While appearing at first glance to be yet another travel memoir this book is so much more than that. I rarely read 'novels' or memoirs more than once through, I keep going back to this though.

Grab your rucksack we're going travelling! This is not a 'how to' it is a book to inspire a book which will change the way you view travel.

This is probably the book which made me most aware of the world around me, I read it over and over again as a child, though I haven't read it for years it still influences the way I think.

Scary, very very scary. A book which made me want to go out and involve myself in culture jamming rather than sit at home talking about it.

I go back to the first (autobiographical) section of this book for inspiration whenever I find myself lagging, his determination to be a writer rings out from the pages.

I saw the film and then I read the book. This is a true horror story and at the time (aged I would immagine about 8) it made me shiver with every word. As an adult I find it even more worrying.

The ideas expressed in this book are common now but were radical at the time. It is a fascinating view of life 'from the underside' definatly read it before you consider a job as a plongeur!

Dahls image of this highly intelligent bookish young girl who was not understood by her peers or family has stuck in my head over all these years - I think I read my copy to death.