George Orwell had some misadventures, eh? Whenever I find myself in need of some inspiration I turn to a book like this to remind me just how bad it can get before you find a way to make the sale. No matter how desperate for cash you might become, chances are you won’t come anywhere near the levels discussed in this Orwell classic.

There aren’t any far-reaching government plots in this one, no telescreens and no Two Minutes Hate; just trying to scrape by as best one can. Real life, disguised as a novel. Before there could be any Henry Rollins travel journals (those in the know get my meaning here) there was Orwell telling it like it is, but unlike Rollins, Orwell attempts a thin veneer of “fiction” for respectability’s sake.

He needn’t have bothered, but apparently publisher T.S. Eliot disagreed–my research material says Eliot rejected the book regardless.

The real lessons for freelancers in this book–at least for me–have to do with recognizing that any experience can turn into a writing gold mine if you know how to look at them. Orwell certainly did.

If you haven’t read these classic tales of life and poverty in London and Paris, grab a copy and see how those lean years transform into literary gold. Some will be fascinated by the section on London gutter slang–worth the price of the book all by itself.

Buy Down and Out In Paris and London for $11.20