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Beside the seaside
HELEN MERCER is disappointed by a depiction of Englands ‘coastal commons’ that lacks compassion and fails to illuminate the root causes of their decay

Coast of Teeth: Travels to English Seaside Town in an Age of Anxiety
by Tom Sykes and Louis Netter
Signal Books, £14.99

IF you have ever caught the train to Brighton of a weekend or bank holiday, you may have noticed the excited anticipation rippling through the carriage as it pulls into the station. 

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All races, cultures, ages, sexes and even classes have the prospect of a day of earthly pleasure-seeking: wide and windy beaches stretch to the horizon, along with bad food, slot machines and shivering dips.

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