All Points North is part-memoir and part-excursion. Charting the rugged and uneven terrain of a writer's formative years - from tax problems to probation to American tours, football to family to running away to Iceland - Simon Armitage explores growing up and being Northern. It's about humour, language, writing, film, houses, homes, time wasters, one loose tyre, you, me and all points in-between.
All Points North
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'A joy. Celebrates the real world and revels in its mad glory' - Sue Townsend, Sunday Times 'I was irresistibly reminded of Alan Bennett - there is the same wry humour, wonderfully telling selection of detail or remark... a fine balance of humour and poignancy' The Times 'Laugh-out-loud funny... has all the resonant precision of a poet's ear and eye' Independent 'A delight - high-spirited, light-footed, very funny and wickedly observamt' - Jonathan Raban, The Times Literary Supplement 'The salty prose of an original poetic voice' - Melvyn Bragg, Observer
About the Author
Simon Armitage was born in West Yorkshire in 1963, and continues to live near Huddersfield. He is one of the leading writers of his generation. He has won the Sunday Times author of the year, the Forward Prize, a Lannan Award, and an Ivor Novello Award for his song lyrics in the Channel 4 film, Feltham Sings.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I have to confess to being slightly alarmed and very disappointed by some of the Amazon reviews of this book. There is no doubt that Armitage has a great way with both poetry and prose - I have taught his poems at GCSE for several years and have heard him give readings which never fail to amuse and make me chuckle wryly at the vagaries of life. The reason I am concerned is the way that people have depicted life in The North of England - I grew up in Sussex and only moved to Sheffield in 1996 - after over a decade here I can honestly say that I would never move back down South. I encountered far more 'parochialism' as a 'Southerner' and a Grammar school education in Tunbridge Wells left me in no doubt as to the inherent ignorance and small-mindedness of many in the 'Home Counties'.
Armitage depicts the kind of daftness, naivety and sheer buffoonery that is encountered from John O' Groats to Land's End - but he does it through the eyes of an intelligent individual who is utterly at ease with himself and his upbringing. One of the best parts is Simon's recounting of an amateur dramatics staging of 'Camelot' and the all-male cast's sheer enjoyment and unfettered enthusiasm from start to finish. It does help that I know many of the places mentioned - I have family in Marsden too - but even without this I can recommend 'All points North' as a great read and perhaps even an eye-opener for anyone who claims knowledge of life beyond Birmingham.
Armitage depicts the kind of daftness, naivety and sheer buffoonery that is encountered from John O' Groats to Land's End - but he does it through the eyes of an intelligent individual who is utterly at ease with himself and his upbringing. One of the best parts is Simon's recounting of an amateur dramatics staging of 'Camelot' and the all-male cast's sheer enjoyment and unfettered enthusiasm from start to finish. It does help that I know many of the places mentioned - I have family in Marsden too - but even without this I can recommend 'All points North' as a great read and perhaps even an eye-opener for anyone who claims knowledge of life beyond Birmingham.
21 of 22 people found the following review helpful
By "graeme352"
Format:Paperback
In this brilliantly timed and executed departure from poetry Simon Armitage has opened up his private world like a wound for all to examine. The result is one of the most precise and poignantly written declarations of Northerness since Lancashire last won the County Championship. In a series of short but descriptive chapters Armitage conjures up a world far removed from the cloth cap and whippet image of Northern England and instead gives us an insight into recording for the BBC, watching Huddersfield Town and commuting across the tops into deepest Oldham. This is a book with a decidedly local humour with plenty of "in" jokes which will soar 747 like over the heads of anyone not born within a 50 mile radius of Marsden. It will infuriate the cognosenti of Camden and Hampstead and I love this book all the more for that fact alone.
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful
By A Customer
Format:Paperback
I had never had heard of this poet/author either, but since my wife is from Huddersfield and I love it up there I had to buy it. It's a wonderful book and I don't think you have to be from the North to appreciate it because I'm not and I loved it. Simon Armitage writes simply - not a criticism - and he engages you in his subject and his love for where he is from. He comes across as a very likeable, self-effacing man. This book would be a great Christmas present ! Buy it !
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
All Points North
I really enjoyed this book. I was encouraged to read it after reading Simon Armitage's Book about his Pennine Way walk. I found some of the book 'laugh out loud' funny.
Published 8 months ago by foxy lady
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hills of the North
Simon Armitage makes you laugh and philosophise at the same time. His visions of the moors, beside his equally incisive observation of people and occasions, portray the obvious,... Read more
Published 19 months ago by K.E.C
5.0 out of 5 stars
Superb
Lots of books have tried to take a sideways look at the north of England, with differing degrees of success (Charles Jennings' patronising & snobbish "Up North" & Stuart Maconie's... Read more
Published on 11 Aug 2010 by FAC191
1.0 out of 5 stars
Biased
Simon Armitage? Self-effacing? That is the best joke so far this century. I will still be laughing in my coffin. Thanks "A Customer" you're a real tonic. Heh heh heh etc.
Published on 7 Jun 2010 by jasonalex
5.0 out of 5 stars
Hit the North!
Read this book some time ago now and it has a very important message that viewing yourself as Northerner is a positive statement. Read more
Published on 15 Oct 2008 by Neil
5.0 out of 5 stars
A delight - very original
This book is a collection of prose, poems and snatches of news reports capturing the essence of all things northern, more specifically all things Yorkshire. Read more
Published on 20 Feb 2005 by Paul Richard
4.0 out of 5 stars
A bit southern for me
As a hardened northerner from County Durham, to hear West Yorkshire described as anything other than south was a great surprise to me. Read more
Published on 26 Dec 2003 by "superken10"
5.0 out of 5 stars
It Almost Makes Me...But Not Quite
Okay, I'll be honest: I HATE the North of England with quite a passion. I lived the first two years of my life in Liverpool and the last fifteen in W Yorkshire. Read more
Published on 30 Jun 2002 by Lizzy
5.0 out of 5 stars
Funny, wry and wonderful.
This book was so enjoyable I was - almost - prepared to forgive Simon Armitage being born on the wrong side of the Pennines. Read more
Published on 7 July 2001 by Matt White
5.0 out of 5 stars
from "button sculptures" to football...
Excellent background reading for anyone studying Armitage at school-level, gcses in particular (well i found it useful! Read more
Published on 5 Aug 2000
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