David Storey Libros

The third son of a coalminer, David Storey takes us from his tough upbringing in Wakefield, to being 'sold' to Leeds Rugby League Club, to his escape to the Slade School of Art and his life in post-war London.

Exploring the concept of territory, this book delves into how ideologies and social practices are expressed through spatial arrangements. It examines the implementation of territorial strategies and their geographical consequences, offering insights into the intricate relationship between space and societal dynamics.

The author is widely studied on school and university syllabuses and this collection of four of his plays includes two which were premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in 1969 and 1970 and one which will premiere in October. By the author of Saville, which won the Booker Prize.

The 60th wedding anniversary of Tommy Pasmore and his wife serves as a backdrop for family revelations and tensions. Their three adult children—Colin, a lonely academic; Wendy, who prioritizes politics over personal life; and pragmatic Eileen—return home, leading to a mix of celebration and introspection. As the family dynamics unfold, underlying disappointments and societal critiques emerge, exposing the emotional complexities of their relationships and the contrasting forms of poverty they face.

A rugby player finds fame and fortune in a bleak mining town, but he cannot outrun the emptiness he feels inside in Man Booker Prize–winning author David Storey’s seminal first novel On Christmas Eve, Arthur breaks his two front teeth. A teammate on the rugby pitch is too slow with a handoff, and instead of catching the ball, Art catches an opponent’s foot right in the mouth. When he regains consciousness, the match is almost over, but he keeps playing regardless. Where else would he go? His entire life, Art has only cared about sports and nothing grabs his attention quite like the lightning-fast violence of Rugby League. He knows it could kill him, but it also makes him feel alive.   In this hard-bitten Yorkshire mining town, the warriors of the rugby pitch are treated like gods. Through the aggressive sport, Art finds money, friends, and countless women. But when his lust for violence begins to fade, will he have the courage to leave the game behind?  

Home is a timeless play that offers a beautiful, compassionate, tragic and darkly funny study of the human mind and a once-great nation coming to terms with its new place in the world.

Following the pattern of David Storey's own early years, Saville is a remarkably honest portrait of the tensions between parents and children, the difficulties of making one's own way in life, and the social divisions that persist still.