I bought this from The Book People as part of their "Stranger Than Fiction" set. This book was on my Wishlist. I plan to read and move on.

Synopsis:

Stuart, A Life Backwards, is the story of a remarkable friendship between a reclusive writer and illustrator (‘a middle class scum ponce, if you want to be honest about it, Alexander) and a chaotic, knife-wielding beggar whom he gets to know during a campaign to release two charity workers from prison.

Interwoven into this is Stuart’s confession: the story of his life, told backwards. With humour, compassion (and exasperation) Masters slowly works back through post-office heists, prison riots and the exact day Stuart discovered violence, to unfold the reasons why he changed from a happy-go-lucky little boy into a polydrug-addicted-alcoholic Jekyll and Hyde personality, with a fondness for what he called ‘little strips of silver’ (knives to you and me).

Funny, despairing, brilliantly written and full of surprises: this is the most original and moving biography of recent years.

Visited Three’s Coffee shop today and found this book on the bookcrossing shelves there. The movie has been on my ‘to watch’ list for some time so now I’ll read the book first! Thank you to molekilby for sharing the book.