The Dirty South
Author(s): Alex Wheatle
Set in Brixton, 20 years after the race riots, "The Dirty South" follows the adventures of Bricky teenager Dennis Huggins as he drifts into the easy, dangerous life of the shotta - or drug dealer - and discovers that, hard as the struggle for respect on the streets is, the struggle for love is harder still. At least Dennis has involved parents looking out for him; too many of his friends have no guidance other than that offered by their fellow shottaz, or the dubiously motivated black Muslims. Wheatle brilliantly evokes the temptations of the thug life for young black men growing up in London's 'Dirty South' - a fast, compelling novel that offers no easy answers, but refuses to shy away from asking the difficult questions.
Product Information
"'[A] slice of black South London that is authentic, witty and gritty' The Times 'Refreshing... empowered with a blistering narrative voice, filled with the anger and desperation of marginalised youth... Wheatle is a sharp-eyed observer' Guardian"
Alex Wheatle was born in 1963 to Jamaican parents living in London. He spent most of his childhood in a children's home, which he left at 14 to live in a hostel in Brixton. At 18, he was involved in the Brixton uprising and went to prison for 3 months. On his release, he continued to perform as a DJ and MC under the name Yardman Irie, moving on to the performance poetry circuit as The Brixton Bard in the early '90s. His second novel, East of Acre Lane, won the London New Writers Award (2000). In 2008, he was awarded an MBE for services to literature.
General Fields
- :
- : Profile Books Ltd
- : Serpent's Tail
- : 02 April 2009
- : United Kingdom
- : 01 February 2009
- : books
Special Fields
- : Alex Wheatle
- : Paperback
- : 609
- : English
- : 823.92
- : oc2009009534
- : 224