Lights out for the territory : 9 excursions in the secret history of London

404 Pages·1998·60.431 MB·English

by  Iain Sinclair

WHAT THE CRITICS HAVE SAID ABOUT THE FIRST PRINTING OF THIS BOOK
‘It is a book about London; it is, in other words, a book about everything.
He has an unnerving habit of turning his friends or acquaintances into
...
fictional creatures, but then all great fabulists will wish to extend their
range to the living as well as the dead. And that is indeed lain Sinclair’s
project, creating out of the world of time a city that has a manifold and
perpetual presence.’
Peter Ackroyd, The Times
‘At once scholarly and shocking, arcane and irreverent, it makes up a
remarkable guerrilla guidebook to a secret city, and is a considerable
work of literature in itself.’
Scotsman
‘lain Sinclair’s Lights Out for the Territory \s a riot of a book on London.
A brilliant writer of invective, he blazes with fury. No one is spared.
But his triumph is a London seen from the lavish surroundings of a
riverside apartment owned by Lord Archer of Weston-super-Mare.
Sinclair’s is a treasure of a guide to London’s cultural squalor.’
Reg.Gadney, Observer
‘[His] ambition is ... to take the Thames and Limehouse, Jack the
Ripper and Hawksmoor, all the city’s power and conspiracies and
squalor, and spread them out in a panorama worthy of Dickens and
Conrad Through polemic and travelogue and memoir, the cruel and
...
seething modern city emerges.’
Andy Beckett. Independenton Sunday
^^[He] has a wonderful way of making London seem like another country;
like some defahged David Bellamy, he will lift up thh stones and cobbles
is*'
of ordinary London streets to reveal all kinds of strange and wonderful
life crawling beneath.’
Matt Seaton, Guardian
Mr '
^The ni(|i$t'origi|ial^b(jok on London in decade^... [h|s] Loi^£is’^im|ch-,‘'
~ ,,
Si^awMiiporfpalimpsest, a continually redwelO|)ed message, and'
Sinclair can read more into a patch of thin-grassed wasteland littered >'
^#t{|cans and dog ih^ than most scholars can find to say aBrout the
portico ppSt feuls;’
Time Out
A trayeldgue througtj^tlm suppressed attd omltiqus
shadows pf Ldrid'(jh's%sprawl. This is t as dystojfid^i^.
ding at'M^psrt dJithralling and un$e
"
,
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CALIF(
SAj"! Ry-\I'A£L,
“Iain Sinclair’s Lights Out for the Ji collection
A brilliant writer of invective iNO one
is spared. But his triumph is a London seen from the lavish surroundings
of a riverside apartment owned by Lord Jeffrey Archer of Weston-
super-Mare. Sinclair’s is a treasure of a guide to London’s cultural
squalor.” ILEG GADNEY, The Observer
DATE DUE 'MAR QQ!
“These ni. APR ' Linn, lights
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out” for h Ann [ -1 that is best.
most pote mind at the
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“Iain Sine / ^ tch is urban.
SEP
jagged; the— 1 1 2002 and Sinclair
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conjures ribe the sin-
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Rularitv an 2 7 20fl? the finest
books aboi ij
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head in a their citv as
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across ^ lan
“Sinclair’s eal strengths
i
ot this coll- characteris-
exhilarating Supplement
y
—
[He] has a other coun-
—
trv’ like so i stones and
cobbles of strange and
wonderful irdion
GAYLORD PRINTED IN u.s.A
“His ambition is. to take the Thames and Limehouse, Jack the Ripper
. .
and Hawksmoor, all the city’s power and conspiracies and squalor, and
spread them out in a panorama worthy of Dickens and Conrad...
Through polemic and travelogue and memoir, the cruel
and seething modern city emerges.” ANDY BECKETT, The [London]
Independent on Sunday
“Spot on... Lights Outfor the Territory ensures that the holy ground of
Londons streets, pubs and canals will never smell the same again.” ROY
PORTER, The [London] Sunday Times
\
“Sinclair’s survey is a kaleidoscopic guide to London’s sub-culture,
to disintegration, a guide packed with information, historical detail,
indigenous populace and character... difficult to beat.” London Magazine
“Iain Sinclair is exhilarating company... [his] London is ancient and
deep.” JOAN BAKEWELL, Evening Standard
“The most original book on London in decades... [his] London is a
much-scrawled upon palimpsest, a continually redeveloped message,
and Sinclair can read more into a patch ofthin-grassed wasteland littered
with cans and dog shit than most scholars can find to say about the
portico of St. Paul’s.” Time Out
“At once scholarly and shocking, arcane and irreverent, it makes up a
remarkable guerrilla guidebook to a secret city, and is a considerable
work of literature in itself.” The Scotsman
“A travelogue through the suppressed memories and ominous shadows
of London’s sprawl. This is the city of dystopia, writing at its most
enthralling and unsettling.” Arena
“It is a book about London; it is, in other words, a book about every-
thing. He... has an unnerving habit of turning his friends or
acquaintances into fictional characters, but then all great fabulists
will wish to extend their range to the living as well as the dead. And
that is indeed Iain Sinclair’s project, creating out of the world of time
a city that has a manifold and perpetual presence.” PETER ACKROYD,
The [London] Times
Lights Out for the Territory
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Lights Out for the Territory
9 Excursions in the Secret History of London
Iain Sinclair
With illustrations by Marc Atkins
San
Rafoo! PubMc
Library
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L troet
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San CA
Raidal, 24301
Granta Books
London/New York
First published in Great Britain by Granta Books 1997
Granta Publications Ltd, 2/3 Hanover Yard, Noel Road,
London N1 8BE
©
Copyright lain Sinclair 1997
©
Illustrations Marc Atkins 1997
lain Sinclair has asserted his moral right under the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act, 1988 to be identified as author ofthis work.
No
All rights reserved. reproduction, copy or transmissions ofthis
publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph
ofthis publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save
with written permission or in accordance with the provisions ofthe
Copyright Act 1956 (as amended). Any person who does any
unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to
criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
A CIP catalogue record for this book is available
from the British Library
5 7 9 10 8 6
Typeset by M Rules, UK and Red Canoe, US
Printed and bound in The United States by
R.R. Donnelley & Sons, Inc., Harrisonburg, VA
Dedication
i.m. Angela Carter, Robin Cook. And Michael Moorcock in Texas
Digitized by the Internet Archive
2016
in
https://archive.org/details/isbn_9781862070097