Book Review Sam Jordison & Dan Kieran THE Idler Book of Crap Towns
Would your home town make the list?
BOOK REVIEW – Sam Jordison & Dan Kieran (editors) THE IDLER BOOK OF CRAP TOWNS. 2003 Boxtree Press
One of my Xmas presents for this year, and a companion volume to an earlier read, The Idler Book Of Crap Holidays, which I also enjoyed.
This book, based on reader surveys and letters to the Idler magazine & websites, lists the fifty worst places to live in and end up staying in The British Isles. I expect most readers do the same as I did and scroll through quickly checking their own hometown isn’t in the book. Manchester escapes, (though nearby Stockport doesn’t). Hull suffers the most as the worst town in Britain. I’ve only sailed from there on travelling abroad, so my only direct experience of Hull is the docks in 1977.
Much of the assessment is based on poor nightlife, with some towns lacking decent bars and dance halls. One commentator notices how a late night shopping centre seems to be the most exciting place to see in his town.
Chavs on the streets, binge drinkers, and bad policing add to the miserable nature of some town descriptions, as does bad local government council policy.
Some of the towns are really major cities, including London, Liverpool and Hull.
The authors gave each town’s planners and champions a right to reply and provide space for them to say something positive about their towns, though very few actually take the opportunity to balance the argument, hinting that that they have little good to say about their own towns.
A few entries seem to be surprising, with Picturesque Oxford (city of the dreaming spires0 included as a crap place to live, and Hastings, which I loved when I visited it. A few towns I hate don’t make the book, such as Milton Keynes, though I nod my head in approval on seeing Morecambe listed.
A fun book that is bound to make m=people angry and delighted in equal measure, wondering why a place they love is included while a place they hated doesn’t get mentioned. A book well worth adding to the shelves.
The Idler website – http://idler.co.uk/
Arthur Chappell
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