6/29/2023 0 Comments The autobiography of a super tramp![]() It was his enthusiasm, expressed in the Preface, that ensured the initial success of a book now regarded as a classic. Davies, super-tramp and writer, reveals a fascinating picture of a vast, bustling continent intent on its own affairs and of a Britain on. When George Bernard Shaw first read the Autobiography in manuscript, he was stunned by the raw power of its unvarnished narrative. A harrowing accident forced him to return to England and the seedy world of doss-houses and down-and-outs like Boozy Bob and Irish Tim. He was thrown into prison in Michigan, beaten up in New Orleans, witnessed a lynching in Tennessee, and got drunk pretty well everywhere. His experiences were richly coloured by the bullies, tricksters, and fellow-adventurers he encountered - New Haven Baldy, Wee Shorty, The Indian Kid, and English Harry, to name but a few. Around the turn of the century, when he was twenty-two, his restless spirit of adventure led him to set off for America, and he worked around the country taking casual jobs where he could, thieving and begging where he couldn't. ![]() ![]() Click here to purchase from Rakuten Kobo William Henry Davies was born in a pub and learnt early in life to rely on his wits and his fists - and to drink. ![]()
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