Stanley dreams of making it big as a DJ, playing the all-nighters with his sidekick Clive; Pow-Wow’s as tough as the next kid, patrolling the streets with his gang; Sylvia just wants to escape from the grind of looking after her ageing mother. When Clive and Stanley join forces to establish a male escort agency, the situation hots up…
This is a picture of inner city London. Mark Powell has created a gritty, contemporary landscape filled with a vibrant cast of characters, from wannabe gangsters to professional psychics. Slick, fast-paced and surprisingly tender, BOX is an engrossing window on contemporary London as well as a satisfying page-turner.
This is a picture of inner city London. Mark Powell has created a gritty, contemporary landscape filled with a vibrant cast of characters, from wannabe gangsters to professional psychics. Slick, fast-paced and surprisingly tender, BOX is an engrossing window on contemporary London as well as a satisfying page-turner.
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Reviews
Mark Powell works a beguiling tale, communicating a real passion for London. His staccato writing style also lends a type of gritty poetry to the urban scenes he describes
A sparse, tender, savvy, bitter-sweet gem of a contemporary novel
Box is urban and compact, a stark and gripping read. A short, black and sideways look at London under-living
Powell's razor-sharp prose is a treat . . . he succeeds in showing us the worlds within worlds that make up the metropolis
Like Irvine Welsh rewritten in English
Powell's second novel is dark stuff. Yet the central personalities steadily acquire form, colour and depth like images on a Polaroid