Memoirs of a Road-Sweeping Man by John Boyles - Bookswagon
Home > Memoirs of a Road-Sweeping Man
Memoirs of a Road-Sweeping Man

Memoirs of a Road-Sweeping Man


     0     
5
4
3
2
1



International Edition


About the Book

In the late 1940s and early 1950s there were not many ways for a labourer to get into Oxford. Unless you'd been to grammar school and passed your exams, you were stuck - like the author. But he dreamed as he swept the streets of Cowley, and he burned, and he yearned to write. Then a portal appeared, in the form of Ruskin College, a sort of halfway house, offering scholarships to late students like John Boyles. This is the story of John's desperate attempts, like Jude the Obscure, at self-improvement, his WEA evening classes, his shy love of girls from afar, and his boundless enthusiasm for literature and music. Could he make the grade? Could he get to Ruskin and proceed to a degree from Oxford University itself? This is a revealing and salutary tale of hard graft in a harder age, when the middle classes owned the culture, and the working people huddled in freezing homes of a winter evening, listening to the wireless. What mother today would tell her son, when he gets a place at college, 'you don't want to go there and mammer your brains'? JOHN BOYLES WAS BORN IN 1922 INTO A WORKING-CLASS FAMILY IN OXFORD. HE COMPLETED HIS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL EDUCATION AT THE AGE OF FOURTEEN AND BECAME AN ERRAND BOY UNTIL HE WAS EIGHTEEN AND OLD ENOUGH TO BE EMPLOYED BY OXFORD CORPORATION AS A ROAD-SWEEPER. HE WAS CONSCRIPTED INTO THE ARMY, RETURNING TO ROAD-SWEEPING AT THE END OF THE WAR. IN THE WINTER OF 1946 HE STARTED GOING TO EVENING CLASSES, AND WAS ENCOURAGED BY ONE OF HIS TUTORS TO APPLY TO RUSKIN COLLEGE. HE TOOK THE STATUTORY TWO-YEAR COURSE AS A FULL-TIME STUDENT AND FROM THERE WON A SCHOLARSHIP TO WADHAM COLLEGE WHERE HE READ ENGLISH. AFTER TAKING HIS DEGREE, JOHN SPENT THE REMAINDER OF HIS WORKING LIFE TEACHING IN FURTHER EDUCATION. HE MARRIED IN 1956 AND BECAME THE FATHER OF THREE DAUGHTERS. HE DIED IN 2001.


Best Sellers



Product Details
  • ISBN-13: 9781844011568
  • Publisher: New Generation Publishing
  • Binding: Paperback
  • Language: English
  • Returnable: N
  • Spine Width: 9 mm
  • Width: 127 mm
  • ISBN-10: 1844011569
  • Publisher Date: 31 Oct 2003
  • Height: 203 mm
  • No of Pages: 152
  • Series Title: English
  • Weight: 222 gr


Similar Products

Add Photo
Add Photo

Customer Reviews

REVIEWS      0     
Click Here To Be The First to Review this Product
Memoirs of a Road-Sweeping Man
New Generation Publishing -
Memoirs of a Road-Sweeping Man
Writing guidlines
We want to publish your review, so please:
  • keep your review on the product. Review's that defame author's character will be rejected.
  • Keep your review focused on the product.
  • Avoid writing about customer service. contact us instead if you have issue requiring immediate attention.
  • Refrain from mentioning competitors or the specific price you paid for the product.
  • Do not include any personally identifiable information, such as full names.

Memoirs of a Road-Sweeping Man

Required fields are marked with *

Review Title*
Review
    Add Photo Add up to 6 photos
    Would you recommend this product to a friend?
    Tag this Book Read more
    Does your review contain spoilers?
    What type of reader best describes you?
    I agree to the terms & conditions
    You may receive emails regarding this submission. Any emails will include the ability to opt-out of future communications.

    CUSTOMER RATINGS AND REVIEWS AND QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS TERMS OF USE

    These Terms of Use govern your conduct associated with the Customer Ratings and Reviews and/or Questions and Answers service offered by Bookswagon (the "CRR Service").


    By submitting any content to Bookswagon, you guarantee that:
    • You are the sole author and owner of the intellectual property rights in the content;
    • All "moral rights" that you may have in such content have been voluntarily waived by you;
    • All content that you post is accurate;
    • You are at least 13 years old;
    • Use of the content you supply does not violate these Terms of Use and will not cause injury to any person or entity.
    You further agree that you may not submit any content:
    • That is known by you to be false, inaccurate or misleading;
    • That infringes any third party's copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret or other proprietary rights or rights of publicity or privacy;
    • That violates any law, statute, ordinance or regulation (including, but not limited to, those governing, consumer protection, unfair competition, anti-discrimination or false advertising);
    • That is, or may reasonably be considered to be, defamatory, libelous, hateful, racially or religiously biased or offensive, unlawfully threatening or unlawfully harassing to any individual, partnership or corporation;
    • For which you were compensated or granted any consideration by any unapproved third party;
    • That includes any information that references other websites, addresses, email addresses, contact information or phone numbers;
    • That contains any computer viruses, worms or other potentially damaging computer programs or files.
    You agree to indemnify and hold Bookswagon (and its officers, directors, agents, subsidiaries, joint ventures, employees and third-party service providers, including but not limited to Bazaarvoice, Inc.), harmless from all claims, demands, and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown including reasonable attorneys' fees, arising out of a breach of your representations and warranties set forth above, or your violation of any law or the rights of a third party.


    For any content that you submit, you grant Bookswagon a perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, transferable right and license to use, copy, modify, delete in its entirety, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from and/or sell, transfer, and/or distribute such content and/or incorporate such content into any form, medium or technology throughout the world without compensation to you. Additionally,  Bookswagon may transfer or share any personal information that you submit with its third-party service providers, including but not limited to Bazaarvoice, Inc. in accordance with  Privacy Policy


    All content that you submit may be used at Bookswagon's sole discretion. Bookswagon reserves the right to change, condense, withhold publication, remove or delete any content on Bookswagon's website that Bookswagon deems, in its sole discretion, to violate the content guidelines or any other provision of these Terms of Use.  Bookswagon does not guarantee that you will have any recourse through Bookswagon to edit or delete any content you have submitted. Ratings and written comments are generally posted within two to four business days. However, Bookswagon reserves the right to remove or to refuse to post any submission to the extent authorized by law. You acknowledge that you, not Bookswagon, are responsible for the contents of your submission. None of the content that you submit shall be subject to any obligation of confidence on the part of Bookswagon, its agents, subsidiaries, affiliates, partners or third party service providers (including but not limited to Bazaarvoice, Inc.)and their respective directors, officers and employees.

    Accept

    New Arrivals



    Inspired by your browsing history


    Your review has been submitted!

    You've already reviewed this product!