No excuses can hide the criminal actions of a Nazi fellow-traveller in this admirably objective documentary, suggests MARTIN HALL
Class solidarity is no walk in the park
ADAM THERON-LEE RENSCH talks to Mike Quille about what it is to be a working-class writer in the US and patronising perceptions of class that abound left, right and centre
Adam Theron-Lee Rensch
PAUL DONOVAN relishes a fascinating exploration of the leading lights of the Labour right in the 1970s
BEN LUNN alerts us to the creeping return of philanthropy and private patronage, and suggests alternative paths to explore
A novel by Argentinian Jorge Consiglio, a personal dictionary by Uruguayan Ida Vitale, and poetry by Mexican Homero Aridjis
MIK SABIERS savours the first headline solo show of the stalwart of Brighton’s indie-punk outfit Blood Red Shoes
New releases reviewed by IAN SINCLAIR
STEVEN ANDREW is moved beyond words by a historical account of mining in Britain made from the words of the miners themselves
Can you tell us about the book and why you decided to write it as a memoir?
I was very resistant to writing a traditional memoir, and the first draft of the book included very little personal narrative.
I believe the memoir or “creative nonfiction” genre tends to perpetuate neoliberal narratives that eliminate structural critique in favour of emotional identification. Everything becomes about the writer as an individual: their suffering, their triumph, etc. Who cares about the larger set of social relations that make this possible? What matters is what is moving enough to sell copy. So, I knew I didn’t want to play into this.
At the same time, I realised my life was something of a convenient structure onto which I could hang my critique. I was born in 1984, came of age in the post-9/11 landscape, and internalised the liberal obsession with meritocracy. If I was going to make something of myself, I thought, I had to become educated.
More from this author
MIKE QUILL reports on a lively conference in Barnsley that took stock of working-class access to culture and proposed strategies to embed culture within the trade union movement
MIKE QUILLE relishes political theatre at its most entertaining, engaging and effective
MIKE QUILLE is impressed by the rigorous Marxist approach to be found in a new book on the dialectics of art
Labour’s manifesto proposals for broadening access to culture are initiatives which will enhance the lives of millions, says MIKE QUILLE
