White Boy in Watts

British Grit-Lit

The world of the Cab Driver is uncertain and dangerous

It is populated by oddballs, weirdoes, comedians, eccentrics, head cases, prima donnas and hard cases. And they’re just the drivers.


Enter the ludicrous, humorous and sometimes violent world of the London cab driver; you never know what to expect, and during my years driving cabs I got myself into some scrapes.


Luckily I’ve met and befriended many characters along the way, and their stories deserve to be told.


In the last third of the book, I recall my time spent driving cab in the projects of Watts, Los Angeles, home of the infamous Crips and Bloods, during the early 80’s. I’ve intended to paint an ominous picture of a community destroyed by drugs, guns and violence. You’ll almost smell the omnipresent whiff of cheap wine, and feel the dirty lino under your feet.


Read the true life adventures of an English lad as he struggles to make a living amongst ‘gangstas’ who are arguably the most violent in the United States.


If you enjoy True Crime Books, London Crime Books or True Crime Streets of LA then take a chance on this one


For anyone who has puked in the back of a cab, then argued over the fare at 3am, this book is your driver’s revenge.


People have always told me I’m a natural storyteller, but like every good Taxi Driver I have an opinion on a range of hot issues. Comments on my writing style warn that I "talk to the reader with all the confidence of a man in touch with his own reality, in a voice which is seasoned with a hint of world weariness that is so telling of a writer who has written what he knows and written it with disarming fearlessness." And that I guess is true.


You’ll be able to hear my characters, see them and, in some instances, actually smell them. They’ll leave their stain on you. You may well be able to relate to guys who used their fists and their wits, you may laugh at their humour and get their jokes, but it’ll be the thugs with guns and no soul who will unsettle you. I want you to be scared of them.


Come and have a look at the world through my eyes.


“Can I just say I'm not a real big sit down and read sort of guy.... But this book had me hooked from the 1st few lines. I've never finished a book this quickly. Highly recommended to anyone!!”


“Absolutely incredible! I read the sample and had to buy the book. I usually never buy books and just find them online but I had to make the exception for this due to the author's eloquence. The stories are really funny and serious when they need to be. I definitely would recommend this to anyone that is looking for a genuinely straight up genius work. Karl Wiggins is like a contemporary Socrates.” (BLIMEY!)


“GRIT is rather like driving what one of Karl’s characters might term a ‘dodgy motor’. You climb in and then before you know it you are coasting in fifth, top down, Ray-Bans on, wind in your hair, lovely! Suddenly you grind to a disturbing, hissing halt. Karl drops a spanner in the works, a bag of sugar into his cavernous tank of diesel fuelled wisdom and you stall in awestruck wonder at his incredible insight. So there you are, stranded in the rush hour, gob open and with no option but to stop, gather your thoughts, catch your breath and carry on, because by this time you’re unstoppable.”


“Karl Wiggins is a natural storyteller, and ‘GRIT’ is a compulsive read, bringing to life all the not-so-ordinary people and places that are generally under-represented in literature. His direct, easy-going style and zest for living are infectious.”


“GRIT had me laughing out loud several times, which doesn’t happen often to me.”

Scroll up and click on the cover of the book to ‘Look inside’