Stuart, A life Backwards - Alexander Masters

This is the life of Stuart Short, A thief, a psycho, a drug addict, a homeless man. This is his life, told backwards.  We discover the failings of the system, how people become homeless and the faults their.  A wonderful insight into how people just fall through the net and how the council and governments just let it happen.

Why Read - I have had this on my wish list for a while because it seemed interesting from the blurb on the back.  I have also noted it in top book lists for a while.

A fascinating read, a mixture of humour and tragedy.  As we follow Stuarts life, as told by Alex, he slowly reveals reasons and explanations to how he ended up to be the man we meet in the beginning of the story. A homeless guy, who has dabbled in drugs, a bit of a strange and somewhat violent character (but only to people he doesn't like), someone whose life is lead by chaos.   He explains (in his own weird and wonderful way) how the failings of the system leads to peoples demise and how you can end up on the streets and how impossible it can be to get yourself out of the situation.

 Alexander recounts the story in such a way that its a mixture of how he came to recount the story and his meetings with Stuart, and also accounts of Stuart's life.  Starting from the present and working its way backwards.  I wasn't sure how he was going to recount the story backwards, but each chapter is a section of stuarts life and it works quite well.  Its nice to see a story told in a unique way. Despite the topic being different to most 'tragic life story's they all seem to end up following the same pattern, how badly damaged a person is to their 'happy ending'.  This story however shows the results first and then how it happened.  But even though Stuart doesn't have the fairytale happy ending, the book is written in such a beautiful way.

It is also a great insight into a life we don't often hear about. We often see the homeless on the streets, and I know I wonder why they are their. But also why they haven't picked themselves up and sorted themselves out, or why the government hasn't intervened. He explains the failings he has had, and also how these failings may affect other people in a similar situation to his.

The story is very captivating, and well written.  Alexander manages to bring in Stuarts personality to the full, as well as his wit.  He recounts the story in a way that is gripping and understandable to the reader, and makes you want to read more. I read this story in two days and couldn't put it down. A big recommendation from me.