Dean Williams was born into the tough Scartho area of Grimsby in 1972. His father was a violent, hard-drinking trawlerman who spent most of the year at sea and his shore time drinking and fighting. Obsessed with making young Dean 'man up', Bob beat him and locked him in a cupboard under the stairs for days on end. Dean's mother, Andrea, did her best, but was also terrorised by Bob Williams. From the age of seven Dean was known locally as 'the spike thrower', for accidentally impaling the head of a young tormentor with part of a bicycle. The aftermath was a wayward teenage life, expulsion from school and notoriety through football hooliganism. But there were also times when Dean's childhood captured echoes of a simpler way of life, playing out until dusk, catching newts and nicking gobstoppers. This astonishing memoir, although touched by darkness and violence, is infused with the sharpest humour. It has the atmosphere of a David Peace novel colliding with a Shane Meadows film. Like a cutting-edge, nouveau Dead Man's Shoes, or a Somebody Up There Likes Me for the 21st Century, it is an uncompromising account of a life lived on the margins and the power of the creative spirit.
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Review
'Hilarious and heart-breaking. A fantastic read' --David Essex
About the Author
Dean Williams is a 39-year-old actor. He has appeared in The Bill and has the lead role in forthcoming feature film Talking to God, playing a schizophrenic bouncer. He is building his reputation in the style of Ray Winstone, Danny Dyer and a cast of edgier actors with masculine appeal.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By swildthing
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Worth the wait! This book is a rollercoaster of tears & laugh out loud humour!
Some tales are hard to read and Im sure hard to tell but this mans journey is really worth a read.
Tales of Ye Olde Grimsby and the people and places were so familiar to me (being a 'Grimbo' myself) but you don't need to be a native to understand or be touched by this story. Have to admit I was hearing a Grimsby accent as I read it :)
Got quite emotional towards the end of the book but not tears of sadness or pity for a troubled life but happy tears for a man and his family. Closed the book with a smile on my face.
The boy done good!
Some tales are hard to read and Im sure hard to tell but this mans journey is really worth a read.
Tales of Ye Olde Grimsby and the people and places were so familiar to me (being a 'Grimbo' myself) but you don't need to be a native to understand or be touched by this story. Have to admit I was hearing a Grimsby accent as I read it :)
Got quite emotional towards the end of the book but not tears of sadness or pity for a troubled life but happy tears for a man and his family. Closed the book with a smile on my face.
The boy done good!
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I feel its wrong to say its a fantastic book. It is, but then I remember its all about a young boy/mans life. A true & frank account of Deano's life as a boy living through hardship, puberty & becoming a man. None of it all easy. Dean tells it as it was and does'nt dress it up. It makes you feel like you know the people he talks about. So sad at times I wished I could just climb inside the book and take him away to a safer happy place. It is sad, depressing and funny. He is a real Gentleman when he disusses the women he came into contact with on his journey. Nothing seedy at all, not all men are as kind as he is. He was most definately not shy of work, when he got a job he put his all into it. As the book was comming to an end I was feeling quite sad as I felt I was loosing a friend. He is a true inspiration and proof that if you work hard enough you can turn your life around. Keep up the Positive Mental Attitude Deano, its prooving to take you to your dreams. I hope at a later time in Deano's life he will write a follow up to The Tearaway and let us know how everything pans out for him. He deserves all the luck in the world after the life he's had.
Lots of love & luck. Jackie, Belfast.
Lots of love & luck. Jackie, Belfast.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
By Hellie
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
A truly inspirational book by Dean Williams. Heartbreaking at times, but the tears are soon erased with the hillarious tales of Deans journey through life. This book is a must read, it show's you there is a light at the end of a very dark tunnel and there is hope for each and everyone of us. Don't delay, buy it today..!
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Honesty
A great book written from the heart by the soul. Well worth the read and had me looking at my own life. Thank you.
Published 4 months ago by Mrs P A Bridge
4.0 out of 5 stars
Moving
Great read, very funny and very moving, makes you think of how things might have been had he not turned his world around
Published 4 months ago by Lee
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gripping and enjoyable book
I picked this up in a book exchange on holiday in Marrakech this August, and couldn't put it down. The author is about 3 weeks older than me and I identified with what he... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Maud Jane
5.0 out of 5 stars
Heartwarming and thought provoking
Excellent read, although admittedly not my usual subject matter. Will think twice about making quick judgements about people in future, you never know why they are the way they... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Wendy T
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fantastic Read
This book is gripping from page one. I have been born and bred in Grimsby and have lead a different life to the author of this book. Read more
Published 9 months ago by A. Hudson
5.0 out of 5 stars
Gripping read.
Rarely has a book gripped me enough to finish it cover to cover in 24 hours! That rare in fact that I don't ever think I've read a book so quickly. Read more
Published 10 months ago by Kerry Fletcher
5.0 out of 5 stars
great read
What a great book. sad and heart breakingly honest. grew up in grimsby so can relate to some of the things Dean talks about. Well done, an inspiration to many. Read more
Published 10 months ago by jann
5.0 out of 5 stars
what can i say just a fantasic read
Am not a book reader but once i had this book i found it hard to put down well done to deano for bringing this book out . all i can say about this is 10/10 & a fantasic read...... Read more
Published 10 months ago by melv gy
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Tearaway
This book is about the 70s and 80s and it is about a specific town. However, it gave me an insight into disaffected youth which applied to all of Britain and the background to... Read more
Published 10 months ago by louise
5.0 out of 5 stars
tearaway
well...wat a fantasic read i couldnt put the book down!! 10/10 for me well done dean..look forward the the film..
Once again well done
Once again well done
Published 10 months ago by daz66
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