Pies and Prejudice: In Search of the North - Stuart Maconie

Stuart Maconie is well known these days as a DJ on Radio 2 and a "talking head" on many TV shows which involve lists, such as the 100 best love songs or whatever idea Channel 4 has to fill the schedule cheaply on a Saturday night. He used to write for the NME and Q magazine and seems to have an encyclopaedic knowledge of music and popular culture. He hails from Wigan, a town he describes as hopelessly "hick" and one which seems to instil a great sense of laughter in southerners. I reviewed the book on Amazon last year and mentioned my late husband's mirth and delight at travelling through ... more

One does wonder if Stuart Maconie dreams up the titles for his books before he even knows what they'll be about. In his follow up to the my-life-with-music-cum-autobiography "Cider With Roadies" our erstwhile doyen of BBC Radio and music journalism ponders the most important questions of our time; does the North, and Northerners, still exist? And if they do, what the hell actually are they? (Well, they're important questions if, like the author and I, you're a semi-Scouser living in a long cold Southern exile). Having gloriously dismissed the South even as a concept in the first chapter (while ... more

I should open this review by admitting a bias. I love the North of England, and I ordered this book to learn a little more about the history of the settlements and the culture. The writer clearly also loves the North, although I did find myself chuckling along with his comments on sceptics from the 'Great North' who would disagree with his chosen starting points (Crewe, Manchester, these places are surely the midlands!). He approaches each settlement with flair, and the book is well researched. The author's background within the music industry was clear, and I did find myself at times skipping ... more