Poverty Safari: Understanding the Anger of Britain's Underclass

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Poverty Safari aims to give voice to deprived communities that have been ignored and left unheard. Does the book succeed in achieving this?

Poverty Safari: Understanding the Anger of Britain s Books: Poverty Safari: Understanding the Anger of Britain s

Poverty Safari explores a lot of the author’s personal experiences: of his dysfunctional family, his alcoholic mother and violence experienced while growing up. In what ways is this book more than a memoir?In what ways does Poverty Safari provide starting points for political discussion that could lead to change? Are the topics discussed represented properly in politics and the media? Part memoir, part polemic, this is a savage, wise and witty tour-de-force. An unflinching account of the realities of systemic poverty, Poverty Safari lays down challenges to both the left and right. It is hard to think of a more timely, powerful or necessary book. J.K. Rowling Has Poverty Safari changed or challenged any of your presumptions regarding either Britain’s ‘underclass’ or middle class? Four out of five have experienced alcohol or substance misuse problems at some point. Five have experienced long term financial problems which involve debilitating debt or defaults and poor credit history.’

Poverty Safari Summary of Key Ideas and Review - Blinkist Poverty Safari Summary of Key Ideas and Review - Blinkist

It is often said that statistics are human beings with the tears wiped away. Halfway through Poverty Safari: Understanding the Anger of Britain’s Underclass, the first book by the Scottish rapper, writer, and columnist Darren McGarvey, the author provides us with some statistics. He invites you to come on a safari of sorts. A Poverty Safari. But not the sort where the indigenous population is surveyed from a safe distance for a time, before the window on the community closes and everyone gradually forgets about it. Poverty Safari and Irvine Welsh’s Trainspotting deal with issues of poverty, deprivation and addiction in different ways – Poverty Safari through memoir and Trainspotting in fiction. Which book provides more insight and/or is more realistic? Five have experienced abuse and neglect at the hands of a care giver … five have experienced health problems associated with poor nutrition and lifestyle.’Four out of five have experienced alcohol or substance misuse problems at some point. Five have experienced long term financial problems which involve debilitating debt or defaults and poor credit history.’The list goes on: In the first chapter, Darren McGarvey describes holding a rap workshop in a prison. Why did the author choose to open with this experience and does it provide a suitable introduction to the book and its themes?

Poverty safari: understanding the anger of Book review - Poverty safari: understanding the anger of

If The Road To Wigan Pier had been written by a Wigan miner and not an Etonian rebel, this is what might have been achieved. McGarvey's book takes you to the heart of what is wrong with the society free market capitalism has created . Paul Mason In the fourth chapter, McGarvey describes an experience in which a group of children behaved around him as he has learned to do around potentially threatening people. How has this experience shaped the author’s judgment of certain situations?Nothing less than an intellectual and spiritual rehab manual for the progressive left. Irvine Welsh The tears may have been wiped away, but the anger is palpable. McGarvey wants the reader to understand his anger (and, by extension, that of ‘Britain’s underclass’, particularly relevant in the context of Brexit) by drawing attention to the hypocrisy of the political class, the damaging effects of widening socioeconomic (and therefore health) inequalities, and the false beliefs that people on both sides of the class divide hold about each other.