The Pie at Night: In Search of the North at Play (edição 2016)

When you think of the North of England an industrial landscape would come to mind, with the factories, mills and heavy industry. It is a hardworking place; but it knows how to have a good time and play hard too. Maconie decides that he needs to dust off his suit, polish his shoes and go out on the town in search of a good time.

Using the best intelligence that he can get, Maconie travels round the north, revisiting the classic haunts of leisure from Blackpool to the dogs, football and rugby of course. Any day off is enhanced by going out for a curry before walking it all off with a stroll across the moors. He hears a brass band, before trying something out of the ordinary and after all that needs a restorative pint.

This is another good book and kind of a companion book to The Pie at Night by Maconie as he travels back and forwards across the North finding out what they do in their leisure time. It is not particularly challenging to read, mostly as he writes in such an easy going and chatty way. That does not mean that he is not perceptive and it is laugh out loud in places too, as he has a knack of getting to the spirit of the event he is partaking in whilst not taking it too seriously. Another one of his that was worth reading. ( )

I'm a fan of Stuart Maconie, I bought a DAB radio when he moved to 6 Music. But in this one, he's not at his best. He's a self proclaimed northerner and this book is described as a companion piece to his earlier book, Pies and Prejudice: In search of the North. In that book he searches the country for where the North begins (Crewe, apparently), whereas in this he looks for what the people of the North do to have fun.
I like the way he throws himself into the different activities, getting involved and getting close to the people attending, not just showing up at the top of the table clashes, but those at the grass roots level. He spends time talking to the people and understanding their passions. That he does really well.
All well and good. But it falls a little flat, for me, in that I'm not sure I see many of the occupations as, now, being distinctively northern. There was also a bit of an anti southern chip that seemed more evident in this book than I have noticed previously. Not enough to make it unenjoyable, but enough to take the edge off. ( )