Among the Thugs (Vintage Departures)
They have names like Barmy Bernie, Daft Donald, and Steamin' Sammy. They like lager (in huge quantities), the Queen, football clubs (especially Manchester United), and themselves. Their dislike encompasses the rest of the known universe, and England's soccer thugs express it in ways that range from mere vandalism to riots that terrorize entire cities. Now Bill Buford, editor of the prestigious journal Granta, enters this alternate society and records both its savageries and its sinister allure with the social imagination of a George Orwell and the raw personal engagement of a Hunter Thompson.
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Community Reviews
Interesting book about group dynamics and the psychology of the mob. Buford is no psychologist, of course; he studied well to write the book, but his journalistic impulses lead him to sensationalize events in the book such that one is not sure if they actually happened the way they did.
But, in a sense, one doesn't go to a book for truth. One goes to a book to find their resonance with it. I quite like this book aesthetically; it's really an observation of the nihilism in young men. Which appears to be a permanent curse on mankind.
I pushed myself to finish this book, and only because it was chosen by the book club I enjoy . This book is brutal in its first hand depiction of violence in sporting events during the 1980s and later. The mindless behavior of mobs is one thing, but here we find a savage group directed to separate and converge in the pursuit of rival supporters with the singular intent to harm and destroy. The crowd seems like a snake, fluidly weaving along streets, hunched over, ready to spring and kill.
Hey, we’re talking about soccer matches and the British equivalent of American tailgate parties! If these stories are true, I’m writing England off my list of places to visit!
If it’s all true.
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