In this extraordinary book, alexander masters has created a. Benedict cumberbatch as alexander masters, tom hardy as stuart shorter. The first edition of the novel was published in 2005, and was written by alexander masters. For an instant you glimpse scenery you havent seen before fields of poppy and cornflower, trees gnarled in the shape of demons. I feel so strongly about this strange, funny, sad book that i hardly know where to begin. He exemplifies the so called chaotic homeless people, who are on the streets because, curiously, it is the only place where they can manage. The story is written in reverse by doing so alexander gains an insight into how stuart s life became so chaotic and out of control. You need multiregion palntsc dvd player to view it in usacanada.
Nov 23, 2006 the book, which was shortlisted for a whitbread award, is a combination of biography and memoir. However, if every medical professional read stuart. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 300 pages and is available in hardcover format. The awardwinning drama stuart a life backwards details the friendship between. A life backwards by alexander masters in djvu, epub, fb2 download e book. Jack thorne, based on alexander masterss book crucible studio 11 to 28 september 20. A life back wards the book standard 2006 video awards by expandedbooks. Shocking, inspiring, and hilarious by turns, stuart. Mar 05, 2014 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 hi. In this extraordinary book, alexander masters presents a moving portrait of a troubled man, an unlikely friendship, and the. As the title suggests, the book starts from shorters adult life, and works backwards to trace through his troubled childhood, examining the effects his family. You need multi region palntsc dvd player to view it in usacanada. 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. The winner of the guardian first book award that reinvented the biographic form.
Id seen the film and absolutley loved it thanks to benedict cumberbatch and tom hardy. The context of the writing of the two books is significant in shaping how the writers. 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 life backwards expanded the possibilities of what a biography could be. A life backwards by alexander masters librarything. 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. Behind the scenes, castcrew interviews, interactive menu, scene access, synopsis. Forgive my possible lack of knowlidge concerning juridical terms in the uk. A life backwards by alexander masters eleanor birne. It explores how a young boy, somewhat disabled from birth, became mentally unstable, criminal and violent, living homeless on the streets of cambridge. A life backwards by alexander masters fourth estate buy it for. Stuart a life backwards details the remarkable friendship between a reclusive writer and illustrator and a chaotic homeless man whom he gets to know during a campaign to release two charity workers from prison. In this case, the book is much more notable than the individual.
Stuart a life backwards 4th estate matchbook classics by. Alongside this alexander looks backwards over stuart s adult life and childhood to try and discover what went wrong with his life. 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. Alexander decides to write a book to unpick how stuart, victim of both childhood abuse and muscular dystrophy, became the damaged man he. He exemplifies the so called chaotic homeless people, who are on the streets because, curiously, it is. A life backwards stuart tells alexander how he went to prison by better bach. The story revolves around reclusive author alexander benedict cumberbatch and homeless alcoholic stuart tom hardy who become friends when they meet during a campaign to release two charity workers from prison. A life backwards is a remarkable account of a free fall into the state that british social workers label chaotic homelessness. If it available for your country it will shown as book reader and user fully subscribe will benefit by. 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. However, i think that hardy, cumberbatch, and a script that was a great adaptation of the book is what made this such a great movie. Yet the stuart depicted in this book was also a man with a fierce sense of justice and honor a frank, funny.
In cold blood and stuart, a life backwards have strong similarities, both. One of the ten books novels, memoirs and one very unusual biography that make up our matchbook classics series, a stunningly redesigned collection of some of the best loved titles on our backlist. 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. A gripping whodoneit journey back in time, it begins with masters meeting a drunken stuart lying on a sidewalk in cambridge, england, and leads through layers of hellback through crimes and misdemeanors, prison and homelessness, suicide. As stuart tells alexander about his traumatic life, alexander asks stuart if he can write his story. 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. A life backwards 1st harper perennial edition by alexander masters isbn. A life backwards is a biography by alexander masters of his friend stuart clive shorter at various times, a prisoner and a career criminal. Stuart a life backwards projects neal street productions. These titles were created a long with animated vignettes throughout this adaptation of alexander masters book. In this extraordinary book, alexander masters has created a moving portrait of a troubled man, an unlikely friendship, and a desperate world few ever see. Told backwards stuart s idea it starts with a deeply troubled thirtytwoyearold and ends with a happygolucky little boy of twelve. A life backwards by alexander masters harpercollins.
I dont know, alexander, sometimes it gets so bad you cant think of nothing better to do than make it worse. The main characters of this non fiction, biography story are. Best of tom hardy powerful bully scene from stuart. Stuarts backwards inspiration has turned out to be excellent. 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.
It is rare that i like movies based on books that i have read. Stuart advises him to tell the story backwards, so that its more exciting like a tom clancy murder mystery. 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. A life backwards from the worlds largest community of readers. A life backwards, i realised that often the best way to make a reader feel for what stuart had been through was not to state it precisely. Welcome,you are looking at books for reading, the stuart a life backwards, you will able to read or download in pdf or epub books and notice some of author may have lock the live reading for some of country. Awardwinning british drama based on the biography by alexander masters. 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. Buy stuart a life backwards and get the best deals. As alexander gets to know stuart more he asks him if he can write his life story, it is stuart who suggests the story be written backwards. Stuart s life and way of thinking momentarily exposed. 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. However, i think that hardy, cumberbatch, and a script that was a great adaptation of the book is what. A life backwards by alexander masters in this extraordinary book, alexander masters has created a moving portrait of a troubled man, an unlikely friendship, and a desperate world few ever see.
Stuart a life backwards dvd 2008 benedict cumberbatch bbc region 2. Oscars best picture winners best picture winners golden globes emmys san diego comiccon new york comiccon sundance film festival toronto intl film festival awards central festival central all events. The book opens with a hilarious account of him delivering his verdict on the first draft of masterss biography. Apr 07, 2006 a major new launch for the paperback edition of the most original, capitvating and awardwinning memoir of the year. The titles were designed in the same style as stuart a life backwards titles on vimeo. Masters is able to show us the real person behind the homeless and chaotic life and he does so in a way that the story reads somewhat like a thriller with clues being thrown out gradually until the whole picture becomes clear. A life backwards is a poignant, funny, ultimately tragic true story that unfolds like a whodunit, tracing in reverse as the title suggests how a young boy was transformed into a violent convict and substance abuser. At a swoop, it has solved the major problem of writing a biography of a man who is not famous. Like a break in the hedgerow during the country lane part of a journey. Even with a wellknown person it can be boring work to spend the first fifty pages reading facts and guesses about grandpa, granny, mum, dad, subject aged one, two, three, seven, eight. A life backwards by alexander masters and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. 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. Original post by 418am im doing my coursework in year 2 of my langlit a level on comparing stuart.
Stuart, a life backwards is both touching and funny. A life backwards, by alexander masters, a portrait of a homeless man. The awardwinning drama stuart a life backwards details the friendship between a reclusive writer and illustrator alexander and a chaotic homeless man stuart, whom he gets to know during a campaign to release two charity workers from prison. Stuart s story is not the worst i have come across nor can it alone represent all the individual narratives of rough sleepers on our streets. Masters had a fantastic hit with his first book, stuart. What could be more important than a play that opens up understanding of a damaged underclass, sleeping rough in the streets of sheffield and other major cities or eeking out an existence in hostels and bedsits. A life backwards by alexander masters in djvu, epub, fb2 download ebook. 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. With benedict cumberbatch, tom hardy, nicola duffett, clairelouise cordwell. It won masters critical praise and a television movie. It explores how a young boy, somewhat disabled from birth, became mentally unstable and violent, living homeless on the streets of cambridge. The awardwinning drama stuart a life backwards details the friendship between a. Everyday low prices and free delivery on eligible orders. 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 adapted by alexander masters from his awardwinning 2005 biography of his homeless friend stuart shorter, stuart. Tom hardy plays stuart shorter in the 2007 true life drama based on the best selling book by alexander masters. A life backwards 1st harper perennial edition by masters, alexander isbn. 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. A life backwards by alexander masters when i found out that this was one of the 25 books i had won from booka i was really excited. Stuart s backwards inspiration has turned out to be excellent. 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. 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. Therefore it need a free signup process to obtain the book. A life backwards is a film about human diversity and the things we all share. A life backwards, it may prevent the health service from contributing to further marginalisation of the already marginalised.
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. A life backwards, the new book by alexander masters, deserves every accolade that can be awarded. The idea of telling the story backwards was stuarts. 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. A life backwards is a writers quest to give voice to a man who, beneath his forbidding exterior, has a message for us all. Hardy did an an excellent job of showing the life, struggles, hardships, and thoughts of stuart shorter. Stuart shorter spent his late teens and adult life alternating between the streets and prison with occasional, mostly short lived, forays into accommodation.