Declare Books Toward Stuart: A Life Backwards
| Original Title: | Stuart: A Life Backwards |
| ISBN: | 0385340001 (ISBN13: 9780385340007) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Literary Awards: | Guardian First Book Award (2005), James Tait Black Memorial Prize Nominee for Biography (2005), Hawthornden Prize (2006), National Book Critics Circle Award Nominee for Autobiography (2006), Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction Nominee (2005) |
Alexander Masters
Hardcover | Pages: 300 pages Rating: 3.97 | 3937 Users | 426 Reviews
Ilustration In Pursuance Of Books Stuart: 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. A gripping who-done-it journey back in time, it begins with Masters meeting a drunken Stuart lying on a sidewalk in Cambridge, England, and leads through layers of hell…back through crimes and misdemeanors, prison and homelessness, suicide attempts, violence, drugs, juvenile halls and special schools–to expose the smiling, gregarious thirteen-year-old boy who was Stuart before his long, sprawling, dangerous fall. Shocking, inspiring, and hilarious by turns, Stuart: A Life Backwards is a writer’s quest to give voice to a man who, beneath his forbidding exterior, has a message for us all: that every life–even the most chaotic and disreputable–is a story worthy of being told. From the Hardcover edition.
Define Regarding Books Stuart: A Life Backwards
| Title | : | Stuart: A Life Backwards |
| Author | : | Alexander Masters |
| Book Format | : | Hardcover |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 300 pages |
| Published | : | May 30th 2006 by Delacorte Press (first published 2005) |
| Categories | : | Nonfiction. Biography |
Rating Regarding Books Stuart: A Life Backwards
Ratings: 3.97 From 3937 Users | 426 ReviewsWrite Up Regarding Books Stuart: A Life Backwards
Warm, human, insightful, funny, disturbing and probably all the stuff on the back cover. Truly a book that changes your view on life.I will admit, I saw the film first. Benedict Cumberbatch. Nuff said. But I was so captivated by the story of Stuart Shorter and his subsequent portrayal by Tom Hardy (he was ace!), that I had to read the book.This is a wonderful book. Alexander Masters captures the essence of Stuart in a way that is compelling and heartbreaking all at the same time. It is the story of a young man so embroiled in pain and tragedy, yet has such a profound outlook on life. I ached for Stuart, Alexander, and Stuarts
So all of the praise on the jacket seems to involve people falling over themselves. Not that there's anything wrong with that. And not that I don't get it. It's just that, well... it's not that kind of a book. Stuart is a homeless guy... except he's not, when we meet him. Who's mentally ill... except he's doing okay, when we meet him. Who's been in prison countless times. Who the system failed... except it didn't, because somebody who wasn't himself had to get him out of that parking garage.
Ta very much
A social worker gets paid to be friends with a social basket case and then writes a novel about him. Ethical depravity.
[Quick review from memory before I re-read and re-review at a later date](Oh my goodness. I remember almost everything about this book and I can feel within my bones that it will never not be a five star book. A definite re-read but when I couldn't say. So sad, so beautiful, so ridiculous. So human. So stupid. So absolutely everything. I just wish I could remember whether I saw the adaptation first or read the book first. I imagine it was the former, since I never read real-life inspired works,
Having spent most of my life working in the human services field, this book really gave me a lot to think about. Then again, it would have done that no matter what. For years I tried so hard not to let myself become jaded or cynical about the clients I worked with, realizing that the behavior I witnessed and the personal details I knew about probably only scratched the surfaces of the sum total of their lives' experiences (full admission: ultimately, I failed). This book delves deep beneath
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