Total Shambles
George F.
After slipping through the cracks of modern life and into the amoral underground beyond work-a-day society, George F finds himself at the heart of London’s political frontline, where anarchy, alcohol and addiction stalk the streets of a different city to the one you know.
From life on the street to behind the barricades, from the occupation of derelict buildings to inevitable evictions and confrontation with law and order, from euphoria to despair, Total Shambles follows the journey of an idealistic writer as he tries to thrive and survive in the contentious world of squatting in London.
Praise for Total Shambles
'Dodgy on the edge, or edgy on the dodge? Either way, George F’s thunderous declamation against the enforced poverty of those who choose to exist on the other side of the lines, and possibly beyond the pale, acts as a salutary lesson in the florid hardships and plain hard work of ‘alternative lifestyles’: you can make it if you can take it – few can.'
– Penny Rimbaud, Crass
'A fantastic read for anyone interested in the underbelly of London.'
– The Guardian
'Life behind the Sitex door . . . a series of confrontations from the contested margins of urban living, full of stories about how to live when there is (apparently) nowhere to live.'
– George McKay, author of Senseless Acts of Beauty and DIY Culture
'Total Shambles is a fantastic piece of work, everything that writing should be – funny, moving, exciting, wild. A history lesson, a polemic, a picaresque adventure story, and, at big and pulsing heart, an attack on the shameless, state-encouraged worship of money and power and possessions and the tiny-mindedness and shrivelling of soul that is its consequence. Proof, if any more were needed, of the necessity of disobedience. It also contains the best description of a ketamine hit I’ve ever read.'
– Niall Griffiths, author of Broken Ghost
'I washed the taste of failure away with George F’s rebarbative and in the end heartbreaking memoir of London squatting.'
– M John Harrison
'The stories told are an indictment of a society which protects the sanctity of property ownership over the well-being of its people.'
– Never Imitate
'In the midst of the current occupy movements, protest rallies, sleep-ins and sleepovers is Total Shambles by George F… It’s a gritty, honest and often hilarious tale told from behind the barricades, which offers an autobiographical account of the struggles and triumphs faced by the disenfranchised and socially excluded from our society. It’s also a thorough guide to squatting which offers an astute social commentary on the unsympathetic government solutions to the housing crisis.'
– Ideas Tap
Further Reading
Better Squat Than Rot: The Music Of The Housing Crisis
– The Quietus
Bukowski and Dick in Bangkok by George F.
– 3:AM Magazine
About the Author
George F. is a writer, performance poet and natural farmer who has travelled extensively across Europe and Asia working with socially excluded groups ranging from the homeless in London to heroin addicts and street kids in Kuala Lumpur. Total Shambles is his first book. You can read more of his articles and interviews at: www.thelifeanarchic.com
Artwork for Total Shambles is by radical illustrator Edd Baldry. You can view more of his work here http://heymonkeyriot.co.uk/
Paperback ISBN: 9781910312049
ePub ISBN: 9781910312056
Publication date: 9 March 2015
Format: Paperback, ePub and mob