three, seven, eight. For an instant you glimpse scenery you havent seen before fields of poppy and cornflower, trees gnarled in the shape of demons.
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