The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp

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The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp is W. H. Davies’ story of his twelve years as a hobo in England and America. Growing up in Newport in the 1880s, Davies developed a taste for alc ohol and theatre and an aversion for work. After a six month slumming spree in Bristol, he travelled to America, aged 22, where he teamed up with an experienced beggar and set off on the road. They lived like vagrant kings, begging at doors from women and drinking in the wilds with men. Now and then they took jobs - gathering hops, building a canal - but mostly they looked down on people who worked, and avoided their company. Spurred on by an immutable desire to wander free, Davies’ ambitions only changed when he lost his foot whilst trying to jump on a train in Ontario in 1899. He returned to Britain and began to concentrate obsessively on becoming a successful poet. First published in 1908 with a preface by George Bernard Shaw, The Autobiography of a Super-Tramp has seldom been out of print; its spirit of adventure and straightforward style have secured its place as a timeless classic. Show more