What do you think?
Rate this book
The Lowlife
The day they moved in was a memorable one for me. Not because of them, for I couldn't know what they were to bring into my life, but because of a dog.
Harryboy Boas is a gambling man. An independent Jewish bachelor, he lives in a Hackney boarding reading Zola, betting on the dogs at the track, womanising, philosophising, and repressing his tortured wartime past. Until, that is, a new family moves in. As his life dramatically unravels - financially, emotionally, and existentially - Harryboy descends into a murky criminal underworld where debts, violence, gangsters and revenge are the inevitable payback for those who can't pay up ...
'Extraordinary.' William Boyd
'The wonder of The Lowlife is that it does justice to a place of so many contradictions . One of the best fictions, the truest accounts of [Hackney, London]' Iain Sinclair
'The greatest British novelist of the last war and among the finest, most underrated, of the postwar period . . . The Lowlife has acquired something of an underground cult.' Guardian
Harryboy Boas is a gambling man. An independent Jewish bachelor, he lives in a Hackney boarding reading Zola, betting on the dogs at the track, womanising, philosophising, and repressing his tortured wartime past. Until, that is, a new family moves in. As his life dramatically unravels - financially, emotionally, and existentially - Harryboy descends into a murky criminal underworld where debts, violence, gangsters and revenge are the inevitable payback for those who can't pay up ...
'Extraordinary.' William Boyd
'The wonder of The Lowlife is that it does justice to a place of so many contradictions . One of the best fictions, the truest accounts of [Hackney, London]' Iain Sinclair
'The greatest British novelist of the last war and among the finest, most underrated, of the postwar period . . . The Lowlife has acquired something of an underground cult.' Guardian
239 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1963
46 people are currently reading
1318 people want to read
About the author
Alexander Baron
105 books42 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
Alexander Baron (4 December 1917 – 6 December 1999) was a British author and screenwriter. He is best known for his highly acclaimed novel about D-Day entitled From the City from the Plough (1948) and his London novel The Lowlife (1963). His father was Barnet Bernstein, a Polish-Jewish immigrant to Britain who settled in the East End of London in 1908 and later worked as a furrier. Alexander Baron was born in Maidenhead and raised in the Hackney district of London. He attended Hackney Downs School. During the 1930s, with his schoolfriend Ted Willis, Baron was a leading activist and organiser of the Labour League of Youth (at that time aligned with the Communist Party), campaigning against the fascists in the streets of the East End. Baron became increasingly disillusioned with far left politics as he spoke to International Brigade fighters returning from the Spanish Civil War, and finally broke with the communists after the Hitler–Stalin Pact of August 1939.
Baron served in the Pioneer Corps of the British Army during World War II, experiencing fierce fighting in the Italian campaign, Normandy and in Northern France and Belgium. As a sapper, he was among the first Allied troops to be landed in Sicily, Italy and on D-Day. He used his wartime experiences as the basis for his three best-selling war novels. After the war he became assistant editor of Tribune before publishing his first novel From the City from the Plough (1948). At this time, at the behest of his publisher Jonathan Cape, he also changed his name from Bernstein to Baron.
Baron's personal papers are held in the archives of the University of Reading. His wartime letters and unpublished memoirs were used by the historian Sean Longden for his book To the Victor the Spoils, a social history of the British Army between D Day and VE Day.[3] Baron has also been the subject of essays by Iain Sinclair and Ken Worpole.
As well as continuing to write novels, in the 1950s Baron wrote screenplays for Hollywood, and by the 1960s he had become a regular writer on BBC's Play for Today, for drama serials like Poldark and A Horseman Riding By, and BBC classic adaptions including Jane Eyre, Sense And Sensibility, and Oliver Twist.
Alexander Baron (4 December 1917 – 6 December 1999) was a British author and screenwriter. He is best known for his highly acclaimed novel about D-Day entitled From the City from the Plough (1948) and his London novel The Lowlife (1963). His father was Barnet Bernstein, a Polish-Jewish immigrant to Britain who settled in the East End of London in 1908 and later worked as a furrier. Alexander Baron was born in Maidenhead and raised in the Hackney district of London. He attended Hackney Downs School. During the 1930s, with his schoolfriend Ted Willis, Baron was a leading activist and organiser of the Labour League of Youth (at that time aligned with the Communist Party), campaigning against the fascists in the streets of the East End. Baron became increasingly disillusioned with far left politics as he spoke to International Brigade fighters returning from the Spanish Civil War, and finally broke with the communists after the Hitler–Stalin Pact of August 1939.
Baron served in the Pioneer Corps of the British Army during World War II, experiencing fierce fighting in the Italian campaign, Normandy and in Northern France and Belgium. As a sapper, he was among the first Allied troops to be landed in Sicily, Italy and on D-Day. He used his wartime experiences as the basis for his three best-selling war novels. After the war he became assistant editor of Tribune before publishing his first novel From the City from the Plough (1948). At this time, at the behest of his publisher Jonathan Cape, he also changed his name from Bernstein to Baron.
Baron's personal papers are held in the archives of the University of Reading. His wartime letters and unpublished memoirs were used by the historian Sean Longden for his book To the Victor the Spoils, a social history of the British Army between D Day and VE Day.[3] Baron has also been the subject of essays by Iain Sinclair and Ken Worpole.
As well as continuing to write novels, in the 1950s Baron wrote screenplays for Hollywood, and by the 1960s he had become a regular writer on BBC's Play for Today, for drama serials like Poldark and A Horseman Riding By, and BBC classic adaptions including Jane Eyre, Sense And Sensibility, and Oliver Twist.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 119 reviews
October 30, 2025
London style noir fiction… The Lowlife… A gambler… A loser… A deadbeat…
And what is the nature of a gambler? A true gambler keeps gambling… So there is no way but down…
The gambler talks about his life and his life philosophy… He boasts and lies… It’s a part of his gambling… Then he has new young neighbours and he befriends their five-year-old boy… He has great plans… They fail… Trying to help his fellow man he just sinks deeper…
Living a life of chance brings no happiness.
My story starts one night last year. It didn’t seem a night different from any other. We are carried to the grave on a stream of dead days and nights. We live them and forget them. Yet who knows on which dead day or night a terrible change can come into a life? A disease starts. The seeds of a crisis, a disaster, a great joy, are sown. At the time we are aware of nothing.
And what is the nature of a gambler? A true gambler keeps gambling… So there is no way but down…
What the hell do they know? – the punters who come to the tracks or pop into the betting shops for a giggle? Or the professionals who keep it all on a debit and credit basis? None of them knows what a gambler is. The gambler is the one who goes on with no peace, no release, till he has annihilated himself. I am a gambler.
The gambler talks about his life and his life philosophy… He boasts and lies… It’s a part of his gambling… Then he has new young neighbours and he befriends their five-year-old boy… He has great plans… They fail… Trying to help his fellow man he just sinks deeper…
My chest was full of that tight, hysterical strain of hope, but underneath it was a deep, deep, sickening pit of darkness, the knowledge of destruction. I stood in that shabby crowd against the counters, in thick cigarette smoke, and the unemotional voice on the loud-speaker taunted me.
Living a life of chance brings no happiness.
April 28, 2025
'My name is Harry Boas (Bo-as, two syllables, please). At the moment I have 30 pounds in the world. But I face the future with confidence'.
Harryboy lives in Hackney, post-war, London. Since the war, Harry has kept his life simple: he gambles, and enjoys his winnings or, he loses and does short-term work to make ends meet, until the cycle begins again. He wants for nothing and wants nothing more. 'I am a free man. All my life I have gone my way, and no one has managed to take possession of my life or make me responsible for theirs'. However, his diversionary lifestyle is seriously compromised when a couple and their young son move into his share-house. Despite literally slamming the door in the boy's face and purposefully ignoring them on his way in and out of the house, somehow their lives start to entwine. Somehow Harryboy is made to start thinking of more than himself.
'The Lowlife' is a lot of story packed into a small number of pages. Since, by nature, Harryboy is a loner, he is also an observer, his story paints a real slice of life of post-war East London during a real time of social change. Harry is a loveable rogue that you can't help rooting for despite his somewhat dubious lifestyle. I enjoyed this dip into what is now historical fiction but was written as contemporary fiction.
'And after all, you should never give up hope before the dogs have crossed the finish line'.
Harryboy lives in Hackney, post-war, London. Since the war, Harry has kept his life simple: he gambles, and enjoys his winnings or, he loses and does short-term work to make ends meet, until the cycle begins again. He wants for nothing and wants nothing more. 'I am a free man. All my life I have gone my way, and no one has managed to take possession of my life or make me responsible for theirs'. However, his diversionary lifestyle is seriously compromised when a couple and their young son move into his share-house. Despite literally slamming the door in the boy's face and purposefully ignoring them on his way in and out of the house, somehow their lives start to entwine. Somehow Harryboy is made to start thinking of more than himself.
'The Lowlife' is a lot of story packed into a small number of pages. Since, by nature, Harryboy is a loner, he is also an observer, his story paints a real slice of life of post-war East London during a real time of social change. Harry is a loveable rogue that you can't help rooting for despite his somewhat dubious lifestyle. I enjoyed this dip into what is now historical fiction but was written as contemporary fiction.
'And after all, you should never give up hope before the dogs have crossed the finish line'.
April 20, 2014
The Lowlife (1963) is the third book I have read by Alexander Baron (1917-1999) and follows King Dido (1969) and The Human Kind (1953). I am now resolved to read all his work - he was a renowned London author and very popular in his day.
His first novel, From the City, from the Plough (1948), was a best seller. It was based on Alexander Baron's own war service, fighting across France from the Normandy D-Day beaches. From the City, from the Plough was the first of a WW2 trilogy. Baron also went on to write many London novels which were similarly based largely on personal experience and observation and which includes The Lowlife.
The Lowlife tells the story of Harryboy Boas, a Jewish veteran of WW2, a gambler, a womaniser, a philosopher, and a man of integrity and compassion. All Harry wants is to be left alone to enjoy his solitary life: either - and when his winnings from the dog track allow him the time and space - to eat, read, and meet women, or - when he needs cash - to work in short-term jobs to build up more stake money.
Harryboy is afflicted by guilt. Guilt about his own dead child who may never have existed and who, despite this uncertainty, Harry believes may been killed during the holocaust. Harryboy consciously tries to get away from his family, his religion, and the expectations of others. His sister Debbie, who has moved out to the the respectable suburbs, worries about him and wants to see him settled down and financially secure.
Although Harryboy is a confirmed loner he gets sucked into the life of his neighbours at his boarding house, and in particular Vic and Evelyn along with their young son Gregory. Evelyn, with her middle class aspirations, is the antithesis of Harry, and she cannot bear Hackney or the boarding house she is forced to live in. Harry's involvement with Vic, Evelyn and Gregory is the catalyst for Harry's life to unravel spectacularly.
This is an extraordinary novel that explores East London, tradition, guilt, snobbery, social history, families, loyalty, sacrifice, immigration, property, desire, racism, pride and all within the framework of an original and exciting tale about gambling, debt, and gangsters. Another splendid book by Alexander Baron who is deservedly getting republished and rediscovered by a new generation of readers.
5/5
His first novel, From the City, from the Plough (1948), was a best seller. It was based on Alexander Baron's own war service, fighting across France from the Normandy D-Day beaches. From the City, from the Plough was the first of a WW2 trilogy. Baron also went on to write many London novels which were similarly based largely on personal experience and observation and which includes The Lowlife.
The Lowlife tells the story of Harryboy Boas, a Jewish veteran of WW2, a gambler, a womaniser, a philosopher, and a man of integrity and compassion. All Harry wants is to be left alone to enjoy his solitary life: either - and when his winnings from the dog track allow him the time and space - to eat, read, and meet women, or - when he needs cash - to work in short-term jobs to build up more stake money.
Harryboy is afflicted by guilt. Guilt about his own dead child who may never have existed and who, despite this uncertainty, Harry believes may been killed during the holocaust. Harryboy consciously tries to get away from his family, his religion, and the expectations of others. His sister Debbie, who has moved out to the the respectable suburbs, worries about him and wants to see him settled down and financially secure.
Although Harryboy is a confirmed loner he gets sucked into the life of his neighbours at his boarding house, and in particular Vic and Evelyn along with their young son Gregory. Evelyn, with her middle class aspirations, is the antithesis of Harry, and she cannot bear Hackney or the boarding house she is forced to live in. Harry's involvement with Vic, Evelyn and Gregory is the catalyst for Harry's life to unravel spectacularly.
This is an extraordinary novel that explores East London, tradition, guilt, snobbery, social history, families, loyalty, sacrifice, immigration, property, desire, racism, pride and all within the framework of an original and exciting tale about gambling, debt, and gangsters. Another splendid book by Alexander Baron who is deservedly getting republished and rediscovered by a new generation of readers.
5/5
April 13, 2025
I do love a boarding house novel. Harryboy Boas is living his own life.and trying to keep himself to himself. It's a rather seedy life of gambling, mainly. When he wins, he enjoys eating and reading, and the occasional visit to his favourite prostitute. When he loses, he will work to build up his stake money so he can get back to the track. All this changed when a new family moves into the boarding house he lives in. They have a young boy, clearly lonely, who befriends him and draws him into their family drama.
The characters are very well drawn, if infuriating. Harry is deeply flawed, haunted by something that may have happened during the war; he has never tried too hard to find out. History's mother Evelyn is desperate that the family better themselves and won't let her son play with the riff raff in the streets, and is hard on Vic, the father who isn't doing enough to get them away. All this leads to a bleak, but deeply compelling narrative.
*Many thanks to Netgally and Faber for a copy in exchange for an honest opinion.*
The characters are very well drawn, if infuriating. Harry is deeply flawed, haunted by something that may have happened during the war; he has never tried too hard to find out. History's mother Evelyn is desperate that the family better themselves and won't let her son play with the riff raff in the streets, and is hard on Vic, the father who isn't doing enough to get them away. All this leads to a bleak, but deeply compelling narrative.
*Many thanks to Netgally and Faber for a copy in exchange for an honest opinion.*
May 30, 2025
"We are carried to the grave on a stream of dead days and nights. We live them and forget them. Yet who knows on which dead day or night a terrible change can come into a life? "
And so starts The Lowlife, by Alexander Baron, first published in 1964. This edition will be released next month by Faber Editions with a new introduction by Iain Sinclair. Thank you to Net Galley and Faber for the ERC!
Harryboy Boas (love the name) is a gambling man. He lives in a boarding house in London's lower income neighborhood, and lives day to day by the seat of his pants. Gambling, whoring, and all manner of other lowlife activities have plagued him since the age of 14. But don't be deceived, Harryboy may not know where his next meal will come from, but he does have a charm to him that wins you over and insists that you root for the "bad guy" in this engaging novel. He also reads, and philosophizes, and has a heart of gold that only a few people get to see.
Things go very wrong for Harryboy when a new family, the Deaners, move into his building. Harryboy has a strong love-hate relationship with this new family. All he wants to do is be left alone to read his books during the day (don't we ALL wish for this?), and go out to bet on the dogs at the track at night. But Gregory, the Deaners 5 yr old boy, has other plans for Harry.
Harry soon finds himself enmeshed in the lives of this new family, the weak-kneed father, Vic - who cannot stand up to his overbearing, rageful and awful wife Evelyn. (Seriously, I wanted to harm this woman, she caused me lots of angst while reading this. She's really got some serious issues.) Evelyn, the wife I just mentioned, who definitely needs some Valium, and constantly complains about all the housework she does. She's also very racist. And lastly Gregory, who is a typical 5 yr old boy, who yes, can be annoying, but ultimately just wants to be loved and cared for like any child needs and deserves.
Our tale goes on with all manner of unexpected twists and turns and becomes a thoroughly enjoyable and lovable story about the unlikeliest of characters and how he comes to care for someone other than himself. Harryboy just has this likeability to him that I found appealing from the start. Maybe it was due to the opening paragraph, which I quoted above, but I was hooked within a few pages.
The writing was simple, but well done, and there were many little philosophical gems thrown in throughout the book, which is something that I always look for and appreciate. It's honestly something that always piques my interest. I want to know that there are other people out there that think the same things I do, even if they are fictional characters. It's reassuring and comforting.
I love finding treasures like this book. I will be thinking about Harryboy for a long time. He's won a solid place in my heart.
And so starts The Lowlife, by Alexander Baron, first published in 1964. This edition will be released next month by Faber Editions with a new introduction by Iain Sinclair. Thank you to Net Galley and Faber for the ERC!
Harryboy Boas (love the name) is a gambling man. He lives in a boarding house in London's lower income neighborhood, and lives day to day by the seat of his pants. Gambling, whoring, and all manner of other lowlife activities have plagued him since the age of 14. But don't be deceived, Harryboy may not know where his next meal will come from, but he does have a charm to him that wins you over and insists that you root for the "bad guy" in this engaging novel. He also reads, and philosophizes, and has a heart of gold that only a few people get to see.
Things go very wrong for Harryboy when a new family, the Deaners, move into his building. Harryboy has a strong love-hate relationship with this new family. All he wants to do is be left alone to read his books during the day (don't we ALL wish for this?), and go out to bet on the dogs at the track at night. But Gregory, the Deaners 5 yr old boy, has other plans for Harry.
Harry soon finds himself enmeshed in the lives of this new family, the weak-kneed father, Vic - who cannot stand up to his overbearing, rageful and awful wife Evelyn. (Seriously, I wanted to harm this woman, she caused me lots of angst while reading this. She's really got some serious issues.) Evelyn, the wife I just mentioned, who definitely needs some Valium, and constantly complains about all the housework she does. She's also very racist. And lastly Gregory, who is a typical 5 yr old boy, who yes, can be annoying, but ultimately just wants to be loved and cared for like any child needs and deserves.
Our tale goes on with all manner of unexpected twists and turns and becomes a thoroughly enjoyable and lovable story about the unlikeliest of characters and how he comes to care for someone other than himself. Harryboy just has this likeability to him that I found appealing from the start. Maybe it was due to the opening paragraph, which I quoted above, but I was hooked within a few pages.
The writing was simple, but well done, and there were many little philosophical gems thrown in throughout the book, which is something that I always look for and appreciate. It's honestly something that always piques my interest. I want to know that there are other people out there that think the same things I do, even if they are fictional characters. It's reassuring and comforting.
I love finding treasures like this book. I will be thinking about Harryboy for a long time. He's won a solid place in my heart.
February 23, 2021
"Jugador" del autor británico Alexander Baron.🇬🇧
Páginas: 306
Editorial: La Bestia Equilátera.
Muchísimas gracias por el ejemplar: @labestiaequilatera_editorial
Reseña:
Harryboy Boas es un jugador, adicto a las apuestas y las carreras en el canódromo. Su vida es un declive ignominioso, pidiendo prestamos que no salda, lastimando a su hermana Debbie, que en sí es la única persona que le queda de su familia. Solo y miserable, rondando por las calles de Inglaterra evaluando tácticas para seguir apostando, su vida gira en torno a las carreras y no tiene ningún reparo en admitirlo. Si en alguna oportunidad trabaja es solo para seguir apostando, si alguien confía en él e intenta ayudarlo éste no tiene remordimientos en traicionarlo, si alguien le da dinero... ¡Pobre incauto!
Para la sociedad él se muestra como un importante vendedor de inmuebles ocultando su verdadera "ocupación".
Su existencia es estática y rutinaria hasta que aparece en su vida los Deaner, una familia que lo cambiará todo. ¿Quiénes son estos misteriosos desconocidos? Primero tenemos a Evelyn y Vic, un joven matrimonio de clase baja con ínfulas de grandeza, en búsqueda de un mejor futuro; luego tenemos a Gregory, el pequeño hijo irritante de la pareja. Al principio los cambios serán sutiles pero rápidamente el grupo abarcará más espacio hasta engullir al mismo Harryboy en su día a día, convirtiéndolo en el «niñero» gratuito del infante y pidiéndole favores. Poco a poco nuestro protagonista se verá acorralado entre tantas mentiras que dijo. ¿Podrá mantener en pié la farsa?
Como verá el lector, no es un protagonista fácil, tiene una personalidad muy marcada; por consiguiente es personaje muy bien armado, podría ser tranquilamente un ser de carne y hueso, alguien conocido y a la vez familiar.
La obra en sí no tiene un sentido moralista, sino más bien intenta que logremos entender a este ser humano decadente en su propio juego, esclavo del dinero y el azar; mostrándonos sus otros matices tales como su gran inteligencia y su voraz apetito lector, con lo cual pude conectar gratamente.
🌟La prosa de Alexander Baron puede ser una excelente opción para los admiradores de la pluma del gran Dostoyevski.
Páginas: 306
Editorial: La Bestia Equilátera.
Muchísimas gracias por el ejemplar: @labestiaequilatera_editorial
Reseña:
Harryboy Boas es un jugador, adicto a las apuestas y las carreras en el canódromo. Su vida es un declive ignominioso, pidiendo prestamos que no salda, lastimando a su hermana Debbie, que en sí es la única persona que le queda de su familia. Solo y miserable, rondando por las calles de Inglaterra evaluando tácticas para seguir apostando, su vida gira en torno a las carreras y no tiene ningún reparo en admitirlo. Si en alguna oportunidad trabaja es solo para seguir apostando, si alguien confía en él e intenta ayudarlo éste no tiene remordimientos en traicionarlo, si alguien le da dinero... ¡Pobre incauto!
Para la sociedad él se muestra como un importante vendedor de inmuebles ocultando su verdadera "ocupación".
Su existencia es estática y rutinaria hasta que aparece en su vida los Deaner, una familia que lo cambiará todo. ¿Quiénes son estos misteriosos desconocidos? Primero tenemos a Evelyn y Vic, un joven matrimonio de clase baja con ínfulas de grandeza, en búsqueda de un mejor futuro; luego tenemos a Gregory, el pequeño hijo irritante de la pareja. Al principio los cambios serán sutiles pero rápidamente el grupo abarcará más espacio hasta engullir al mismo Harryboy en su día a día, convirtiéndolo en el «niñero» gratuito del infante y pidiéndole favores. Poco a poco nuestro protagonista se verá acorralado entre tantas mentiras que dijo. ¿Podrá mantener en pié la farsa?
Como verá el lector, no es un protagonista fácil, tiene una personalidad muy marcada; por consiguiente es personaje muy bien armado, podría ser tranquilamente un ser de carne y hueso, alguien conocido y a la vez familiar.
La obra en sí no tiene un sentido moralista, sino más bien intenta que logremos entender a este ser humano decadente en su propio juego, esclavo del dinero y el azar; mostrándonos sus otros matices tales como su gran inteligencia y su voraz apetito lector, con lo cual pude conectar gratamente.
🌟La prosa de Alexander Baron puede ser una excelente opción para los admiradores de la pluma del gran Dostoyevski.
October 5, 2025
God, I loved this book! I’m a sucker for 1960’s London, especially the grotty, boarding house sort. Definitely one of my reading highlights of the year.
January 31, 2026
A very fine work. Harryboy Boas is an interesting character. He is a gambling addict (mostly dog races), something of a loner, a loser, a serious reader, a tough guy with a conscience. As the first person narrator, he also knows how to tell his story. He lives in a rundown rooms in Hackney London, where tenants are obliged to share the meager rundown facilities. While taking place in the early 1960s, when Baron was writing, it shares much with and, for me, is something of a companion to 10 Dulcimer Street (aka London Belongs to Me) by Norman Collins, which takes place just before and at the beginning of WWII. Both books follow the complications and struggles of lower working class Londoners in a single small tenement building. Here, it’s Harryboy’s life we follow most closely, but his life gets entangled with others in the building. Much as I very much liked the Collins book, this one is even better.
April 24, 2019
Every now and then you finish a book and can’t wait to write a review to acclaim and recommend it, and to share with anyone else who has enjoyed it as much. Such is the case here.
Harryboy Boas tells his own story, that of a flawed character (‘lowlife scum’) by his own admission, and one that despite his inability to hold down a job or a relationship, and his habit of gambling any money he has away, earns the reader’s sympathy. His, is a memorable character of fiction: he has a trade, a Hoffman presser, rather than a gambling addiction, he is a student of its philosophy, and is at the dogs at Harringay, Clapton or Walthamstow most evenings. He has a bright and positive outlook on life, and a popularity earned by putting others before himself.
But, this is also a story of guilt, of Harry continually trying to find the path he continually veers off from. Boas, a Jewish East-ender, has one secret from his past that devastates him though. The timing of Baron’s writing is significant here, written just after the trial of Adolf Eichmann in 1961 when the true horror of the Holocaust dawned on the world.
Within Harry’s narrative there are several complex story lines, both humorous and tragic. It’s setting of a lodging house enables Baron to create a mix of characters very conveniently. It is a powerful evocation of a post-war London in a period of abrupt cultural change chiefly as a result of immigration.
Highly recommended.
Harryboy Boas tells his own story, that of a flawed character (‘lowlife scum’) by his own admission, and one that despite his inability to hold down a job or a relationship, and his habit of gambling any money he has away, earns the reader’s sympathy. His, is a memorable character of fiction: he has a trade, a Hoffman presser, rather than a gambling addiction, he is a student of its philosophy, and is at the dogs at Harringay, Clapton or Walthamstow most evenings. He has a bright and positive outlook on life, and a popularity earned by putting others before himself.
But, this is also a story of guilt, of Harry continually trying to find the path he continually veers off from. Boas, a Jewish East-ender, has one secret from his past that devastates him though. The timing of Baron’s writing is significant here, written just after the trial of Adolf Eichmann in 1961 when the true horror of the Holocaust dawned on the world.
Within Harry’s narrative there are several complex story lines, both humorous and tragic. It’s setting of a lodging house enables Baron to create a mix of characters very conveniently. It is a powerful evocation of a post-war London in a period of abrupt cultural change chiefly as a result of immigration.
Highly recommended.
April 24, 2017
Being generous with my stars and giving a full five for The Lowlife. Absolutely brilliant writing.
Harryboy Boas, a simple man who lives a day to day existence. Happy to read his life away and place bets at the dog races.
Until a new family moves into the shared house he lives in.......
Harryboy Boas, a simple man who lives a day to day existence. Happy to read his life away and place bets at the dog races.
Until a new family moves into the shared house he lives in.......
January 25, 2021
"...un dios que nadie atreve a desobedecer: el dinero"
Asi se asegura en la contraportada. Una frase no tan descabellada cuando todos podemos ver como hay tantas personas que encuentran un sentido, un propósito, una comunión a su alrededor; al igual que le aguardan flagelos, castigos y tiranías para quienes el azar cruce con los prácticantes más indeseados del credo.
Más allá del excelente trabajo que se hace retratando las miserias de los adictos al juego, lo considero una buena radiografía de hasta que punto la obsesión con el dinero puede arruinar cada día de nuestras vidas (y la de nuestros seres queridos, como daño colateral) sin importar en qué posición de la sociedad nos encontremos.
De lo mejor que hay en el catálogo de La bestia equilátera.
Asi se asegura en la contraportada. Una frase no tan descabellada cuando todos podemos ver como hay tantas personas que encuentran un sentido, un propósito, una comunión a su alrededor; al igual que le aguardan flagelos, castigos y tiranías para quienes el azar cruce con los prácticantes más indeseados del credo.
Más allá del excelente trabajo que se hace retratando las miserias de los adictos al juego, lo considero una buena radiografía de hasta que punto la obsesión con el dinero puede arruinar cada día de nuestras vidas (y la de nuestros seres queridos, como daño colateral) sin importar en qué posición de la sociedad nos encontremos.
De lo mejor que hay en el catálogo de La bestia equilátera.
August 2, 2012
I applaud Alexander Baron for having the ability to create such a devastatingly humorous book such as "The Lowlife". The sloth, hedonism, and frankness of the main character is not such a far cry from Lord Henry of "The Picture of Dorian Gray". I enjoyed this book for the simplicity of the plot and its characters. The children are children, the adults are adults. The characters are not unlike the ones many would find living on their block or, in my case, in their apartment building. In the middle of it is Harryboy, a middle-aged bachelor who loves gambling with money and, in a sense, with lives. "The Lowlife" will appeal to those who enjoy memoirs or autobiographical fiction that does more than tell a story, but tells an adventure. It is an easy read, and a good one as well.
December 7, 2018
Por favor no confundir con “El jugador” de Dostoievski.
Acá nos encontramos con un antihéroe, adicto apostador de canódromos.
El azar influye en la vida del protagonista, un judío inglés del Londres de la década del 60 y tiene su incidencia en quienes lo rodean, para bien o para mal.
Interesante lectura donde la caballerosidad inglesa se pasea en las situaciones menos previstas.
Acá nos encontramos con un antihéroe, adicto apostador de canódromos.
El azar influye en la vida del protagonista, un judío inglés del Londres de la década del 60 y tiene su incidencia en quienes lo rodean, para bien o para mal.
Interesante lectura donde la caballerosidad inglesa se pasea en las situaciones menos previstas.
October 18, 2025
Loved this. Listened to the audiobook narrated by Phil Davis and he’s brilliant. The book was recommended in the Backlisted podcast. It’s set in the sixties, following the main protagonist Harryboy Boas, a Jewish bachelor who spends his time mostly at the dog track gambling. Amongst other things it’s a beautiful portrait of the community life a boarding house in sixties Hackney/Dalston. I’m not going to lay out the story but the writing is absolutely fantastic. Some nice food references: he has a whisky and a sandwich at the track one night, and a neighbour cooks up some bananas and rum on another. And lovely period detail: I had to look up what a Hoffman Press was, and I enjoyed a reference to men going for a shave at the barber of a morning. And London detail too. I don’t know why this author isn’t better known he’s fantastic and I’ll be seeking out more.
Warning: typical racist and misogynist stuff seen in books of this time. I understand the author was himself involved in the antifascist movement and so likely more of a social commentary than his own opinions.
Warning: typical racist and misogynist stuff seen in books of this time. I understand the author was himself involved in the antifascist movement and so likely more of a social commentary than his own opinions.
March 28, 2026
really liked this one!!
September 7, 2025
A portrait of a post-war East End Jewish gambler who is haunted by the events of the holocaust. Explores the way children are used to project our hopes about the future and our guilt about the past.
3.5/5
3.5/5
January 30, 2016
Meu primeiro livro do Alexander Baron e sem dúvida que irei a fundo no autor. O livro é penetrante, original, divertido e incrivelmente bem escrito.
Recomendo.
Recomendo.
October 28, 2025
I sighed. 'I don't know where to start telling you,' I said. 'Look, I have a friend, he is a walking encyclopaedia about dogs. He can tell you the result of every race for the last five years. I heard him the other night at the track, for a half-dollar bet, name the sire and dam of every dog running that night-forty-eight dogs. That man is a gambler. And he is broke. Broke. What do you people think a track is? An orchard with money growing on the trees? My God, you think you're the only one. I see crowds of you pouring down the hill at Harringay, pushing past the turnstiles, all you silly greedy faces. Millions of you. You buy a newspaper and you think you know. For God's sake, a gambler spends his whole day studying form. All day he talks to other gamblers before he makes up his mind. He has been doing this for anything up to thirty years. He bets every way up you can imagine, forecasts, reverse forecasts, place bets, combin-ations, he uses one bet to guarantee him against another, he bets on the dogs and the horses, he bets doubles, trebles, accumulators, he can put on If Cash, Any to Come, Up and Down, Round the Clock, Rounders, Roundabouts, Round Robins, he can bet on owners, he can bet on trainers, he can bet on jockeys, he studies pedigree, he invents systems a professor wouldn't understand. And he still loses. For crying out loud, man, am I making you hear me? He still loses.' For a moment I lost my breath. 'So you, you greenhorn, you babe in arms, you poor innocent nit, you think you can just walk in and win?'
[180–1]
February 16, 2023
[Black Spring Press Group] (2021). SB. “Second revised edition” of the 1963 1/1. 257 Pages.
Contains a nice Introduction by Iain Sinclair. He visited the author, along with Chris Petit, during his twilight years.
Nods forward to Charles Bukowski and Jason Starr in style and subject matter.
Slightly tainted by the mutilating redaction, via asterisk substitution, of a few terms deemed offensive by the publisher. Utterly ridiculous given the narrative’s tenor.
Clearly articulates the desperate madness of pathological gambling.
“‘How did you lose it?’ ‘How did I lose it? I backed the wrong dogs. How do you think?’”
“Empty, the burden of possession lifted from me, I walked away.”
“A man’s luck has to change some time.”
“I walked home broke and as usual I had a feeling that denies any name but that of relief.”
“The gambler is the one who goes on with no peace, no release, till he has annihilated himself. I am a gambler.”
Contains a nice Introduction by Iain Sinclair. He visited the author, along with Chris Petit, during his twilight years.
Nods forward to Charles Bukowski and Jason Starr in style and subject matter.
Slightly tainted by the mutilating redaction, via asterisk substitution, of a few terms deemed offensive by the publisher. Utterly ridiculous given the narrative’s tenor.
Clearly articulates the desperate madness of pathological gambling.
“‘How did you lose it?’ ‘How did I lose it? I backed the wrong dogs. How do you think?’”
“Empty, the burden of possession lifted from me, I walked away.”
“A man’s luck has to change some time.”
“I walked home broke and as usual I had a feeling that denies any name but that of relief.”
“The gambler is the one who goes on with no peace, no release, till he has annihilated himself. I am a gambler.”
May 3, 2026
This was a great book from an author that I regret to say I had never heard of. The story unfolds through the words of Hackney-based gambler Harryboy Boas, the self-proclaimed 'Lowlife' of the title. Harry bets on the greyhounds as a kind of living and the author brilliantly conveys the mindset of the seasoned gambler, particularly when introducing his downstairs neighbour Vic Deaner to the dog track.
As well as giving the reader a convincing summary of ups and downs of gambling life, Baron's description of life in rented accomodation in postwar East London was convincingly rendered, particularly with regard to his fellow occupants and the undercurrent of frustrated ambition, snobbery and overt racism which were all embodied by Vic's vindictive and spiteful wife, Evelyn.
Throughout, though Harry drifts through life, he always has time for his family and neighbours, including Gregory Deaner, and is prepared to make a huge personal sacrifice for the little boy if needed.
This is a fantastic snapshot of a long-gone East London and I strongly recommend it
As well as giving the reader a convincing summary of ups and downs of gambling life, Baron's description of life in rented accomodation in postwar East London was convincingly rendered, particularly with regard to his fellow occupants and the undercurrent of frustrated ambition, snobbery and overt racism which were all embodied by Vic's vindictive and spiteful wife, Evelyn.
Throughout, though Harry drifts through life, he always has time for his family and neighbours, including Gregory Deaner, and is prepared to make a huge personal sacrifice for the little boy if needed.
This is a fantastic snapshot of a long-gone East London and I strongly recommend it
February 19, 2026
This was a winner for me.
Majority of my recent reading has been contemporary stuff. I bought this one a little while ago but kept picking up others ahead of time of it.
No idea why my expectation was low, or why I delayed, as very quickly I knew I was going to like this.
Harryboy has got a fair bit going on, but his approach to life isn’t complicated. That definitely helps this book skip along nicely.
There’s a lot packed into this slim book. And it finishes strongly.
Definitely a ‘4 point something’ rating. Not quite a 5 but better than a lot of other 4 stars I seem to dish out.
Majority of my recent reading has been contemporary stuff. I bought this one a little while ago but kept picking up others ahead of time of it.
No idea why my expectation was low, or why I delayed, as very quickly I knew I was going to like this.
Harryboy has got a fair bit going on, but his approach to life isn’t complicated. That definitely helps this book skip along nicely.
There’s a lot packed into this slim book. And it finishes strongly.
Definitely a ‘4 point something’ rating. Not quite a 5 but better than a lot of other 4 stars I seem to dish out.
May 28, 2025
a lot more sentimental than I expected, baron really loved his seedy london boroughs and the people in them
October 29, 2025
it was alright. lukewarm. 3.5.
this kind of reminded me of diary of an oxygen thief if the main character felt a bit more guilty
this kind of reminded me of diary of an oxygen thief if the main character felt a bit more guilty
Did Not Finish
April 11, 2026I was on such a roll with prose that was completely enrapturing me.. but this brought that to a sudden halt. Maybe I’ll come back to it based on all the great reviews!
October 18, 2025
A fun, if rather workmanlike, novel on the betting dens of Hackney in the 60s. Reading Zola and gambling down the dog tracks never seemed so fulfilling as here. If only I could still buy a house for 200 quid...
April 1, 2026
geezer literature
Read
August 24, 2025I’ve had The Lowlife on the shelf unread for some time. A new edition from Faber, and discussion of the novel on a recent episode of Backlisted (having covered the book several years back), finally pushed me to crack open the cover.
Harryboy Boas (“Bo-as, two syllables, please”) is a gambler and a Jew living in a bedsit in London’s East End. He’s not so much a nebbish as a cross between a schvitzer and a schlepper—someone who puts on airs, pretending he’s “all that,” when in reality he’s a failure, unable to hold onto money for more than a minute before pissing it away at the track. His brother-in-law, a fast-talking schvitzer who can actually back his words with cash, tries to dig Harryboy out of the mess he’s in—but all to no good. When he’s not gambling away the few pounds he has, Harryboy is a literary soul, a lover of books who’s perfectly content to spend days in bed reading Zola.
The plot centres on the Deaner family who move into the apartment below Harry. There’s Vic, the book-keeping husband (more the typical nebbish), Evelyn, the cold hard-nosed wife who doesn’t like Harry one bit (even if she does use him to babysit her son when it suits), and five-year-old Gregory who has taken a liking to Harry. Things go downhill when Vic, taken in by Harry’s lies of being a wealthy gadabout, starts thinking he can be like Harry, that he too can make it big.
While I can’t speak to Baron’s depiction of Hackney of the late 50s and early 60s,* he absolutely nails the Jewish detail. It’s not just the Yiddish peppered through the text, it’s the joy of eating tzimmes, the constant need of his sister to find Harryboy a wife, and this extraordinary section where Harryboy reflects on the Holocaust (though he never uses the H word), particularly the children who were slaughtered—possibly his own child (he got a Jewish French girl pregnant just before the War, went back to England, and never heard from her again). It’s all the more poignant and moving because for Harryboy it’s recent history, the wounds are still fresh.
Then there’s the gambling. That also resonated, but for personal reasons I won’t go into here. Let’s just say Baron must have known his fair share of punters, because he nails the insidious nature of the addiction. The scene where Harryboy plays a game of craps to win a house is one of the most frank and accurate portrayals of gambling addiction I’ve read. What’s remarkable is how invested we become in Harry’s luck, but also how much we hope, like his sister, that he will walk away from the track, that he will find some measure of peace.
Hopefully the Faber reissue will see this truly great work get the attention it deserves.
*Iain Sinclair, in his introduction to the 2010 reissue, praises Baron’s rendering of Hackney—especially the transition from a working-class, all-white neighbourhood to one that embraces several nationalities, beginning with West Indian immigrants.
Harryboy Boas (“Bo-as, two syllables, please”) is a gambler and a Jew living in a bedsit in London’s East End. He’s not so much a nebbish as a cross between a schvitzer and a schlepper—someone who puts on airs, pretending he’s “all that,” when in reality he’s a failure, unable to hold onto money for more than a minute before pissing it away at the track. His brother-in-law, a fast-talking schvitzer who can actually back his words with cash, tries to dig Harryboy out of the mess he’s in—but all to no good. When he’s not gambling away the few pounds he has, Harryboy is a literary soul, a lover of books who’s perfectly content to spend days in bed reading Zola.
The plot centres on the Deaner family who move into the apartment below Harry. There’s Vic, the book-keeping husband (more the typical nebbish), Evelyn, the cold hard-nosed wife who doesn’t like Harry one bit (even if she does use him to babysit her son when it suits), and five-year-old Gregory who has taken a liking to Harry. Things go downhill when Vic, taken in by Harry’s lies of being a wealthy gadabout, starts thinking he can be like Harry, that he too can make it big.
While I can’t speak to Baron’s depiction of Hackney of the late 50s and early 60s,* he absolutely nails the Jewish detail. It’s not just the Yiddish peppered through the text, it’s the joy of eating tzimmes, the constant need of his sister to find Harryboy a wife, and this extraordinary section where Harryboy reflects on the Holocaust (though he never uses the H word), particularly the children who were slaughtered—possibly his own child (he got a Jewish French girl pregnant just before the War, went back to England, and never heard from her again). It’s all the more poignant and moving because for Harryboy it’s recent history, the wounds are still fresh.
Then there’s the gambling. That also resonated, but for personal reasons I won’t go into here. Let’s just say Baron must have known his fair share of punters, because he nails the insidious nature of the addiction. The scene where Harryboy plays a game of craps to win a house is one of the most frank and accurate portrayals of gambling addiction I’ve read. What’s remarkable is how invested we become in Harry’s luck, but also how much we hope, like his sister, that he will walk away from the track, that he will find some measure of peace.
Hopefully the Faber reissue will see this truly great work get the attention it deserves.
*Iain Sinclair, in his introduction to the 2010 reissue, praises Baron’s rendering of Hackney—especially the transition from a working-class, all-white neighbourhood to one that embraces several nationalities, beginning with West Indian immigrants.
November 7, 2025
The first I’ve read of Baron, I’ll definitely be reading some more.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 119 reviews