Mystery & Crime, Fiction Subjects, Peoples & Cultures - Fiction
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Overview
Yardie is, quite simply, a literary sensation in England. Originally published by X Press, a two-man operation, the book was produced on a desktop computer and distributed through unusual channels: it was sold at clothing shops, hairdressers, and even on top of over-turned dumpsters outside of nightclubs. On word of mouth alone, Yardie has sold over twelve thousand copies. Victor Headley has written a tight, fast-paced narrative that brings us into the previously unexplored territory of Yardies: West Indian gangsters who know that the only route to success available to them is through the dangerous, violent world of drugs. Yardie introduces us to D., a tough, streetwise man from Jamaica who, using a falsified passport, enters London to deliver a kilo of cocaine to the Spicers, the ruling operation in cocaine distribution. D., knowing it could be his only chance for a break, steals half a kilo and runs out into a city he is entirely unfamiliar with, having only vague contacts from the life he left behind. D. recruits soldiers, sets up his own operation, and quickly establishes himself as a main force in the drug wars of East End London. Soon he is ensconced in a life of crack, cash, guns, and power, fighting to keep his turf from the Spicers, who are plotting their imminent revenge. Written with style and intensity, Yardie is the first book to come out of this subculture defined by music, dancing, drugs, violence, and, perhaps most of all, anger. Beneath the action lies the unavoidable fact of economic survival faced by a community struggling to make its way in a hostile urban environment.Editorials
Publishers Weekly -
When ``D.,'' the protagonist of first-novelist Headley's well-crafted crime story, smuggles a kilo of cocaine into London from Jamaica, he sidesteps its would-be recipients and sells it himself, investing the proceeds in his own drug-dealing business. What follows is more than the familiar narrative of a criminal's rise and fall, for Headley tempers his pulp with rigorous observation that brings London's Jamaican community to life on the page. Characters such as Charlie, D.'s practical business partner, Donna, D's lover and protector, and Blue, a rival from Jamaica, have an appealing specificity. The dancehall reggae scene that D. and his gang inhabit is also well drawn. As D.'s business grows and encounters resistance, and reports on events in Kingston, New York and Miami become frequent, one realizes that Headley seeks to offer a window on the Jamaican diaspora beyond London. Conversely, however, D. himself, always something of a cypher, seems by the conclusion to be almost a minor character in his own drama. A planned sequel may perhaps provide insight into the gangster at the center of the intriguing world Headley has created. (Sept.)Book Details
Published
September 1, 1993
Publisher
Atlantic Monthly Pr
Pages
192
Format
Hardcover
ISBN
9780871135506