The Young Team: Granta Best of Young British Novelists 2023

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I was engrossed from start to finish. Graeme Armstrong is a major new talent and I cannot wait to discover what he does next.

The Young Team - Google Books The Young Team - Google Books

So much more to this than the tale of ‘A Young Team’. An exceptional social commentary and a real look at the working class psyche and condition. News Graeme Armstrong on The Young Team, leaving the gang life behind and his journey to literary successHowever, as much as it has you longing for the days of old- it is also a stark reminder of why it’s been left in the past. Why those that could escape did. Addiction, murder, mutilation, depression, suicide and PTSD are very much an issue for Scotland’s young men. They should be spoken about- and Graeme has given young men a platform, a safe space to read about and discuss these issues with pals. All because of an absolute belter of a book. I’d had a great childhood which I threw away for a life of gangs and drugs. My time, money and energy had been spent on drugs. It had got to the stage where I was on my own with nothing left to fill up my time to keep me sane. The Young Team (2020) by Graeme Armstrong shares a lot in common with Who They Was. Both authors grew up on estates with high levels of crime and violence, and limited opportunities for the people that live there. Both tales are highly autobiographical and terrifying. Both are, ultimately, tales of redemption.

The Young Team by Graeme Armstrong | Goodreads

Azzy Williams is ready. Ready to smoke, pop pills, drink wine and ready to fight. But most of all, he’s ready to do anything for his friends, his gang, his young team.There are a lot of really interesting insights into classism in Scotland and Graeme emphasises that the people in this situation are no less intelligent than anyone else, even though people treat them like they are. They just haven’t had the chance at life, or the tools to give them the chance at life, that other people have. They have to fight to get out of a dead-end life. Azzy Williams is ready. Ready to smoke, pop pills, drink wine and ready to fight. But most of all, he’s ready to do anything for his friends, his gang, his young team. Round here, in the schemes of the forgotten industrial heartland of Scotland, your mates, your young team – they’re everything. Azzy Williams is fourteen; a rising star, this is his life and he loves it. Azzy Williams is seventeen; he’s out of control. Azzy Williams is twenty-one; he’d like to leave it all behind. But a way out isn’t easy to find . . . Inspired by the experiences of its author, Graeme Armstrong, The Young Team is an energetic novel, full of the loyalty, laughs, mischief, boredom, violence and threat of life on these streets. It looks beyond the tabloid stereotypes to tell a powerful story about the realities of life for young people in Britain today. The Young Team by Graeme Armstrong – eBook Details They’re more likely to be inspired by London gang culture nowadays, he said, listening to "drill and grime" music instead of happy hardcore. They carry iPhones and have more money. They dress differently.

Graeme Armstrong on The Young Team, leaving the gang life Graeme Armstrong on The Young Team, leaving the gang life

One of them imitated me swaggering about in the classroom and went ‘who’s gonae give YOU a job?’ I told him, ‘I won’t need a job. I’m going to uni.’ I was determined to beat them.”

He continued: “I went from three drafts of 235,000 words to one book with 110,000. There are still bits I would change to this day, like any artist. But you need to learn to let that go to grow.”