Banter & Bustle

Banter & Bustle is the new book by Jeff Scott

The format of the book is a little smaller than A5 and although its billed as a softback book, its more of a mini-hardback with fully stitched bindings and over 250 pages most of which contain a full colour photograph.

In the book, the author (photographer) sets out to chronicle the journey of a Sunderland fan to the match, the match itself and the journey back home again throughout the 2006-2007 season.

He does this with a series of photographs, as varied as a pie shop, the inside of train station, several parks and back lanes and of course lots of Sunderland fans, football stadiums and the inevitable police to be found at every match.

The photographs themselves are unlikely to win any awards and are more 'candid' in nature, but they do successfully capture the sights and indeed the characters and atmosphere of a day at the footy. This is more of a fans-eye view than a highly polished documentary (although we couldn't find any pictures taken inside a pre-match boozer!)

The middle section of the book which I am sure should portray the experience of fans at the match itself in pictures is unfortunately replaced by a series of printed comments of people at the various matches instead. If you read the preface to the book (and I recommend you do) the reason for this will become all too clear as it describes some of the battle with the football authorities that the author had to get the book published and is a story that we at Ready To Go are all to familiar with.

The book costs £9.99 and is available from
ALS
Waterstones in The Bridges
The Supporters Club Shop
or directly from the author online at corkstreetpress.com

Its a book you will look at, put down, then pick it up and start all over again. Definitely worth a look.