The Last Mad Surge of Youth - Mark Hodkinson

I loved it too Stu

Here's my review

The Last Mad Surge Of Youth (2009) by Mark Hodkinson is very enjoyable. It would also make an excellent companion piece to Mayflies (2020) by Andrew O'Hagan. There are some very striking parallels which make me wonder if O'Hagan had read The Last Mad Surge Of Youth. Either way, both books are well worth reading, particularly if you enjoy a credible evocation of the late 70s/early 80s and all the wonderful music inspired by the punk explosion.

Mark Hodkinson is clearly both passionate and knowledgable about music, and this shines through in this rites-of-passage tale.

It's also a very unsentimental look at life in a successful group, and specifically how fame affects those who make it, and those who don't, in this instance an ex group member whose life turned out very differently. Both lives remain intertwined for many years and there's a pleasing conclusion to their respective all-too-believable life stories.

Mark Hodkinson owns the book's publisher, Ponoma. Pomona Books (www.pomonauk.co.uk) has published titles by Simon Armitage, Bob Stanley, Barry Hines, Ian McMillan, Ray Gosling, David Gedge, Stuart Murdoch (of Belle and Sebastian) and many more. Mark Hodkinson also commissioned and edited the much-acclaimed biography ‘JD Salinger: A Life Raised High’ which was made into a film starring Nicholas Hoult and is published in the United States by Penguin Random House.

I went onto the Pomona website and bought a load more of their books - most by Mark Hodkinson

I have no doubt they'll be just as good

Did you notice it's Sham 69 on the cover...?