Description

Book Synopsis

John Healy''s The Grass Arena describes with unflinching honesty his experiences of addiction, his escape through learning to play chess in prison, and his ongoing search for peace of mind. This Penguin Classics edition includes an afterword by Colin MacCabe.

In his searing autobiography Healy describes his fifteen years living rough in London without state aid, when begging carried an automatic three-year prison sentence and vagrant alcoholics prowled the parks and streets in search of drink or prey. When not united in their common aim of acquiring alcohol, winos sometimes murdered one another over prostitutes or a bottle, or the begging of money. Few modern writers have managed to match Healy''s power to refine from the brutal destructive condition of the chronic alcoholic a story so compelling it is beyond comparison.

John Healy (b. 1943) was born into an impoverished, Irish immigrant family, in the slums of Kentish Town, North London. Out of school by 14, pr

The Grass Arena

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    A Paperback / softback by Colin MacCabe, John Healy

    £9.49

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      Book details

      Publisher Penguin Random House Group
      Imprint Penguin Classics
      Published 31 July 2008
      ISBN-13 9780141189598
      978-0141189598
      ISBN-10 0141189592
      Also in:
      Biography Autobiography: adventurers and explorers Hobbies, Games & Quizzes Board games: Chess Housing and homelessness Toys, Puzzles & Games

      Description

      Book Synopsis

      John Healy''s The Grass Arena describes with unflinching honesty his experiences of addiction, his escape through learning to play chess in prison, and his ongoing search for peace of mind. This Penguin Classics edition includes an afterword by Colin MacCabe.

      In his searing autobiography Healy describes his fifteen years living rough in London without state aid, when begging carried an automatic three-year prison sentence and vagrant alcoholics prowled the parks and streets in search of drink or prey. When not united in their common aim of acquiring alcohol, winos sometimes murdered one another over prostitutes or a bottle, or the begging of money. Few modern writers have managed to match Healy''s power to refine from the brutal destructive condition of the chronic alcoholic a story so compelling it is beyond comparison.

      John Healy (b. 1943) was born into an impoverished, Irish immigrant family, in the slums of Kentish Town, North London. Out of school by 14, pr

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