Stuart: A Life Backwards
Alexander Masters (Fourth Estate)

‘I feel so strongly about this strange, funny, sad book that I hardly know where to begin…My enthusiasm feels almost limitless. A page-turner…the structure of Stuart is a masterstroke, allowing buried secrets to be uncovered like hunks of beef beneath silver domes.’   The Observer

Stuart Shorter’s brief life was one of turmoil and chaos. Stuart was homeless, with many of the problems this sub-section of British society display: alcoholism, drug-addiction, crime, violence. Alexander Masters retraces Stuart’s troubled journey. Scattered with glimpses of the author’s friendship with Stuart in the years before his death, Masters gives us Stuart’s life in reverse, tracing his route in reverse through the post-office heists, attempts at suicide, the many spells in prison, back to a troubled time at school and a violent childhood that lead to the trouble that was to follow him all his life.

About the Author

Alexander Masters lives in Cambridge, where he has worked in a hostel for homeless people. This is his first book.

Contact: Robin Harvie at Fourth Estate on 020 8307 4146 or robinharvie@4thestate.co.uk