There is the 'Skinhead' series (Skinhead, Suedehead, Boot
Boys, and
others) and there are the 'Biker' books: (Chopper, The Run,
Mama [or is
it Bloody Mama?], Angel Challenge, Speed Freaks etc).
The Skinhead books, and others, were written by Richard
Allen, a mild
mannered man profiled in a BBC Arena [I think] documentary
when he died
last year. Main biker book author to look out for is Peter
Cave, but
there are lots of others too.
Apart from these, look out for the old Hank Janson books from
the 1950s,
they have pretty cool titles and great GGA covers--eg 'Cupid
Turns
Killer'; 'Slaves for Seduction' and 'Flight from Fear' (ok,
that one's
lame, but at least it's alliterative).
Charity shops--I forget the American term for them--are good
places to
look for books, and you may turn up a gem. They are
generally
cheap--10p to 50p a time, although Oxfam tend to sort their
books and
are inclined to charge more than the other charity shops (I'm
waiting
for the day they announce the Oxfam Store Card--it can't be
far off).
Also, all public libraries have a section of books, CDs and
videos to be
sold off (although you won't want to take a bunch of PAL
videos back to
your NTSC machine!)
West End/Central London bookshops will (obviously) be more
expensive
than those out of town. However, a couple of places to check
out are
Charring Cross Road, which has lots of bookshops, and the
streets
between the British Museum and Oxford Street, where there are
also quite
a few.
I used to have a guide to second hand bookshops in London,
but I've
misplaced it (or it's been hidden by significant other);
acquiring such
a guide might be a good move to make fairly early on, or to
organise in
advance of your visit. You may want to do stuff other than
root around
in bookshops, but I wouldn't recommend wasting valuable time
in this
way, not while the bookshops are open, anyway ;-)
ED
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