The Passion of Harry Bingo: Further Dispatches from Unreported Scotland

by Peter Ross

Quirky, hilarious, always engaging and often moving, The Passion of Harry Bingo enters the lives of some of Britain’s least known but most amazing characters. From Orkney to the Sussex coast they bring light and laughter into all our lives: the Sikh pipe band and Wall of Death riders, herring queens and drag queens, crazy golfers and Harry himself, still following Partick Thistle in his nineties. This second selection of Peter Ross’s sideways looks at life in Scotland – and beyond – follows the highly successful and acclaimed Daunderlust.

Genres: Nonfiction

350 pages, Paperback

First published August 17, 2017

About the author

Peter Ross is a six-time winner at the Scottish Press Awards and was a shortlisted nominee for the Orwell Prize in 2015. He has written for titles including The Guardian, The Times, Sunday Times, Scotland On Sunday, Sunday Herald, The Big Issue, The Oldie and National Geographic Traveler.

Reviews

[Ceris · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a brilliant collection of journalism, packed with weird and wonderful under the radar stories. Peter's writing is insightful and empathetic, traits that all too often seem to be missing from the stories that trend on Twitter and get shared on Facebook (and even those that appear in mainstream newspapers, dare I say it). These aren't headline news stories, but they tell stories of real people in a way I haven't come across anywhere else.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

Buy it for a friend, buy it for yourself.

[Iona Sharma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Outstanding collection of tender, literary documentary journalism. Ross writes with a self-conscious desire to "beat the drum of humdrum" -- in other words, to record the day-to-day life of Scotland as experienced by individuals, in small towns and subcultures, in comedy and tragedy and farce. He covers off Scottish fishermen, Scottish BDSM enthusiasts, Scottish chicken fanciers and chess players; a guy in Fife who covers himself with burrs; Scottish curlers; Scottish crazy golfers, people who spend their weekends following around a band called Half Man, Half Biscuit. No matter how odd, these people are never mocked, never treated as ridiculous; subject to scrutiny and clear-eyed observation, but not as a focus for derision. And throughout everything, Ross has an eye for the poetry of the ordinary. One of my favourite pieces concerns a Malaysian pipe band, come to compete in the Scottish piping championships, which would perhaps in other hands be knowingly-ironic, silly, racist. Ross writes: "I ask Tirath Singh, the eighteen-year-old pipe sergeant, how it feels to win, but he can hardly speak for crying. 'This is my dream,' he says, as the silver dagger at his waist gleams in the Scottish sun."

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fine collection of writings from Peter Ross, which cover a variety of the everyday people doing everyday things. Driven by a friendly curiosity we find out about Edinburgh chess clubs, national minigolf championships and Glasgow ska bands coping with trauma. Nowhere is the book warmer in the tale of Harry Bingo, who gives the book it's title, Partick Thistle's most long-suffering fan. Buy a copy yourself, then buy a couple more as presents.

[Heidi Hanley · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I really loved Mr. Ross's writing style- it was beautiful, and I appreciate that these are the stories of a country, rather than the 'news' that most journalists focus on; and while I did enjoy some of the stories very much, it simply did not hold my interest through the whole book. As a person not from Scotland and as an American with very few long and magical traditions, I had a hard time relating to some of the uniqueness of Scottish tradition and I had to look up an awful lot of words as they were unfamiliar slang. I read this for a book club and I'm glad to have been exposed but it won't go on my top ten favorites. I'm certainly glad my opinion won't stop Mr. Ross from wriitng because he is a wonderful writer and I might explore another book by him.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wonderful collection of true-life stories about some of the more obscure characters and traditions in Scotland, told with warmth and insight. The articles were previously published in The Scotsman, Scotland on Sunday, and The Big Issue, but are now brought together in this book. It is very readable and shows a side of Scotland which some people in the areas covered will know about, but others will have no knowledge of. Fascinating for locals and visitors alike.

[Rhobot · Rating 5 out of 5]

What wonderful stories! If you wanted a grasp of Scotland on what Scot’s are passionate about.

Some of the stories brought tears to my eyes . Some shocked me with how could I not have known this about my own country!


The author has a beautiful way with worlds he transports you into the scene and makes you warm with the story coming alive.

Enjoyed throughly. Actually thought about going to see my local team!