Mark Steel

I bought this book after seeing Mark live in Birmingham. I was anticipating a mix of side-splitting comedy and radical politics. The side-splitting bit was in the comedy club where I saw him; before I could read the book. I'd heard him re-use a lot of the same material on BBC Radio 4, and by the time I got to read the book, I had calmed down from the 'nearly wetting myself' position to merely smiling and nodding a lot.

That's not to say this isn't a very funny book; it is. But as the book show more can't convey Mark's own almost perfect impersonation of Tony Benn (to name but one example), it is now for me more a souvenir of a damn' fine night out.

But there's more. Mark's connections with the British Far Left, in the form of the Socialist Workers' Party, and his account of his gradual disillusionment set against the almost simultaneous disintegration of his marriage, is both readable and sadly accurate. Whilever the Left had intellectual credit from its position as one pole of a bicameral political debate, the ultra-orthodoxy of the Far Left had a certain amount of cachet because of it being the purest strain of socialist thought available and directly traceable to its roots. Much of its analysis is accurate, especailly its own critique of Soviet communism as merely a form of state capitalism that relies far too heavily on mechanisms of state repression to be a faithful enactment of Marxist teaching. But the way in which the Far Left fragments and turns in on itself whilst ignoring the wider issues and building mass movements to mobilise opposition to the way we are governed now is a tragedy of the West. Mark Steel shows this process in closer focus, but Leftists and former Leftists from many lands will sadly be able to attest to the truth of what he writes.

His prognosis - that it is down to individuals to carry forward the battle against the forces of corporatism and capital in 1001 little struggles and individual minor victories that one day might well build or accrete into a bigger movement is a little depressing, because it suggests that the game is to be a long one that many of us will not live to see the end of. But he thinks that it carries within it the seeds of acheiving a fairer, better society for all of us. And I think in this, he is right. show less

Mark Steel is a well known left wing comedian in the UK. He appears on BBC Radio 4 (his lecture series is excellent) and is well known on the 'alternative' comedy circuit.This book is a memoir of what its like growing up in the UK and reaching a politically aware age as a socialist when the whole country appears to turn its back on socialist ideals and to embrace Thatcherite monetarism.Leaving school Mark works his way through a series of dead end jobs where he fails miserably to hold his show more tongue when people glibly comment on politics. He lives in a squat and various council flats while living through a rapidly changing world.As an insider account of the various events which shaped the left wing it is by turns funny, touching and infuriating. The ability of the left to writhe and beat itself senseless rather than take on the right wing is the source for much of the humour. The tragic events that occured on some of the demos (such as the killing of Blair Peach) form the sad moments, and the rise of New Labour is the source of the fury.A great book. I read the second half pretty much in one day as I travelled from Cambridge to Shrewsbury and back. A good way to pass the time... show less

This reviews the audiobook read by the author.
Great job. I listened to the BBC Radio version at least twice because it was so good. This is a bit longer (almost 9 hours) and fleshes out the story with Steel's sociopepsicological musings on nature versus nurture, the treatment of women, communism/socialism/capitalism, antisemitism, privilege - and the whereabouts of Lord Lucan.
His birth mother's experience resonates with a similar one in my own family and I totally agree. No more lies. And I show more remember not being able to get credit or buy a car in my own name. Some things have improved.
I have to admit that I had started to nod off in the bit about Lord Lucan, but I might have been tired and I was sitting in a normal napping place. Otherwise, I had trouble stopping listening. It's a compelling story, a true story. show less

Steel's account of his life pivots on his political and social education. He paints a hugely comic picture of the political atmosphere of the 1970s and '80s peppered with hilarious anecdotes and bigger than life characters. I first read this as a newly-politicised teenager and it was my first real glimpse into the life of Britain's socialist contingent. I was laughing out loud from the very first page. If nothing else, Steel has been instrumental in my decision not to take my politics too show more seriously. show less