Londoners: The Days and Nights of London Now—As Told by Those Who Love It, Hate It, Live It, Left It, and Long for It
Feb 2012 · Harper Collins
4.2star
9 reviews
Ebook
432
Pages
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Eligible
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About this ebook
Residents tell their stories in a “kaleidoscopic portrait of a great, messy, noisy, daunting, inspiring, maddening, enthralling, constantly shifting” city (The New York Times Book Review).
Londoners is a fresh and compulsively readable view of one of the world’s most fascinating cities—a vibrant narrative portrait of the London of our time, featuring unforgettable stories told by the real people who make the city hum. Craig Taylor has spent years traversing every corner of the capital, getting to know the most interesting Londoners, including the voice of the London Underground, a West End rickshaw driver, an East End nightclub doorperson, a mounted soldier of the Queen’s Life Guard at Buckingham Palace, and a couple who fell in love at the Tower of London—and now live there. With candor and humor, this diverse cast—rich and poor, old and young, native and immigrant, men and women (and even a Sarah who used to be a George)—shares indelible tales that capture the city as never before.
“Fans of Studs Terkel’s insightful oral histories will be delighted to discover a successor in Taylor . . . His book brings London to life as it is—ever changing, ever eternal, ever unforgettable.” —Library Journal (starred review)
“A treasury of compact vignettes from voices that are rarely heard but come closer to the truth of the city than any travel brochure or official document.” —Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
“Delightful. . . . In Taylor’s patient and sympathetic hands, regular people become poets, philosophers, orators.” —The New York Times Book Review
“Remarkable.” —San Francisco Chronicle
Londoners is a fresh and compulsively readable view of one of the world’s most fascinating cities—a vibrant narrative portrait of the London of our time, featuring unforgettable stories told by the real people who make the city hum. Craig Taylor has spent years traversing every corner of the capital, getting to know the most interesting Londoners, including the voice of the London Underground, a West End rickshaw driver, an East End nightclub doorperson, a mounted soldier of the Queen’s Life Guard at Buckingham Palace, and a couple who fell in love at the Tower of London—and now live there. With candor and humor, this diverse cast—rich and poor, old and young, native and immigrant, men and women (and even a Sarah who used to be a George)—shares indelible tales that capture the city as never before.
“Fans of Studs Terkel’s insightful oral histories will be delighted to discover a successor in Taylor . . . His book brings London to life as it is—ever changing, ever eternal, ever unforgettable.” —Library Journal (starred review)
“A treasury of compact vignettes from voices that are rarely heard but come closer to the truth of the city than any travel brochure or official document.” —Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
“Delightful. . . . In Taylor’s patient and sympathetic hands, regular people become poets, philosophers, orators.” —The New York Times Book Review
“Remarkable.” —San Francisco Chronicle
Ratings and reviews
4.2
9 reviews
Patrick Pichette
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April 2, 2013
A perfect read for someone who already has lived in London and who is longing for a jolt of the buzz and smells of the city. If I had never lived/often visited London, I am not sure I would have appreciated the book do the same extent.
1 person found this review helpful
About the author
Craig Taylor is the author of Return to Akenfield and One Million Tiny Plays About Britain, both of which have been adapted for the stage. He is also the editor of the literary magazine Five Dials. He lives in London.
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