Author Mark Hodkinson's latest book is love letter to reading after growing up with just one book

Local author, journalist and publisher Mark Hodkinson's latest book is released today, Thursday 3 February.

'No One Round Here Reads Tolstoy' details Mark’s love affair with books and tells his story of growing up in Rochdale in a house with just one book.

The author still lives in the town and now owns around 3,500 books.

'No One Round Here Reads Tolstoy' sees Mark reflect on his time as a working-class boy in Rochdale and tells the story of how writing and reading has changed since the 1950s and 60s.

Writer Benjamin Myers said: “Mark Hodkinson is one of the great unsung heroes of literature, and here he tackles perhaps the last taboo in publishing: class.

“With verve, insight and perfectly-captured period detail, he reminds us that not only are books sacred objects that should be available to everyone, but also that working-class voices remain more marginalised and underrepresented than ever.

“'No One Round Here Reads Tolstoy' redresses this imbalance beautifully, and in a just world will kickstart a long-overdue working-class literary renaissance.”

 

 

The book has been chosen as one to look out for in 2022 by the Financial Times and the Tablet, while the Bookseller named it as an Editor’s Choice. 

They said: “In this engaging memoir, Mark Hodkinson charts his working-class childhood and explains how he came to be the odd-one-out book lover in a family which didn’t see the point of reading – apart from his grandad, who taught him the power of stories.”

In 2019 Mark made a documentary for Radio 4 about his book collection, why and how we gather books, what it says about us, and how we ever expect to find time to read them all.

Amongst others he speaks to local second-hand bookseller George Kelsall who has ten times as many books as Mark and has bought a large house solely to accommodate them.

It is still available to listen to on BBC Sounds.

 

 

Mark’s previous work includes Rochdale AFC focused-works 'Spotland: The Sun Also Rises' and 'The Overcoat Men.'

He is appearing at an event later this month at the Crown Oil Arena to speak about 'The Overcoat Men', along with former Hornets chairmen Jim Stringer and Mark Wynn, who recently released a book called 'Triumph and Disaster'.

The event on Wednesday 23 February, will focus on the history of football and rugby league in the town with a ‘One town, two codes’ question and answer session.

The Overcoat Men describes how two unsung heroes, David Kilpatrick and Graham Morris, were able to save the football club from extinction, while Triumph and Disaster documents the 150-year history of Rochdale Hornets, with a behind-the-scenes look into the inner workings of the rugby league side.
 

Read more: An evening of culture at the Crown Oil arenaPublished: 26 January 2022