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Awaydays
 
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Awaydays (Paperback)

by Kevin Sampson (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
RRP: £7.99
Price: £5.49 & this item Delivered FREE in the UK with Super Saver Delivery. See details and conditions
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Frequently Bought Together

Customers buy this book with Casuals: Football, Fighting and Fashion - The Story of a Terrace Cult by Phil Thornton

Awaydays + Casuals: Football, Fighting and Fashion - The Story of a Terrace Cult
Price For Both: £10.48

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Product details

  • Paperback: 188 pages
  • Publisher: Vintage; New edition edition (4 Mar 1999)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0099267977
  • ISBN-13: 978-0099267973
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 1.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 12,150 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #1 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > S > Sampson, Kevin
    #21 in  Books > Fiction > Contemporary Fiction: 1970 Onwards > Lad Lit

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Product Description

Amazon.co.uk Review

The first page of this excellent debut novel shows a map of Birkenhead featuring the Tranmere Rovers football ground, the train line to Wrexham and an arrow pointing to Chester. Not exactly the definition of chic? Well in 1979, it wasn't far off. Awaydays is about "The Pack", a gang of Tranmere Rovers Hooligans who terrorise those northern towns unfortunate enough to have a third division football team. But Awaydays is also about the implications of Margaret Thatcher's first government, the music of Joy Division and the Only Ones, youth unemployment, the explosion of heroin use, the rise of the casual street movement and what young people do when the world gets tough. The protagonist is caught between two worlds. Called Carty by the lads in the Pack and Paul by his family, he has nine O- Levels and acknowledges a tendency to "lay the accent on a bit thick when I'm with the pack, but I modulate it for all sorts of situations. I can go very posh indeed". When his worlds inevitably collide Carty is forced to making a life-changing decision. Should he stay or should he go? Take an Awayday and find out.


Review

'A dark and disturbing tale. Not for the prudish or faint of heart but entertaining for anyone else' --www.bookbag.co.uk --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.
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Customer Reviews

18 Reviews
5 star:
 (11)
4 star:
 (6)
3 star:
 (1)
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Average Customer Review
4.6 out of 5 stars (18 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars You'll never take the cowsheds!, 6 Oct 2003
Nostalgia played a huge part in my enjoyment of this book - I grew up less than half a mile from Tranmere's ground, and whilst the main character was 19 in 1979, I was 16.
They say everyone's first novel is at least partly autobiographical, which possibly puts the bold Mr. Sampson in the Cowsheds (Prenton Park's home end at the time)at the same time as me.
Memories aside, the story is highly enjoyable, and offers a cutting and accurate insight into late seventies, lower division football hooliganism.
Sampson has an excellent ear for colloquial speech, and is able to put it on paper fluently (skills later developed to the max in 'Outlaws' and 'Clubland'. I laughed out loud at Paul Carty's outburst after his quickie in Vale Park ('Arr, hey! State of me kecks!').
Unashamedly macho, great fun.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Nasty Stuff, Brilliantly told., 2 Jul 2008
By Ns Smith "Bevendean Hillbilly" (Essex UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
The review title is shamelessly lifted from the front cover of this superbly well observed piece, one sadly never replicated by Sampson in his latter works.
Birkenhead in 1979 was just as he describes, the post-punk lethargy and the beginnings of the Heroin influx which led to the Wirrals' Capital Town being re-named euphemistically "Smack City". The internicine wars between the WEBB (Woodchurch Estate Boot Boys") the Noctorum and Ford estate equivalents all set aside when Tranmere played away.
Sampson pulls off a rare trick in this,his first,novel, that of being able to evoke a real sense of the young Paul Cartys need to belong to "The pack" whilst simulaneously wanting to be his own man.Cartys journey is a metaphor for many young mens transition from boy to man only his route is a tad more extreme.
Sampson has also translated his Love for the period very well and the references to the Liverpool underground scene via probe Records and Erics take this reader almost literally back in time.
The Violence he describes is almost Gonzo, but I'll forgive him this because the context is correct, you see Sampson takes you to a point where these smartly dressed and stylish lads..well, you want them to win against their unfashionably dressed opponents with, well, style.

For fans of 80's youth culture this is a must have, for students of modern post industrial history this is a must have and for those who just love a fast moving gory youth piece, this is a must have.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A book for the Wirral, 24 Oct 2006
By J. Keggin "Bailiff" (Mossley Hill, Liverpool) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Yes there'a a million and one books writen by clumsy band-wagon jumpers glorifying 70s hooliganism they probably weren't involved in, but this is not one. Speaking from personal experience, the subtleties of Wirral boroughs and casual couture are absolutely spot on, betraying the author's encyclopaedic knowledge. With a fluent tone throughout, this is a short but fascinating book by a great young author.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Not what you think! This is independent cinema at its best!
If you are expecting Awaydays to be nothing more than a footie violence film along the lines of Green Streets and Football Factory you're very wrong! Read more
Published 3 months ago by R. Barter

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Read
If you like good modern British writers the you can't go far wrong with a Kevin Sampson book. A very easy book to read (like his others) with everyday English language. Read more
Published 16 months ago by L. Taylor

5.0 out of 5 stars locally brilliant
kevin sampson... well done

this was a great read for me because of all the local refrences which i could relate to. Read more

Published on 3 Jan 2005 by kil002

5.0 out of 5 stars a bit of bother in birkenhead
An excellent book, Kevin Sampson throws together lots of strands which all work together well, the central core revolves around narator and his forays into hardcore football... Read more
Published on 17 Oct 2002 by simon gurney

5.0 out of 5 stars Sharper than a Stanley Knife
This book works on many levels - a document of the time, a rites of passage tale, a style guide for retro terrace casuals, a statement on the senselessness of violence... Read more
Published on 27 May 2002 by MG Metcalfe R. Sperry

4.0 out of 5 stars Sampson's Best
Easily Kevin Sampson's best book. Has its flaws and could be said to glorify the violent side of football, but for once he gets his characters right and the pace of the book... Read more
Published on 28 Mar 2002 by Colin E Coli

4.0 out of 5 stars A pretty disturbing view of matter of fact violence
This was definitely a book that could be sub titled "Birkenhead Psycho", with all due respect to Brett Easton Ellis. Read more
Published on 20 Feb 2001 by Mr. Andrew Dennis

4.0 out of 5 stars Quite Good
Sampson manages several things at once in this slim novel, set in the suburbs of Liverpool over the course of the final six weeks of 1979. Read more
Published on 10 Jan 2001 by A. Ross

4.0 out of 5 stars Tells it like it is
Absolutely fantastic. A tremendous insight into the mind of a teenager approaching manhood desperately searching for something/someone to belong to. Read more
Published on 21 Jul 2000

5.0 out of 5 stars Best book ever
This is the best book I have ever read and I don't like football. It beats Catcher in the Rye which used to be my favorite. Get it.
Published on 28 Jun 2000 by samblake@mailandnews.com

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