Customer Reviews

Awaydays

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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. The story follows Paul, a middle-class late teen with a government job who lives at home with his decent father and younger sister. His self-identity is wrapped up in his affiliation with a crew of hooligans who support an awful third-division club. His struggle to ingratiate himself with the group, while questioning his own motives and desires is a mirror of every teen's desire to belong to some kind of group. When not describing the prelude to and execution of battles with other club supporters, Paul is perpetually chasing after girls with his best mate Elvis. His friendship with the perpetually crazy and sad Elvis is another running theme, as is his family life, as the family struggles to remain connected after the death of his mother. Some of the slang and period references (especially the fashion) are beyond even British pop-culture aficionados like me, but the story holds together on its own. Not as impressive as John King's trilogy (The Football Factory, Headhunters, England Away), but still a good portrait of a youth trying to come to terms with himself and his future in the midst of a weird little subculture.