Tribes

by Alexander Stuart

Nick Burns, a British film producer, is obsessed with obtaining the rights to "Tribes," a play about warring soccer gangs, but soon finds violence crossing over from his work and into his relationship with his girlfriend, Jemima

166 pages, Paperback

First published October 27, 1992

Reviews

[Tony · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book is far too contrived for its own good. In trying to make some sort of point about the individual capacity for violence and sex, Stuart creates a silly plot with some totally over the top characters. The plot circles around a London movie producer who is trying to make a masterpiece movie based on an ultraviolent play about warring soccer hooligan gangs. Along the way he falls in love with a crew member and hires a hooligan (ostensibly a skinhead of sorts) to be a driver. Much is made of how little difference there is between the upper class producer and the lower class thug. For some reason Stuart chose not to use real soccer teams in his narrative, which only further hinders the book. It really reads as if the author is basing a lot of his notions of what he has read and heard about, rather than seen. A novel which covers the theme of violence much better and realistically is John King's The Football Factory.