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. He exemplifies the so called chaotic homeless people, who are on the streets because, curiously, it is. 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. 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. Stuart advises him to tell the story backwards, so that its more exciting like a tom clancy murder mystery. Click download or read online button to get stuart a life backw ards book now. Unexpectedly, the book ends up being a lot about alexander and his feels and. The main characters of this non fiction, biography story are. Alexander masters masters has created a moving portrait of a troubled man, an unlikely friendship, and a desperate world few ever see. A life backwards isbn 0007200374, the biography of stuart shorter. However, if every medical professional read stuart. 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.
Thrust together when the managers of a shelter are imprisoned for drug dealing, alexander and stuart find camaraderie across social barriers. He exemplifies the so called chaotic homeless people, who are on the streets because, curiously, it is the only place where they can manage. Shocking, inspiring, and hilarious by turns, stuart. In this case, the book is much more notable than the individual. Stuart a life backwards download ebook pdf, epub, tuebl.
In this extraordinary book, alexander masters has created a moving portrait. He was as much baffled by society as society was by him. He led, as he said, a very controversial, unpleasant life. A life backwards by alexander masters librarything. Sep 12, 20 12 years a slave 50 shades of the piemaker agatha christie alan carr amanda abbington amazing grace andrew scott applelock arena a study in sherlock atonement audiobook bbc benedict cumberbatch benny on the show bluray bts cabin pressure chattyman chealsea flower show chris pine conan obrien copenhagen creation david harewood david letterman. However, formatting rules can vary widely between applications and fields of interest or study. They just werent made for each other unlike masters and biography. The first edition of the novel was published in 2005, and was written by alexander masters. Stuart a life backwards by alexander masters true stories. 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.
Nov 23, 2006 the cameras are rolling as filming begins on a production of alexander masters acclaimed cambridgebased novel, stuart. A life backwards is a fascinating and heartbreaking biography of an english man who lived a life of crime and drug addiction, was often homeless, and suffered from physical problems. Double bafta awardwinner jack thornes new play tells the story of an unlikely friendship and of stuarts entire life told backwards by alexander. Stuart was homeless, with many of the problems this subsection of english society. This is my little corner of the internet where i share my journey to health and wellness. The book exposes freely and clinically how rubbish society is at dealing with or even coping with unconventional people such as stuart. I have lost weight, gained some back, and am now losing again. 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. S tuart 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, by alexander masters the new york. Other readers will always be interested in your opinion of the books youve read. Alexander is a middleclass, cambridge graduate and volunteer at the local homeless shelter who decides to write stuarts biography. This site is like a library, use search box in the widget to get ebook that you want. 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.
A life backwards is that it leaves you feeling thoroughly ashamed of your own cynicism and thoroughly infuriated buttingly so. A life backwards is a film about human diversity and the things we all share. A life backwards stars tom hardy, benedict cumberbatch, nicola duffett, edna dore the movie has a runtime of about 1 hr 30 min, and received a score of out of 100 on. 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. In the preface, we are told that stuart shorter stepped in front of a moving train at the age of 33, shortly before this biography was completed, so he never saw the final version. A life backwards, by alexander masters, a portrait of a. A first book, written in reverse, by a fastidioussounding, failed phd. A life backwards 1st harper perennial edition by alexander masters isbn. 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. 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. Stuart is an alcoholic, drug addicted, violenceloving, chaotic homeless. A life backwards by alexander masters harpercollins.
It was a british tv movie based on a popular but not widely known book. Benedict cumberbatch as alexander masters, tom hardy as stuart shorter. Dec, 2015 enyearold boy who was stuart before his long, sprawling, dangerous fall. Yet the stuart depicted in this book was also a man with a fierce sense of justice and honor a frank, funny.
I feel so strongly about this strange, funny, sad book that i hardly know where to begin. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading stuart. A life backwards was universally loved by the reading groups stuart does not like the manuscript. With benedict cumberbatch, tom hardy, nicola duffett, clairelouise cordwell. 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 remarkable book, a masterful act of biographical restoration, alexander masters retraces stuart s troubled journey. Stuart shorters brief life was one of turmoil and chaos. A life backwards by jack thorne is a smart account of an unlikely friendship between a charity worker and a homeless man. 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. 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, the new book by alexander masters, deserves every accolade that can be awarded. A backwards life revealed in stuart alexander masters spent five years working in hostels for the homeless. A life backwards, by alexander masters, a portrait of a homeless man. A life backwards by alexander masters in djvu, epub, fb2 download e book.
The acting in this film is lead almost exclusively by tom hardy and benedict cumberbatch. Stuart was homeless, with many of the problems this subsection of english society display. A life backwards does not have much going for it to make it popular. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 300 pages and is available in hardcover format.
A life backwards kindle edition by masters, alexander. Alexander masters won an arts council writers award for stuart and went on to win the guardian first book award and the hawthornden prize. 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. A life backwards was a 2007 bbc film based on the award winning biography, penned by alexander masters, of stuart clive shorter a homeless man living on the streets of cambridge in the year 2000. A life backwards tom hardy benedict cumberbatch nicola duffett 2007 a writer benedict cumberbatch documents the life of a homeless alcoholic tom hardy who has a violent past. 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. Thanks to stuart shorter we get a glimpse into his life experiences, struggles, and thoughts as a mentally unstable, homeless.
The book was also shortlisted in the biography category for the whitbread book oftheyear award, the samuel johnson prize, and the national book critics circle award in the united states. A life backwards by alexander masters and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. A life backwards is that it leaves you feeling thoroughly ashamed of your own cynicism and thoroughly infuriated buttingly so by that of other. 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. Along the way he met stuart, a homeless, drugaddicted excon. An international bestseller and winner of the whitbread biography award, bad blood is a tragicomic memoir of one womans. It explores how a young boy, somewhat disabled from birth, became mentally unstable, criminal and violent, living homeless on the streets of cambridge. 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. A whodunit journey back in time, it begins with masters meeting a drunken stuart. However, the story has more than enough heart to overcome any production limitations on this film. Yet the stuart depicted in this book was also a man with a fierce sense of justice and.
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. A life backwards pdf feedback end users have not nevertheless remaining his or her writeup on the sport, or otherwise not read it nevertheless. A life backwards is a remarkable account of a free fall into the. Buy stuart a life backwards by alexander masters online from the works. As their friendship blossoms, he peels back the layers of a troubled past and discovers just as much about his own along the way.
A life backwards up to now with regards to the book weve stuart. Through the pale tesco stripes of his supermarket bag i can see the. 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. In this extraordinary book, alexander masters has created a. Sep 30, 2011 stuart shows up at alexanders house with a blinding idea for the campaign to free two charity managers impisoned because some of the clients had been secretly dealing drugs in the homeless shelter. A life backwards, it may prevent the health service from contributing to further marginalisation of the already marginalised. 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. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. A life backwards is a writers quest to give voice to a man who, beneath his forbidding exterior, has a message for us all. Alongside this alexander looks backwards over stuart s adult life and childhood to try and discover what went wrong with his life.
Original post by 418am im doing my coursework in year 2 of my langlit alevel on comparing stuart. Im using faith, family, friends, and humor to navigate my journey to a healthy lifestyle. Visit now to browse our huge range of products at great prices. 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. 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. Well, i guess i should start at the beginning which, of course, is actually the end of stuart s story. A life backwards is a biography by alexander masters of his friend stuart. Told backwards stuart s idea it starts with a deeply troubled thirtytwoyearold and ends with a happy pdfgolucky little boy of twelve. Although he loses his way a bit with stuart s early life, this is a fine debut. Blood trickles down through every generation, seeps into every marriage. As the title of both book and film suggests, the book took the unusual approach of detailing stuarts life from his adult life down through to his childhood. In this extraordinary book, alexander masters has created a moving portrait of a troubled man, an unlikely friendship, and a.
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