John Lanchester, author of Whoops! and Capital takes us on a whirlwind tour of the Tube to show its secrets, just how much we take for granted about it, and what we're really talking about, since we so often do talk about it. In short, he shows what a marvel it is - part of a series of twelve books tied to the twelve lines of the London Underground, as Tfl celebrates 150 years of the Tube with Penguin.
'Trains show you a particular version of the urban landscape, the unpolished and undressed rear of buildings. I've always liked that about the view from the train, that you're seeing a town or city as it looks in private, before it's dolled itself up to go out.'
How does the driver of the very first Tube train of the day get to work, if he can't get the Tube? As John Lanchester fulfils a long-held ambition to take a trip with a District Line train driver, he considers the secret life of the city, its changing patterns, how we behave when we commute and how the Underground shapes our lives.
The city is filled with stories. In twelve books, twelve writers tell their tales of London life, each inspired by a different Underground line. Some are personal, some are polemical; every one is unique.
[Praise for John Lanchester]:
'If you want to look like a rock of good sense, a person who is deep and wise and worried, then I suggest.... John Lanchester' Colm Toibin
Genius' India Knight
'Razor sharp' John O'Farrell
John Lanchester is the best-selling author of, among others, Capital and Whoops!.