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Now working on a second book, Silver is finding the transition from
gangster to author difficult, but only because so many people confuse
the reality with what they see in gangster films. 'The public have a
very strong image of what gangsters are like, and it's tied up with
the likes of Lenny McLean or Dave Courtney, but that's a long way from
the truth. I did an interview with a journalist from one of the lads'
mags and he asked me if I had any funny stories. I didn't know what to
say. To me, the time I put a nonce case in a coma was fucking
hilarious. I fell about laughing afterwards. We used to laugh when we
tortured people, too. I don't think he understood. I think he wanted a
tale about the time we went out to rob a bank, pulled our guns out and
our trousers fell down around our ankles.

'The humour is there, but it's dark. And that's how it should be.
These people go around pretending to be some kind of Robin Hood, but
the truth is that they're scumbags, and I should know because I used
to be a scumbag too.'
		-- Tony Thompson, "Novel lifts the lid on secrets of
		   gangland", The Guardian, 2004-02-22
		   http://observer.guardian.co.uk/uk_news/story/0,,1153467,00.html

Tags: novel guns humour journalist uknews newsstory trousers ankles robinhood gangsters gangland scumbag nonce oneofthelads observerguardian lennymclean davecourtney tonythompson gangsterfilms ladsmags