British Universities Film & Video Council

moving image and sound, knowledge and access

Kiddar’s luck

Title
Kiddar’s luck
Genre
Fiction; Biography; Serial
TX Date
Jun 1982
Year of production
1982
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Duration
00:57:30
Description
Kiddar’s Luck, episode 7. Originally published in 1951, Common’s best-known book, the autobiographical Kiddar’s Luck, in which he vividly describes his childhood on the streets of Edwardian Tyneside, as seen through the lens of his adult socialism. There are four chapters on his life before the age of five - quite a feat of memory - while his mother’s alcoholism and the overbearing father whom Jack at length dramatically defies, form the dark background. The book found praise as a slice of Geordie naturalism , a convincing depiction of ‘the other England’ which so beguiled the imagination of contemporary intellectuals. Its irony and subtly bitter universality went largely unrecognised. This episode is read by Edward Wilson.
Contributors
Edward Wilson
Keywords
Books; Jack Common; Autobiographies; Tyneside; Radio book readings; Edwardian period

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