The Pie At Night: In Search of the North at Play

Description

Join Stuart Maconie as he clock off in the north of England Factory, mine and mill. Industry, toil and grime. Its manufacturing roots mean we still see the North of England as a hardworking place. But, more than possibly anywhere else, the North has always known how to get dressed up, take itself out on the town and have a good time. After all, working and playing hard is its specialty, and Stuart Maconie is in search of what, exactly, this entails what it tells us about the North today. Following tip offs and rumour, Stuart takes trip to forgotten corners and locals' haunts. From the tapas bars of Halifax to the caravan parks of Berwick Upon Tweed, from a Westhoughton bowling green to Manchester's curry mile, via dog tracks and art galleries, dance floors and high fells, Stuart compares the new and old North, with some surprising results. The Pie at Night could be seen as a companion to the bestselling Pies and Prejudice, but it is not a sequel. After all, this is a new decade and the North is changing faster than ever. This is a revealing and digressive journey and a State of the North address, delivered from barstool, terrace, dress circle and hillside.

Stuart Maconie is a writer, broadcaster and journalist familiar to millions from his work in print, on radio and on TV. His previous bestsellers have included Cider with Roadies, Pies and Prejudice and Adventures on the High Teas, and he currently hosts the afternoon show on BBC 6music with Mark Radcliffe as well as weekly show The Freak Zone. Based in the cities of Birmingham and Manchester, he can also often be spotted on top of a mountain in the Lake District with a Thermos flask and individual pork pie.

Maconie's enjoyment ... is obvious, and he makes it just as enjoyable for his readers * Daily Mail * Maconie's engaging, conversational prose is full of telling detail, jokes and deft quotation ... [he has a] rare ability to convey the sense of people having a really good time' * Telegraph * His engaging, conversational prose is full of telling detail, terrific jokes and unfailingly deft quotation * Daily Telegraph * History and politics are lightly woven through this account of a changing society, told with Maconie's typical gusto * New Statesman * Maconie's latest love letter to the North of England...is infectious, enlivened by terrific jokes * Radar Magazine, Sunday Telegraph *