Adventures In Wonderland

Acid house, rave, and the UK club explosion

Finalist for the Penderyn Prize for the best music books in 2021

A book about being up for it. Out of it. Right in the middle of it.

Reprinted in 2020, it traces the history of house music from its origins in New York, Chicago and Detroit to its adoption by clubs in Ibiza, Manchester and London.

With hundreds of interviews with DJs, promoters, clubbers and even the police who tried to shut the parties down, it documents the acid house explosion of 1988 and the huge illegal raves of 1989. Then the energy of Madchester and the Blackburn raves, the evolution of drum’n’bass and the rise of the superclubs.

It’s a social history of late 80s/90s Britain and a record of the biggest, most unifying youth culture movement the UK has ever seen.

But most of all, it’s a book about having the time of your life. Because who wouldn’t want that?

Hello there! I’m Sheryl.

This site is about my writing life, and it’s where I’ll announce and launch new books.

I have written most of my life, and my first paid feature was in New Musical Express, when I was 17. I was editor of The Face magazine and The Observer Life, and I’ve freelanced for most of the UK’s national newspapers and magazines.

My next book will be a collection of my music journalism, which runs from Rock Against Racism and the 2 Tone and reggae of my native Birmingham through to Lover’s Rock and one of the first features about Chicago house music and interviews with everyone from Madonna and Kylie to REM and Robbie Williams.

I’m also working on a whole series of new books about creativity, freelancing, working from home and all of the challenges contemporary creatives face. This has grown out of my work coaching creatives.

More about that at my other site, The Creative Life.

Journalism

A selection of my cover stories, over the years.

Damon Albarn Afel Bocum by Sheryl Garratt — Lily Cole

If you’re interested in reading some of these or want to know more about the kind of stories I cover, take a look here.

Bliss To Be Alive

The Collected Writings of Gavin Hills

Edited by Sheryl Garratt with a new introduction by Miranda Sawyer, this collection of Gavin Hills’ work was first published by Penguin in 2000, and was reissued last year.

Covering everything from clubs, drugs and football to wars, famine and his own battles with depression, Hills wrote for The Face, The Idler, The Observer and edited the official England and Manchester United football magazines. His work is hilarious and heart-breaking in equal measure, and won him an award from Amnesty International as well as a legion of adoring fans.

The Creative Life

Helping creatives of all kinds get the success they want, making work they truly love

Though I’m always open to commissions and collaborations, I no longer write full-time. In recent years I’ve focussed more on supporting other creatives in their work and lives.

Click below to go to my coaching site, where you can read my latest posts, sign up for a free 10-day course on growing your creative business, or find out more about my work as a coach.

Find out more