Bliss To Be Alive (2020 edition): The Collected Writings of Gavin Hills

by Gavin Hills, Sheryl Garratt (Editor)

"To come across Gavin in person or in anecdote was always a pleasure. He was an inspiration and.. a true journalist" James Brown "An inspirational catalyst, Hills' writing lights up the page" – Robert Newman Gavin Hills wrote about football and nightclubs, computer games and drugs. He reported on wars and famine, child soldiers in Africa, guerrillas in South America and his own struggles with mental health at home. And also about football casuals, parties in Eurodisney and the Berlin Love Parade. He won an Amnesty International Award for his reporting. He got marriage proposals from his readers. He was loved by everyone who met him, and by quite a few others who had only read his words. His writing could be hilarious and heart-breaking, sometimes even in the same sentence. He wrote for The Face and The Idler, for national newspapers and skateboard magazines. He founded Phat, the short-lived but innovative lads mag that inspired for Loaded. He edited the official Manchester United and England football magazines. Selected by his long-time editor at The Face magazine, Sheryl Garratt, with a new foreword by Miranda Sawyer, Bliss to be Alive is a unique journey through the late eighties and nineties with this brilliant and much-missed writer. One of the most original journalists of his generation, he died tragically in May 1997. "Big, beautiful, bonkers, a little balding, bold and brave like a lion, a true crusader. Nothing I write about Gavin is good not funny enough, not wild enough or tender enough, and it doesn't do what In want to, which is make him alive again." – Miranda Sawyer

348 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 15, 2020

Reviews

[Alex · Rating 5 out of 5]

White Flowers in the Rain

[Sam Horton · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Self-obsession is the curse of our age. Don't tell me your problems unless they are your problems.
Do what you can, when you can. Don't be afraid to be a hypocrite. Take your skidded boxer shorts off, turn them inside out and run them up the flagpole.”

[Theo Forbes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chaotic and full of energy, much like the 1990s being written about; the excitement of one’s 20’s; and the life lived by the author. Some waffle and some excellent writing

[Rachel Radice · Rating 5 out of 5]

Raw, beautiful, sad, alive. The 1990s articulated so well.