And I thought, well this is ridiculous, I'm getting all this material and wasting it - I'm not recording it". Over time Masters became "aware how often I'd take his stories back with me and tell my friends. Masters led the campaign and increasingly found himself in debt to Stuart for his street-savvy ideas for campaign stunts. As you get to know the spiky character of Stuart and the sometimes frustrated and impatient Masters you begin to understand what makes this book successful: a refreshing lack of sanctimony on the part of the author combined with an ability to let Stuart's voice control the story.Īlexander Masters first met Stuart in 1998 and their friendship blossomed during a campaign to release Ruth Wyner and John Brock who were controversially imprisoned for allowing heroin dealing to take place at the rough sleepers' day centre that they ran together.
The book begins with Stuart's death (he was tragically killed in a railway accident before the book was published) and charts his life back through prison, heroin addiction, self-harm, his struggles with muscular dystrophy, bullying, child abuse and a violent father. Alexander Masters scooped the ¬¨¬£10,000 first prize with his book, Stuart: a life backward, which tells the life story of Stuart Shorter, a homeless man living on the streets of Cambridge, but in reverse. Reversing through prison, heroin addiction, self-harm, muscular dystrophy, bullying, child abuse and a violent father, you get to know this spiky characterĪ tale about a homeless man in Cambridge has won the prestigious Guardian First Book Award.
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