Housing benefit hill and other places: Collected columns, 1993-1998

by C.J. Stone

The collected front-line reports from CJ Stone's popular Guardian and Big Issue columns. These bulletins are not cosy or comfortable reading, but neither are they without hope, warmth and solidarity. They detail life as lived by those written off by Thatcher and then socially excluded by the poor, the dispossessed, the ejected, the rejected, the lost, described in CJ Stone's unique style.

248 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

About the author

CJ Stone wrote a column for the Guardian Weekend from 1993 till 1998. It was called Housing Benefit Hill and won the writer much acclaim. He has also written columns for the Big Issue, for Mixmag, for Radio 4’s The Afternoon Shift, for Prediction magazine and for Kindred Spirit, as well as writing regularly for the New Statesman and the Independent on Sunday, amongst others. Currently he writes a fortnightly column for the Whitstable Gazette and is a working postman.

CJ Stone has had six books published. Fierce Dancing (Faber & Faber, May 1995), The Last of the Hippies (Faber & Faber, May 1999), Housing Benefit Hill (AK Press, June 2002), The Trials of Arthur (Thorsons/Element, June 2003), The Trials of Arthur Revised Edition (The Big Hand, June 2012), & The Empire of Things, (Gonzo Multimedia, Nov 2013).

"Stone writes with intelligence, wit and sensitivity." Times Literary Supplement

"Wry, acute, and sometimes hellishly entertaining essays in squalor and rebellion." Herald

"The best guide to the Underground since Charon ferried dead souls across the Styx." Independent on Sunday

"Passionately serious, irresistibly compelling, and hilariously good-humoured." Professor Ronald Hutton, Bristol University

Reviews

[Nils Visser]

The nitty-gritty reality of Britain's underclasses is revealed in a style that is typically Stone: At times with a wry smile or else insanely funny but often deeply tragic too - though the author thoughtfully leaves the reader to draw his or her own conclusions regarding that last. In taking the reader on a tour of a dismal Britain Stone never loses sight of humanity. These are not statistics to be gasped at and forgotten. These are poignant stories of people caught up in circumstances they are not happy about but try to make the best of - or lose it altogether.

Stone has his own unique style of writing but the content of this book will be of Orwellian value to future social historians - if they will be allowed to study the life of the under-priviledged that is.

This book is well worth the read, especially now that the country is once again being steered towards austerity for the poor and few - very few - genuine voices speak openly of their lives and habitats.