Mathew Clayton, in response to our review of Kenneth Allsop’s In The Country, that ran last Wednesday:
I was lent that book about a year ago by my aunt who brought it when it came out in the ’70s. I found it too depressing to read all the way through but wasn’t quite sure why. But even more depressing is a book that came out after his death which is a collection of letters he wrote to his daughter. That will really bring you down. I found it in a second hand shop last year. A quite intriguing man, he was best known as a tv presenter on the Tonight programe but also wrote a book about American hobos that I have been meaning to buy. The other thing worth a mention is that he only had one leg which caused him lots of pain hence the drugs I think.