The Dirty South

by Alex Wheatle

“One of the most exciting writers of the black urban experience.”— The Times (London) The mean streets of south London offer little hope for young black guys. Selling drugs, on the other hand, offers quick money and respect. Dennis Huggins finds himself drawn into the spiral in this powerful portrayal of gang life.

Genres: Fiction, Race

214 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Alex Alphonso Wheatle was a British novelist, who was sentenced to a term of imprisonment after the 1981 Brixton riot in London.

Reviews

[David Peat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exceptional

Another outstanding novel; this time about living in Brixton in the early noughies. This follows the journey from the main protagonist from East of Acre Lane. Yet, this is a stand alone never exploring love, drugs, family and religion. Brilliantly observed and excellently told. A truly outstanding novel.

[SheMac · Rating 3 out of 5]

A funny, sad, honest story based, I guess, on the author's experience growing up in Brixton. Some may object to the language, violence and sexual situations. I, however, found the ending more troubling, but I'll let the reader decide after this relatively quick read.

[Una (EX) precaria tra i libri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review at https://precaria-tra-i-libri.blogspot...

[Chloë · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to read for school

[Ella Ranasinghe · Rating 5 out of 5]

so interesting the language is foul but so realistic
love a first person book
story was super gripping and also showed a life that not everyone wants to document

[n* Dalal · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this book for Final Draft, and I'm looking forward to interviewing the author. Alex Wheatle was part of the Brixton uprisings, and it seems like his life was pretty rough in his childhood.

The Dirty South's protagonist Dennis walks a fine line between the Brixton his generation knows-- drug-ridden, dangerous, apathetic -- and his parents' Brixton: rebellious, political, where Black people stood together against the cops and as a community, no matter what.

Dennis knows more than his friends about misery, history, and power politics, if not about the depths of poverty. But Dennis wants to know more about his parents' hard days. He worries that his friends think he's a spoiled kid, just playing at being really poor; more than anything he wants to fit in. In a neighbourhood where "fitting in" means dealing pot, treating women like "bitches" and carrying shanks, Dennis finds himself doing stuff he's too smart to do.

Lucky for him, he meets a girl who's too smart for him--and she teaches him that being a decent guy and a smart guy is nothing to be ashamed of.

Wheatle's got a lot of things going on in this book; a major part of the storyline is about Muslims taking over Brixton. He argues that the Brixton kids who are converting to Islam are doing so only because they're insecure, they can't get any girls, and they're aching for a way to rebel. Their parents' generation rebelled with Rasta and pot, but that was ok because at least it was still derived from Christianity and was mostly non-violent. But he seems to be arguing that today's kids are just faking the conversion to Islam because they want to scare people or they want to control women. That these kids haven't turned to Islam because it offers something different. He doesn't even consider that the kids might be turning to Islam for THE SAME REASONS that black kids in the 60's turned to Islam, that they might be into Malcom X, that they might see capitalism and Christianity as part of the same machine.

I'm not a fan of any religion, honestly, but the way this book and Wheatle deal with Islam seems like an insult to one of the only religions in the world that actually mandates giving to the poor.

Maybe I'll have a different opinion after the interview-- I'll update!

[Monique · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay so this short British gem deals with life as a black Brixtonian boy in a multicultural, extremely diverse and deeply religious community where he struggles to stay out of trouble, find love and make his parents proud..He fails at most of them LOL but its a proper good time reading his colorful slang, burn anyone who thinks its kinda silly :) So Dennis is just a normal kid surprisingly living with both of his parents that passes in school without excelling like his overacheiving Lisa Simpsonesque sister and hangs with a poorer kid named Noel with all the normal bitching that teenagers do about whatever and with the all too common lure of money, cars and girls they decide to become shottas(drug dealers) and score marijuana to sell..The boys make connections, friends and enemies and become proper bredrens to each other and the story just goes on with their lives and into some other notable characters like Dennis's father, a one time legendary shotta who keeps his past under wraps just like the story of how he became a cripple; Akeisha the pretty track star who becomes a teenage mom but still moral enough to teach Dennis what it means to be strong and successful as well as a host of other people from different countries and religions trying to make it and melt into the great diaspora of London..Being from immigrant grandparents as well I related to the struggle of remembering your past and carrying it into your future but being really selective on which parts LOL..I thought it was highly entertaining and Dennis's use of slang and the King's good English is amusing and cute and you feel like there should have been more to the book, more background, more of their futures, just more..Overall entertaining though:)

[Meredith M · Rating 4 out of 5]

I concur: this is a British gem.

I wandered past this book in the library, came back and inspected it and returned again to borrow it. I moved to London this year and lived initially in Lambeth, about a 20 minute walk from Brixton High Street. The area is being gentrified - champagne + fromage and the Village are no longer being picketed - but there is still something gritty about it, still an undercurrent impenetrable to me. It is still dirty, too - chicken bones on the road and on the buses. I walked some streets cutting through from Brixton Road to elsewhere and felt myself well out of place but not necessarily unsafe at the same time. That’s not to say my husband would want me out walking by myself at night.

This well-crafted novel offers some insight into what I don’t know and don’t see. I found the central character warm and captivating. I loved the tight knight family unit around him. I am not in a position to weigh in on the authenticity of the racial or historical perspectives that are proffered but I felt this story was grounded, relatable and hopefully resonates with the demographic who could be Dennis, Noel or Courtney Thompson. The twist in the social / religious commentary there caught me by surprise but gives much to ponder in respect of urban living, race and opportunity.

I hope it is on school reading lists to propel and enrich a national conversation about values, about identity, about culture, about integration, about healing, about choice. To give the kids an anti-hero who can have and will make a better life.

[Urbanfactor2000 · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a bit biased cos my fave is east of acre lane, but this a good read, which I devoured in a day! The story is compelling and the characters credible, I just felt there could have been that bit more plot-wise. But there isn't that much of this stuff out there nowadays, and it's great to read how all the strands of the other books come together in this, Wheatle's 6th novel.

[Phobos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent book about Jamaican youths in the Brixton neighbourhood of London. It's a pretty interesting read about a subculture that doesn't get too much attention in Canada. The teenagers get involved in drug dealing (only marijuana) and contend with other gangs.

Not a bad read. Alex Wheatle gives a pretty convincing voice to the youth of Brixton.

[Martinxo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyed this slice of young Black Brixton life.

Well written though the story itself could have done with a little trimming, found myself skimming a little towards the end. Nevertheless, Wheatle is a good writer and one I'll be checking out.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

brilliant.

[Kathleen]

recommended by chris cleave

[Chantel · Rating 5 out of 5]

loved this book. mainly because i know the area and could visualise all the goings-on in the book. really enjoyed it.

[Valerie Harewood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent as always.