John King in general

Human Punk - John King

John Kings latest offering is another interesting collection of observations on working class life in England over the last 20 odd years. The book follows the life of Joe Martin from 1977, as a 15 year old punk in Slough, through to the present where he's, well, let's not spoil the plot by jumping that far ahead. It's split into 3 distinct parts, in 1977, 1988 and 2000 respectively. I think it's probably worth pausing between each section as they are self contained stories in a way. Joe is a cross between some of Kings earlier characters in his masterpiece (Well I thought it was:-) The Football Factory Trilogy. He has facets of Vince the traveller, as ...

Human Punk - John King

John Kings latest offering is another interesting collection of observations on working class life in England over the last 20 odd years. The book follows the life of Joe Martin from 1977, as a 15 year old punk in Slough, through to the present where he's, well, let's not spoil the plot by jumping that far ahead. It's split into 3 distinct parts, in 1977, 1988 and 2000 respectively. I think it's probably worth pausing between each section as they are self contained stories in a way. Joe is a cross between some of Kings earlier characters in his masterpiece (Well I thought it was:-) The Football Factory Trilogy. He has facets of Vince the traveller, as ...

Football Factory / Headhunters / England Away - John King

I bought these books separately, as they were written, I found myself scanning bookshops desperately waiting for England Away to be published. Bearing that in mind I've chosen to look at them individually. This book, and its follow ups, are well worth the money. The Football Factory, on the surface, deals mainly with violence on tour through the UK. The main protagonist is Tom Johnson, a Chelsea Headhunter in his late 20's, who sees it as his duty to crack the heads of his counterparts. The opening line is "Coventry are F**K all." . And so the book proceeds. King neither glamorises nor demonifies the excesses of his characters, preferring to describe ...

Football Factory / Headhunters / England Away - John King

I bought these books separately, as they were written, I found myself scanning bookshops desperately waiting for England Away to be published. Bearing that in mind I've chosen to look at them individually. This book, and its follow ups, are well worth the money. The Football Factory, on the surface, deals mainly with violence on tour through the UK. The main protagonist is Tom Johnson, a Chelsea Headhunter in his late 20's, who sees it as his duty to crack the heads of his counterparts. The opening line is "Coventry are F**K all." . And so the book proceeds. King neither glamorises nor demonifies the excesses of his characters, preferring to describe ...

Football Factory / Headhunters / England Away - John King

John King, The Football Factory Trilogy Someone in the Guardian (Mark Stein, I think) once pointed out in a review of an earthy film that the French have a useful concept known as *nostalgie de la boue*. The Oxford English Dictionary translates it as “a yearning for mud”. Slumming it. Rough trade. In an artistic sense. The concept seems to apply to John King's books too: football hooliganism and shagging. The Football Factory kicked it off. A working-class lad whose name escaped me - if it's mentioned, I missed it, because I rapidly got bored with the book and stopped reading properly - narrates episodes from his life as a Chelsea fan. “West ...

Football Factory / Headhunters / England Away - John King

John King, The Football Factory Trilogy Someone in the Guardian (Mark Stein, I think) once pointed out in a review of an earthy film that the French have a useful concept known as *nostalgie de la boue*. The Oxford English Dictionary translates it as “a yearning for mud”. Slumming it. Rough trade. In an artistic sense. The concept seems to apply to John King's books too: football hooliganism and shagging. The Football Factory kicked it off. A working-class lad whose name escaped me - if it's mentioned, I missed it, because I rapidly got bored with the book and stopped reading properly - narrates episodes from his life as a Chelsea fan. “West ...