Here are some of the best resources you can use for blogging, global culture and philosophy. I cannot begin to do justice to this book except to say that i admire alexander masters the author and stuart the subject. 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. 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. May 21, 2019 beautifully wrote the author captures stuart s life. Rachel cooke is unexpectedly bowled over by alexander masterss beautiful, important portrait of an itinerant, stuart. A life backwards, which won the guardian first book award and the hawthornden prize. When stuart shorter a homeless alcoholic with a violent past meets writer and charity worker alexander masters, they strike up an unlikely friendship. 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. Feb, 2014 alexander masters is the author of stuart.
The read is disturbing, funny and brought me to tears. 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. 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. In this extraordinary book, alexander masters presents a moving portrait of a troubled man, an unlikely friendship, and the. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read. I have rarely been so affected by a book and reading about the life of stuart shorter was a terrifying experience.
The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 300 pages and is available in hardcover format. Stuart, the focus of alexander masters book, is as enigmatic and polarizing as real people tend to get. 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. A life backwards is a writers quest to give voice to a man who, beneath his forbidding exterior, has a message for us all. Whether youre looking for a business, life hack, recipe or just the perfect app to use, blogs will always appear to have the answers to. A life backwards is a remarkable account of a free fall into the state that british social workers label chaotic homelessness. 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.
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. However, it makes the reader understand why stuart became stuart. A life backwards by alexander masters is an honest and gripping look at the often untold life of a homeless alcoholic excon. Masters, alexander 2011, the genius in my basement, harper collins ome, isbn 9780007445271. A life backwards, by alexander masters, a portrait. 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. 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. Stuart clive shorter, the subject of this remarkable biography, was a homeless man whom alexander masters, a former physics student, met in 1998 in cambridge, england. A life backwards by alexander masters a copy that has been read, but remains in clean condition.
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. Id seen the film and absolutley loved it thanks to benedict cumberbatch and tom hardy. Such an eye opener and insight into the life of a young homeless person. There is a reason that masters introduces us to stuart now, rather than beginning at the childhood that spawned this creature. A life backwards by alexander masters librarything. Alexander masters tripped over his first book subject on a cambridge sidewalk, and the result was the multiawardwinning bestseller stuart. Told backwards stuart s idea it starts with a deeply troubled thirtytwoyearold and ends with a happygolucky little boy of twelve. A life backwards kindle edition by masters, alexander. 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.
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. 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. 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. The main characters of this non fiction, biography story are. Yet the stuart depicted in this book was also a man with a fierce sense of justice and honor a frank, funny. It won masters critical praise and a television movie. 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. It explores how a young boy, somewhat disabled from birth, became mentally unstable, criminal and violent, living homeless on the streets of cambridge. Stuart shorters brief life was one of turmoil and chaos. This brilliant biography, winner of the guardian first book award, presents a humbling portrait of homeless life, and is as extraordinary and unexpected as. A life backwards by alexander masters in djvu, epub, fb2 download ebook.
A life backwards, the new book by alexander masters, deserves every accolade that can be awarded. A life backwards book online at best prices in india on. I feel so strongly about this strange, funny, sad book that i hardly know where to begin. A life backwards 9780007241774 by alexander masters and a great selection of similar new, used and collectible books available now at great prices. Your enthusiasm is contagious, and all sorts of great paths are just waiting to be. Masters begins the book with present day and then works backwards through the years of stuart. The first edition of the novel was published in 2005, and was written by alexander masters. A life backwards expanded the possibilities of what a biography could be. A life backwards 9780385340007 by masters, alexander and a great selection of similar new, used and collectible books available now at great prices. A life backwards by alexander masters harpercollins. A life backwards, the 2007 bbc dramatization of his biography of stuart shorter. Alongside this alexander looks backwards over stuart s adult life and childhood to try and discover what went wrong with his life. A gripping whodoneit journey back in time, it begins with masters meeting a drunken stuart lying on a sidewalk in cambridge, england, and. 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.
We only recommend classic and bestselling resources as well as educational links for you to study. Stuart, a life backwards is both touching and funny. Loved the relationahip that had been formed between alexander and stuart. Scattered with glimpses of the authors friendship with stuart in the years before his death, masters gives us stuart s life in reverse, tracing his route backwards through the postoffice heists and attempts at suicide and the spells inside many of this countrys prisons, on back to a troubled time at school and learning difficulties and. A life backwards, asks you to join him in celebrating an unknown and important life left on the scrap heap in 2001, 148 tattered and moldcovered notebooks were discovered lying among broken bricks in a bin on a building site in cambridge, england. Alexander masters has been portrayed by benedict cumberbatch in stuart. 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. A life backwards 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. Stuart a life backwards by alexander masters abebooks. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading stuart. In this remarkable book, a masterful act of biographical restoration, alexander masters retraces stuart s troubled journey. In this remarkable book, a masterful act of biographical restoration, alexander masters retraces stuarts troubled journey. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. A life backwards was an attempt by alexander masters to reveal in murdermystery style what turned his friend who didnt live to see it published.
Stuart is akin to a horrific train wreck that you can not tear your eyes away from. Alexander masters, the bestselling author of stuart. 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. 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. It takes a long time for us to find out that stuart is the victim of childhood sexual abuse at the hands of his brother and others outside his family. 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. Pages can include limited notes and highlighting, and the copy can include previous owner inscriptions. Shocking, inspiring, and hilarious by turns, stuart. A life backwards by alexander masters and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Stuart was homeless, with many of the problems this subsection of english society display. Stuart was homeless, with many of the problems this subsection of english society.
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