You are walking in town. The contents of a beggar’s mind spill out in a chaotic muddle on the busy pavement in front of you. Simultaneously fascinated and revolted, you are not sure how – or whether – to help. The beggar shrieks. You realise that it is your old English teacher. This story is a partial decryption of a tiny portion of the rage and frustration in that inchoate scream.

George is a Big Issue vendor in London’s Soho. Driven to write about his experience, while unsure whether allegory, brutal realism or metaphor will best help people understand, he has conjured an intimate mindscape of Soho.

Offering a unique insight into the people who live, work and visit there, and a stark analysis of social attitudes, you will never look at a rough sleeper, a beggar or a Big Issue vendor in the same way again.