Alexander Masters, an advocate for the homeless in the U.K., has written the year's most surprising, charming biography: the tragi-hilarious tale of Stuart Shorter, an opinionated, annoying yet likable ex-con, a former junkie psychopath who's spent his life bouncing between jail, the street, and various state-funded programs, a man for whom ''every day is a hum of casual outrages.'' An easygoing guide, Masters takes Shorter's idea to tell the story in reverse: ''Make it more like a murder mystery. What murdered the boy I was?'' Stuart: A Life Backwards is required reading for every ''middle-class geeky c---'' — as Shorter occasionally calls Masters — who can't imagine how a human winds up on the street.
Add your comment
The rules: Keep it clean, and stay on the subject or we might delete your comment. If you see inappropriate language, e-mail us. An asterisk * indicates a required field.