Light Fandango

Michael Scott enrolls at Upfields College of Education with preconceptions and a Stonehenge-sized block of granite on his shoulder, but is immediately swimming through soup. He is frustrated to find he cannot stop students fighting by reading Keats or Milton to them, and a mature student commits suicide, setting fire to himself in the Art Block. The McCaffery family intervenes and takes Michael in, nursing him back to sanity. He falls for Patti, who becomes pregnant, and gets embroiled in histrionics at The Marigold Theatre, joins a street battle with a Rugby Club, and stars in a dodgy football match refereed by a gangster. He has an encounter with a mysterious Magyar sleeping in a park before a giant papier mache dinosaur is kidnapped and held to ransom. Life becomes surreal, but Michael is determined to stay a survivor and finds closure in a way no-one could have predicted.

\n Format: Paperback / softback
\n Length: 384 pages
\n Publication date: 28 July 2021
\n Publisher: Troubador Publishing
\n

The Summer of Love has passed, and protesters are being slain in Red Lion Square. A squat has taken up residence in Piccadilly, and students are occupying campuses in Hornsey. Michael Scott departs Nuneaton and enrolls at Upfields College of Education, unaware of much of this. Unfortunately, he also arrives in the capital with a lot of preconceptions and carrying a Stonehenge-sized block of granite on his shoulder. He is immediately swimming through soup.

Lecturers are perplexed by the first Comprehensive pupil they have ever encountered. The few friends he makes are untrustworthy and dysfunctional. He is frustrated to discover that he cannot stop them fighting by reading Keats or Milton to them. Student life is punctuated by catastrophes that will never make it into letters home. (Principally because he never writes any)

A mature student commits suicide, setting fire to himself in the Art Block. It affects Michael deeply. He quits college on the verge of breakdown, drinks too heavily, is seduced, betrayed, injured in a fatal car accident, and becomes homeless.

The McCaffery family intervenes. They don't read Chaucer or spend Sundays in The National Gallery, but Alf, his wife Patti, and their elderly mum have an instinct for supporting a kid in trouble.

They take Michael in and nurse him back to a semblance of sanity. To pay board, he shifts furniture, becomes a postman, washes cars, and sorts out the accounts of a Drapery Wholesalers in Whitechapel.

He falls for Patti, who becomes pregnant. By Alf, as it happens—but it is a near miss.

As a diversion, Michael gets embroiled in histrionics at The Marigold Theatre, joins in a street battle with a Rugby Club, and stars in a dodgy football match refereed by a gangster. He has a run-in with the law, is arrested, and spends a night in jail.

He returns to college, determined to make something of himself. He excels in his studies, wins a scholarship, and graduates with honors. He becomes a teacher, inspiring his students to achieve their dreams.

Years later, he looks back on his life with gratitude. He realizes that the Summer of Love was a turning point, a moment when he discovered his true purpose and potential. He is proud of the person he has become and grateful for the people who helped him along the way.

In conclusion, The Summer of Love was a transformative experience for Michael Scott. It was a time of chaos and uncertainty, but it also gave him the courage to pursue his dreams and become the person he is today. He is grateful for the people who supported him along the way and proud of the person he has become.

\n Weight: 428g\n
Dimension: 138 x 217 x 39 (mm)\n
ISBN-13: 9781800464759\n \n