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Poverty Safari

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Poverty Safari

By: Darren McGarvey
Narrated by: Darren McGarvey
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About this listen

Brutally honest and fearless, Poverty Safari is an unforgettable insight into modern Britain, and will change how you think about poverty.

The Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller
Winner of the Orwell Prize.
Named the most 'Rebellious Read of the 21st Century' in a Scottish Book Trust poll

Darren McGarvey, award-winning author and presenter of BBC series The State We're In has experienced poverty and its devastating effects first-hand. He knows why people from deprived communities all around Britain feel angry . . .

So he invites you to come on a safari of sorts. But not the kind where the wildlife is surveyed from a safe distance. This book takes you inside the experience of poverty to show how the pressures really feel and how hard their legacy is to overcome.

Arguing that both the political left and right misunderstand poverty as it is actually lived, McGarvey sets out what everybody – including himself – could do to change things.

'Another cry of anger from a working class that feels the pain of a rotten, failing system. Its value lies in the strength it will add to the movement for change.' - Ken Loach, director of Kes

©2017 Darren McGarvey (P)2018 Macmillan Digital Audio Politics & Government Poverty & Homelessness Social Classes & Economic Disparity Social Sciences Sociology Inspiring Thought-Provoking

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Critic reviews

Nothing less than an intellectual and spiritual rehab manual for the progressive left. (Irvine Welsh)
Poverty Safari is an important and powerful book. (Nicola Sturgeon)
Poverty Safari documents in vivid, piercing and frequently funny prose, the reality of growing up in Pollok and the consequences of a chaotic family life (Stephen McGinty)
Poverty Safari is one of the best accounts of working-class life I have read. McGarvey is a rarity: a working-class writer who has fought to make the middle-class world hear what he has to say. (Nick Cohen)
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)
Raw, powerful and challenging. (Kezia Dugdale)
A blistering analysis of the issues facing the voiceless and the social mechanisms that hobble progress, all wrapped up in an unput-downable memoir. (Denise Mina)
Utterly compelling. (Ian Rankin)
All stars
Most relevant  
At points felt the author suffered from verbal diarea, but the story is brilliant and you need to listen to the entire book to understand the context. You can feel his anger and frustration of the plight of the poor and how he is trying to address the issue.

Emotional

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Part polemic, part autobiographical a challenge to those of us who consider ourselves ‘good’. An unapologetic analysis of working class lives, experiences and communities. An important read and insight for anyone who works in the ‘poverty’ industry and a timely challenge to the Labour movement and it’s understanding of the working class. At time Darren holds up an uncomfortable, but necessary mirror.

Insightful, uncomfortable but necessary

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The middle class needs to listen to McGarvey to realise how little they understand about politics.

Dawning Realisation

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I have listened to this book twice in the past week, the only book I've ever re-read/listened to! Coming from a background of relative poverty I can associate with a lot of the content. Darren narrated it perfectly giving me a fire in my belly at points. I would recommend this book to anyone regardless of where they came from and where they find themselves now!

Outstanding

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A clear understanding of the issues, some needed criticism of the left as a movement but also a path forward which is often missing from good analysis of what is wrong.

Definitely worth your time.

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I loved this book. A stark, honest truth, that challenged me and reassured me that I am on the right path, with a couple of tweaks. Everyone who wants to make a difference in the world should read.

Must read for all

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Once he relaxed into the narration I began to really enjoy this book. An amazingly honest and brutal insight into poverty. I found myself pondering over the points he raised long after I stopped. Sometimes it can seem a bit jumpy but very good overall

Good listen

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Thought provoking and totally heartbreaking. Kids growing up in poverty like Darren did is a mark that we are a long way off being a civilised nation.

Hard Hitting

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I loved this book. Sad and funny. I've been looking for this book for a long time. An honest and entertaining examination of how we come to form our world view, of how we come to believe what we do. It's a vivid description of the experience of poverty and how it has influenced one man's journey of self dicovery. I am a middle class man, and it spoke to me in plain language about how I have come to my understanding of 'how things are'. It's not an angry rant, but an invitation to think about our human condition.
I would recommend this book to anyone who wants an insight into poverty, and into themselves as well. Excellent.

Inspiring and Unsettling

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Brilliant narration - no surprises there! Fascinating and original perspective, well worth my time. Lots of juicy quotes to go on my wall to ponder over for a long time.

Thought provoking, original, brilliant delivery

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