Description
One man gambles on the dogs and his own life in this rediscovered Jewish post-war classic of London’s seedy underbelly, introduced by Iain Sinclair.
“A novel and author richly deserving of renewed attention.”–Kirkus starred review ⭐Never give up hope before the dogs have crossed the finishing-line.Harryboy Boas is a lowlife gambler. When he’s not at the track, he lives in a Hackney boarding house, reading Zola, eating salt beef, pressing trousers and repressing wartime memories. But when a new family moves into the apartment downstairs, his life starts to unravel and Harryboy soon finds himself sinking into a murky East End underworld where violence, guilt and gangsters are the inevitable result for those who cannot pay their dues. A celebrated cult classic, The Lowlife brilliantly evokes post-war East London – dog tracks, sandwich shops, tenements, sex workers, newly arrived West Indians and Jews leaving for Finchley – all seen through the tragicomic eyes of Harryboy, our picaresque rogue hero suffering from ‘existential burn-out in the shadow of the Holocaust’ (Iain Sinclair) and driven to bet, brag and beg to survive.
Author: Alexander Baron
Publisher: Faber & Faber
Published: 5/6/2026
Pages: 256
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.5 lbs
Size: 7.7″ H x 4.9″ L x 0.8″ W
ISBN: 9780571393473
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