Words About London from Those Who Know

You could examine Craig Taylor's new book about London and Londoners by the numbers. It would read like this. Five years of interviews. More than 200 people interviewed. 84 included in the final book. 960,000 words before editing (enough to fill 10 books). 300 double-A batteries for his tape recorder.

But that would miss the point. Taylor, a Canadian who has lived in London for the past 12 years, hasn't written a book about urban statistics; what he has written is a book about the thoughts and feelings of people, specifically people who call London their city.

Tonight, the loquacious and youthful looking Taylor appeared at Politics and Prose to discuss his newest work entitled Londoners: The Days and Nights of London Now - As Told by Those Who Love It, Hate It, Live It, Left It, and Long for It.

Taylor began by thanking the large crowd, almost all of whom indicated with a show of hands that they had lived in or visited London. He contrasted the size with the last book talk he gave in Britain. "Only 1 person came," he said with a laugh. "It was a a shame because I had brought 3 actors to read the voices (of those included in the book). And I think that 1 person just came in to get out of the rain."

The book - modeled in the format of that mastered by oral biographer Studs Turkel - was a result of Taylor's natural curiosity and his "very complicated love affair" with London.

"London is not a city that welcomes you with a red carpet when you arrive. I felt the city was pushing me out," Taylor said. So, to better understand his new city, he took to the streets and pubs, letting people tell of their own often complicated relationships to London in their own voices.

Taylor called his work a snapshot, not a complete picture. "My publisher hates it when I say this, but the book is a big failure of sorts. I was never able to define London.  I wanted to explore how elastic that term Londoner is by wrenching it from its old, staid definition," he said.

With the upcoming 2012 Olympics scheduled for London, Taylor said he feared "a great rose tint is about to descend on the city" and he wanted to capture the negative as well as positive aspects people believe are an integral part of London life. "Some people hate London, but there are great, imaginative ways to express that hatred," Taylor said.

The love/hate dichotomy was evident in the 3 selections Taylor chose to reads to the audience. There were the words of Emma Clark, the "mind the gap" voice of the London Tube Underground whose former boyfriend bemoaned the fact that he would now keep hearing his former companion wherever he went. There was the intriguing Miss Absolute, a dominatrix who convinced the wrong man to get down in the London streets and kiss her boot. And then there was the hilarious voice of Tim, a financial worker who insisted he lived in "Londin," not London. Here's how he describes his Londin life:

I get on the Tube at Elephant and Castle. I get off the Tube at Bank and go to work. The next day I get on the Tube at Elephant and Castle. I get off the Tube at Bank and go to work. The next day I get on the Tube at Elephant and Castle. I get off the Tube at Bank and go to work. The next day I get on the Tube at Elephant and Castle. I get off at Bank and go to work. I don't think I know what an elephant is anymore. I can't really summon the mental image on an elephant. I hear that word and I just start walking to work.

Taylor said that the Terkel kind of storytelling has no formulastic plan, no one proscribed method of doing it properly. "I think you just shut the hell up. Don't interrupt. Just let the people go," he said. Of course, the final product does involve organizing and manipulating subjects' words for clarity. "This was not just smash and grab journalism. There was some massaging of reality, but I feel pretty comfortable that I was true to these people," Taylor maintained.

Asked what he learned about the people he interviewed, Taylor said he was constantly amazed at how much expertise people possess. "I mean there's a woman (the dominatrix) who beats people on the ass. But that's expertise. I was in such a privileged position to hear these people's stories." he said.

Tales, Tidbits, and Tips

I love Politics and Prose. With its 500 book talks a year, knowledgeable staff, and well-stocked shelves, it is my favorite bookstore, not just in DC but in the whole world. But Politics and Prose outdid itself tonight. I am a huge fan of Bruce Springsteen and you can imagine how elated I was when I discovered that P&P had the new Springsteen CD Wrecking Ball for sale, a full week before its scheduled release. And with a gift  card my son, daughter-in-law and 2 grandkids had given me for Christmas, I was able to pick up both Taylor's book and new Springsteen CD for free. Thanks Michael, Shannon, Audrey, and Owen. And thanks Politics and Prose.