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Punk Novelette
Punk Novelette By Nick Gerrard
Follow four friends growing up in the discounted seventies; broken homes, broken town, broken lives. And then Punk arrives... like a hammer blow... giving them a chance to make dreams, a chance to change. The ethos of Punk helps them fight for a life to live despite the crime, the danger; the whole knock you down the pulse of the society around them. A Punk that helps them stay free from prison, and the gutter, and the mundane. https://www.breakingrulespublishing.c...
Follow four friends growing up in the discounted seventies; broken homes, broken town, broken lives. And then Punk arrives... like a hammer blow... giving them a chance to make dreams, a chance to change. The ethos of Punk helps them fight for a life to live despite the crime, the danger; the whole knock you down the pulse of the society around them. A Punk that helps them stay free from prison, and the gutter, and the mundane. https://www.breakingrulespublishing.c...
132 pages, Paperback
Published February 28, 2020
3 people want to read
About the author
Nick Gerrard
12 books31 followersNick 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.
.
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.
.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 8, 2020
The Punk Novelette transports you to the punk era. It feels not like a work of fiction but a diary. It brings the characters to life and draws you in to be a part of the "gang". I immensely enjoyed reading it.
December 9, 2020
Punk Novelette introduces us to four friends as they grow up in the disenchantment of the late 1970s. All come from fractured backgrounds with, on the face of it, very few prospects. It’s a bleak, hopeless era and then Punk arrives giving the four a sense of purpose and belonging that endures through the highs and lows that stretch over four decades.
I really enjoyed Punk Novelette. It’s a clever, educational and interesting read. The book opens by introducing us to all four protagonists in separate and succinct chapters. It’s immediately easy to see how the arrival of Punk gave Colin (the narrator), Julie, Ben and Jaz the acceptance, kinship and a certain structure that was not present in their everyday, domestic lives. Mr Gerrard’s prose is abrasively fast-paced with a core of poetry that encapsulates the late 70s/early 80s in all their gritty colloquialism. None of the friends’ experiences or behaviour are sugar-coated; making you grin, cringe and despair in places and occasionally, at the same time. It’s a neatly structured book that, despite some of the content, is easy to read and immersive. Mr Gerrard epitomises the energetic cry of the youth movement; be that Punk or any other. All, to a certain extent, follow similar lines which makes this book appealing even if you have no knowledge of this particular zeitgeist (like myself). The ideology is still present and this book reinforces the principle that what throws people together in their late teens is often the glue that holds their friendships together in later years even when the movement and/or them have moved on. Colin, Julie, Ben and Jaz journey and develop with varying degrees of success and yet each still return to the group; their meeting at the end is imbued with a poignancy for this very reason. I found it eye-opening how Punk was entirely accepting of Ben and Jaz, who are predominantly homosexual. I presumed, wrongly, from the general perception of Punk that it was a homophobic environment and this book made me consider it differently and sympathetically.
Punk Novelette is a well-observed slice of punk nostalgia and authentic social commentary from the voice of a movement that was, and still is, maligned without being truly understood. Highly recommended.
I received Punk Novelette through Reedsy Discovery,
I really enjoyed Punk Novelette. It’s a clever, educational and interesting read. The book opens by introducing us to all four protagonists in separate and succinct chapters. It’s immediately easy to see how the arrival of Punk gave Colin (the narrator), Julie, Ben and Jaz the acceptance, kinship and a certain structure that was not present in their everyday, domestic lives. Mr Gerrard’s prose is abrasively fast-paced with a core of poetry that encapsulates the late 70s/early 80s in all their gritty colloquialism. None of the friends’ experiences or behaviour are sugar-coated; making you grin, cringe and despair in places and occasionally, at the same time. It’s a neatly structured book that, despite some of the content, is easy to read and immersive. Mr Gerrard epitomises the energetic cry of the youth movement; be that Punk or any other. All, to a certain extent, follow similar lines which makes this book appealing even if you have no knowledge of this particular zeitgeist (like myself). The ideology is still present and this book reinforces the principle that what throws people together in their late teens is often the glue that holds their friendships together in later years even when the movement and/or them have moved on. Colin, Julie, Ben and Jaz journey and develop with varying degrees of success and yet each still return to the group; their meeting at the end is imbued with a poignancy for this very reason. I found it eye-opening how Punk was entirely accepting of Ben and Jaz, who are predominantly homosexual. I presumed, wrongly, from the general perception of Punk that it was a homophobic environment and this book made me consider it differently and sympathetically.
Punk Novelette is a well-observed slice of punk nostalgia and authentic social commentary from the voice of a movement that was, and still is, maligned without being truly understood. Highly recommended.
I received Punk Novelette through Reedsy Discovery,
June 2, 2020
Punk Novelette — Nick Gerrard
How do you describe punk? Staccato, punchy, determined, free from convention—anarchic? Those tried and trusted epithets may seem a little stereotypical, but they sometimes encapsulate the truth.
Such it is with Nick’s book. It’s fair to say this is not a nice relaxing read, one to pass on to granny or read to the kids at bedtime. It simply portrays a lifelong fight; a struggle for identity, a search for peace, a need for constant corrections and changes with one underlying theme—social justice.
Sometimes shocking, often uncomfortable, the brisk pace never lets up in the development of the characters from troubled childhood to… well, that would be spoiling it. The lives portrayed are often brutal and the drinking, drugs and sex are a constant reminder of the need to escape and feel alive.
A poignant thread also very evident is the grass roots class struggle and the responses to the ‘normal’ society of the late 70s and 80s that we call ‘punk’; be that in the face of police violence, through directed vandalism, or in the most extreme of radical political activism.
Nick’s Punk Novelette is a short, machine-gun spray of a story which takes the reader beyond the usual tropes of left-wing literature, or simple tales of heroic musicianship against the odds. It is an immersion experience of all-too-personal, gritty anecdotes concerning self-determinism—you can’t finish this book without coming to the conclusion that the experiences depicted within undoubtedly have a first-hand, authentic ring to them. That also applies to the immediacy of the writing and the rough editing too: the book’s all the better for it.
The book brought back the unhappy and uncertain times of those years for me. Get it. Read it. Live it.
How do you describe punk? Staccato, punchy, determined, free from convention—anarchic? Those tried and trusted epithets may seem a little stereotypical, but they sometimes encapsulate the truth.
Such it is with Nick’s book. It’s fair to say this is not a nice relaxing read, one to pass on to granny or read to the kids at bedtime. It simply portrays a lifelong fight; a struggle for identity, a search for peace, a need for constant corrections and changes with one underlying theme—social justice.
Sometimes shocking, often uncomfortable, the brisk pace never lets up in the development of the characters from troubled childhood to… well, that would be spoiling it. The lives portrayed are often brutal and the drinking, drugs and sex are a constant reminder of the need to escape and feel alive.
A poignant thread also very evident is the grass roots class struggle and the responses to the ‘normal’ society of the late 70s and 80s that we call ‘punk’; be that in the face of police violence, through directed vandalism, or in the most extreme of radical political activism.
Nick’s Punk Novelette is a short, machine-gun spray of a story which takes the reader beyond the usual tropes of left-wing literature, or simple tales of heroic musicianship against the odds. It is an immersion experience of all-too-personal, gritty anecdotes concerning self-determinism—you can’t finish this book without coming to the conclusion that the experiences depicted within undoubtedly have a first-hand, authentic ring to them. That also applies to the immediacy of the writing and the rough editing too: the book’s all the better for it.
The book brought back the unhappy and uncertain times of those years for me. Get it. Read it. Live it.
September 3, 2020
Who said the COVID-19 limits our possibilities to travel? I took a fantastic trip beyond now and my home couch with this book: Exciting, rough and raw, a world which I am happy to explore, but ideally through a written form. Ultimately a story of passion, thrive and four friends making something out of their lives regardless of hardships and harshness of the world around. Could gulp in the 132 pages of the novelette almost in one read, but it will take much longer to digest everything. A sure sign of a good book, when it stays with you long after the last page is being read.
June 1, 2020
I read this book in two goes in lockdown. The first half on understanding punk. What an eye opener! An education on the times, taking me out of my comfort zone and what I knew/thought. The second part I finished today with the riots in America in the news. The whole book started fitting together and I saw punk in a new light, kept thinking Vivienne Westwood, where are they now and how. Bravo! You got me.
December 22, 2020
Great novel by Nick G,gives the reader an an insightful, eyewatering account into the under belly of punk life in the 70s and 80s . A drink drug fullled, fast paced narrative woven by the thread of of friendship,politics and music .A must read for those interested in working class counter cultural fiction. Well done Nick looking forward to reading your other stuff.
June 2, 2020
A very authentic feel as you read about the culture of the punk movement, and how the ideas and beliefs evolve into radical political actions and statements. Get to know the characters and watch them grow without changing their core values. Vagabonds making a living through petty crime while still making strong statements do their best to create change, be it through anarchy or helping those in need by taking a stand against the government. A great read, and a very cool perspective.
August 12, 2021
Reading Nick Gerrard's 'Punk Novellete' I felt like I was on-speed, hurtling full-speed through UK's head-banging counter-culture punk era.
With the characters I lived it, fought through it, mourned its passing and watched anxiously as they either evolved or continued to live in moments that ranged from pure hedonism to true dedication to change the system. You could say of the characters that they realised their potential but in reality Punk shaped their potential.
In the author's words, "Punk had finished, but it hadn't really. Because the people it had affected could never be the same, not really, not if it really affected you. What it gave us was a way to live our lives, not a set of rules, but a way to live and look at life ... it lived on, is living on, cus for us, it was our lives, our soul."
This is a coming of age story so effectively told that it left this reader longing to return to a time I hadn't even lived through. That's the best kind of story telling!
With the characters I lived it, fought through it, mourned its passing and watched anxiously as they either evolved or continued to live in moments that ranged from pure hedonism to true dedication to change the system. You could say of the characters that they realised their potential but in reality Punk shaped their potential.
In the author's words, "Punk had finished, but it hadn't really. Because the people it had affected could never be the same, not really, not if it really affected you. What it gave us was a way to live our lives, not a set of rules, but a way to live and look at life ... it lived on, is living on, cus for us, it was our lives, our soul."
This is a coming of age story so effectively told that it left this reader longing to return to a time I hadn't even lived through. That's the best kind of story telling!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews