Some Luck

by John Bird

John Bird has changed the lives of countless people, but first of all he had to change his own. Here he turns his attention to his own past and traces his life from the slums of Notting Hill, through crime, vagrancy and homelessness, to redemption when he launched The Big Issue. This is an evocation of a life which could so easily have gone the other way, and also a great testament to the human ability to overcome adversity, when energy meets that rarer quality, opportunity.

Genres: Nonfiction

432 pages, Paperback

First published October 31, 2002

Reviews

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

A real story, about a real man and his extraordinary (but not uncommon) life.

What is uncommon, is a non-glamorized, non-dramatized, glimpse into a tough working class family and into a life on the fringes of society.

It's a well written, entertaining read, not patronizing or pretentious at any point.

It is, by happy accident a kind of updated "Down and out in Paris and London" (George Orwell). One of my favorites all time books, so I may be a little biased!

Highly recommended for all readers from age's 12 to 112.

[O* · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very interesting account! Hard to understand how things could go so very bad for him though, I had thought that his early life was awful-horrible-terrible, but it's not as bad as I had thought!

[Kathy]

MaryK