Graffiti Stories

by Nick Gerrard

A collection of short stories written as personal struggle stories from the perception of the underdog protagonist.

153 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 2, 2016

About the author

Nick Gerrard is originally from Birmingham but now living in Olomouc where he writes, proof-reads and edits, (Abridged versions of the classics; like Hemmingway and Orwell) and in between looking after his son Joe, edits and designs Jotters United Lit-zine. Nick has been at one time or another a Chef, activist, union organiser, punk rocker, teacher, traveller and Eco-lodge owner in Malawi and Czech.

His short stories, flash, poetry and essays have appeared in various magazines and books in print and online including Breaking rules, Rye whiskey review, Spillwords, Pikers press, The Siren, The Platform, Ramingoblog, literati-magazine, Minor Literature and Bluehour magazine. Nick has three books published available on Amazon. Travelling for the hell of it. A kind of travel book.
Lyrics without music. Gritty poems.
Graffiti stories. Short story collection
His latest short novel, Punk Novelette is all about a group of friends growing up with punk in the 70s in the UK and the effect the movement had on their lives.

.

Reviews

[Marc Faoite · Rating 4 out of 5]

These stories are not for the faint-hearted. There’s sex and drugs and crime, the underbelly of society. Gerrard tells his stories straight and terse, with prose as taut as junkie’s arm strap, as tight as a meth-head’s clenched teeth. His characters are chancers and bikers and thieves, dealers, pimps and prostitutes. Geographically these stories roam from Portugal to Paris, from South Africa to Mozambique, from central Europe to England, but no matter where they are set there is a common gritty landscape of bars and urban wastelands, backstreets and squalid housing. If you’re looking for a raw and unflinching account of the lives of tough people in even tougher situations then this book is right up your broken-bottle condom-strewn dark alley. Gerrard is in control of his characters and settings right from the outset to the final line. A boisterously good read. Think Irving Welsh with more punch and better diction.

[Adam · Rating 5 out of 5]

At times deeply visceral, but always with a ring of truth to them, these tales of life in the North of England and other places are short but great, with memorable characters and a clear demonstration of the damage drug addiction can cause. The Czech and South African set stories at the end are worth the price of admission alone.

[Birgitta Heikka · Rating 3 out of 5]

Graffiti Stories is filled with every-day characters living on the outskirts of society but the stories are told in a creative, unique and funny way. The characters draw the reader into their overly dramatic lives of booze and drugs and soon, you have a feeling of being on the stage with these outcasts. The stories are captivating and, sometimes, hilarious.

[David O'Boyle]

I read the short story "Barman's Eyes" from Nick Gerrard's Graffiti Stories. I thought it captured the essence of what a young to middle-aged man would dream of having as their bar down the street. Funny, because the desire isn't really complex. It is just a watering hole where socialization amongst strangers is encouraged, music is tastefully selected but not overpowering, and occasionally beautiful women come through the door who are willing to give regulars the time of day. Plus, the bartender is high-brow. A man of taste. A fellow respected in the community, like he was in the days when cobblers and juleps and coolers were on the menu rather than those smutty 80's-named cocktails. I particularly liked the details Gerrard provides about the food a man uses to try and seduce a female patron at the bar. While the character's intent may be romantic, the reader starts to get hungry. Perhaps my biggest compliment to this story is that I myself would go t0 this bar.

From a classical literature standpoint, it got me thinking of Ernest Hemingway's short story "A Clean Well-Lit Place". They both have a way of making it about the bar and the people. The drinks (though perhaps not the food) are secondary. Young men do not read literature as much as their female counterparts. I feel like stories such as this would keep their interest. Women have their guilty beach reads. This could be a guilty winter read for a guy that wants to stay in on a night and maybe sip some brandy out of a snifter in front of a fire.

[Karl Wiggins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Way before I read the last chapter ‘I Heard the Bang,’ in fact it was during the first few pages – the chapter entitled ‘The Queen of Barrio Alto’ – I was already thinking, “Wow, this is very Kerouac-ish.” I truly can’t say whether Jack Kerouac was insane or inspired. He certainly led a confused and tortured life, but then, genius being so close to madness, I can’t honestly make up my mind as to whether Nick Gerrard is insane or inspired either. Certainly, he writes in a stream of consciousness akin to Kerouac’s work, and one that I find particularly engaging.

It took me a few pages to realise the first chapter was actually set in Portugal, although the clue about Benfica was a bit of a giveaway, but once I was certain I loved it because I lived four years in Portugal myself.

In all honesty, although Nick Gerrard does tend to write depicting all the thoughts and feelings that flow through his mind as he’s scribbling, in whatever order they leak onto the page, I would class his writing more akin to Dan Fante and Harry Crews than Jack, and I hope he takes that as the compliment it’s intended.

Brit Grit is now a genre all of it’s own, and I love it. I also love Americana low-life writing styles, and in Nick Gerrard I feel we may well have discovered the British Dan Fante.

Excellent

[Nick Gerrard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gabrielle Smith-Dluha..writes Read the real stuff - the underground writing of our times. New Voices magazine says most self-published books are trash, but goes on to laud Nick Gerrard's latest book Graffiti Stories, saying it:
"exemplifies both the very best of our English language tradition of storytelling and the New Freedom which self-publishing has promised and is now delivering.I am reminded in each story of the avant-garde aftertaste of Jack Kerouac as well as the linguistic precision and depth of Ernest Hemingway.Gerrard transports us to the roadways, back alleys, and thread bare abodes of broken people, drug addled misfits, and tempters of dangerous consequences as co-conspirators and welcome guests."
Read full review here http://theemergingshortstory.com/inde...

[G.M. Potter · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nick Gerrard's work, Graffiti Stories, is not a pleasant romp around the park. Buckle up, this collection of stories opens up a world of vulnerible, destitute, and damaged souls trying to get by with rules neither you nor I would dare. Well worth the read, Mr. Gerrard produces a collection of characters, prose, and plot with a conciseness rarely seen. The characters and environs are raw, but after one or two stories, the reader senses a deep compassion for these people and can only imagine the author writes what he knows, and whom he knows.