Growing Out of Trouble by Monty Don
In 2005, Monty Don set up a smallholding where a group of prolific offenders - mainly drug addicts - would work on the land. If the project was a success, Monty planned a national network of farms with the objective of helping people in adversity through working the soil. Written with the skill and honesty that characterises all his work The Monty Project is a powerful account of the day-to-day trials and tribulations of young people with terrible problems. For Monty the project was an extraordinary journey during which he had to confront issues he had never encountered, while exercising all his traditional skills as a plantsman. There were desperate and bleak times - the first plot of land being blocked and the endless early struggles to engage the offenders with the project. But these made the achievements of planting and harvesting the first crops, a successful open day and one of the offenders passing his three-month point without reverting to his drug taking past feel all the more monumental. Monty's dawning understanding of the vast complexities of the offenders' life of addiction is a poignant example of the huge issues surrounding life in rural Britain. For Monty the project has become a personal commitment to the struggling communities lying hidden within the countryside. For the young people we get to know through Monty's vivid diary, it was salvation - literally, the difference between life and death.
'This is a wonderful bookCompelling . . . Don's a marvellous writer.' * Observer *
'An explosive story . . . splendid' * Sunday Telegraph *
'Strikingly poignant . . . won me over within minutes. Brilliant.' * Sunday Express *
'I found myself rooting for the project to work' * Independent *
'An unconventional and riveting book . . . I strongly urge you to give the book a chance.' * Glasgow Herald *
'A remarkable writer. At times . . . Don is a poet; at other times he employs the gritty, staccato prose of a good, punchy investigative journalist. Many people will, not unreasonably, see in this man of vision and commitment a hero for our times.' * Times Literary Supplement *
'An explosive story . . . splendid' * Sunday Telegraph *
'Strikingly poignant . . . won me over within minutes. Brilliant.' * Sunday Express *
'I found myself rooting for the project to work' * Independent *
'An unconventional and riveting book . . . I strongly urge you to give the book a chance.' * Glasgow Herald *
'A remarkable writer. At times . . . Don is a poet; at other times he employs the gritty, staccato prose of a good, punchy investigative journalist. Many people will, not unreasonably, see in this man of vision and commitment a hero for our times.' * Times Literary Supplement *
Monty Don has presented gardening and travel programmes for the past fifteen years and now presents BBC2's leading gardening programme, Gardener's World. He is a prolific journalist, and was the Observer's gardening editor from1994 to 2006. He is author of the bestselling Hodder & Stoughton books The Jewel Garden (with Sarah Don) and My Roots.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780340898475 |
| ISBN 10 | 034089847X |
| Title | Growing Out of Trouble |
| Author | Monty Don |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Hardback |
| Publisher | Hodder & Stoughton |
| Year published | 2006-11-02 |
| Number of pages | 304 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |