Book Genre: British Literature, Comedy, Contemporary, Diary, European Literature, Fiction, Humor, Modern, Novels, Poetry One of the funniest novels in years . . . It also has genuine heart - and scores of poems so witty and accomplished that, in the real world, their author would surely be as famous as, well . . . I predict that Brian Bilston will soon be * Reader's Digest * In 1892, George and Weedon Grossmith published The Diary of a Nobody, now a classic of comic writing. In 1978, Christopher Matthew updated the idea. Now Brian Bilston brings us another Diary of a Somebody and it's as fun as its predecessors. -- William Hartston * Daily Express * grāmata gandrīz derētu Ziemassvētku lasāmlistē, jo, kā jau kārtīga dienasgrāmata, sākas 1. janvārī, un beidzas 31. decembrī (ar tam piedienošu svētku noskaņu). Braiens ir šķirtenis tā ap 40+, kurš vada dienas neiedvesmojošā darbā, iet uz vīzdegunīgu grāmatu klubiņu (pilnīgi ne tādu kā mūsējais), kuram nekad nav sagatavojies, un daudz jaukāku dzejas klubu. Lai gan jaukajā dzejas klubā ir tikpat jaukā Liza, neizbēgt arī no savas darvas piles, un to sauc Tobijs Salts - dzejnieks, kura vēl neiznākušais krājums jau ir nodēvēts par gada dzejas grāmatu (un no kura pāris dzejas rindām jums jau smadzenes saiet ķīselī). Un kad Tobijs Salts/Enemy No 1 mīklaini pazūd, Braiena problēmām - nespēja uzrakstīt neko jēdzīgu, darba zaudēšana, sarežģītas attiecības ar pusauga dēlu, kurš, šķiet, labāk saprotas ar savas mātes jauno bojfrendu/seriālo iedvesmotāju, pievienojas arī policijas apciemojumi un nedabiskā interese par viņa dienasgrāmatu.

Flora would listen patiently, wait a few more months, then make her point again: had I read all the diaries? No. Had I read above a third of them? No. So, I hadn’t studied them properly. Unless I arranged the books chronologically, I couldn’t know how everything tied together, and therefore could not make a proper study of the contents. So many of my unconscious assumptions about Laura had been false. How many others were? Only in poetry does he find refuge and relief, interlarding diary entries with his mischievous verses, some parodies of pop songs (REM, Bee Gees, Blur), some of actual poems, nearly all of them quotable. I especially like his haiku horoscopes: It says a great deal for the diarist that she managed to keep me reading. She remained, throughout the guided tour she gave me of her mind, honest, funny, outlandish and respectable. She writes long letters to 'E' and gets terse, pompous replies: 'E said I am a weakling' Highly original, genuinely funny and clever, with a gentle humanity in between the lines. Brian Bilston should be Poet Laureate -- John O'Farrell That’s nothing compared with the next surprise. Elsa is 50 years older than Laura. I had to leap up from my bed and dab the walls to sop up my splattered tea after I read it. When they first met and Laura fell in love, Laura was 14 and Elsa 64. There was nothing lurid about Laura and Elsa’s love. Intense and erotic, it was never consummated beyond a chaste kiss, yet it was enough to command Laura’s life. When “E” died in 1979, aged 90, Laura was 40. She lost her closest friend, her mentor, her decision-maker, her personification of artistry and, for the next 20 years, herself.This fun, charming novel is a fine showcase for Bilston's irrepressible creativity . . . It's all done with wit, playfulness and a sense of amused wonder at the possibilities and idiosyncrasies of the English language, with the occasional groanworthy pun seeming like a price well worth paying. -- Alastair Mabbott * Herald *

Taken verbatim from Joe Orton’s private and often explicit diaries, this raucous and poignant new production is directed by Nico Rao Pimparé (The Start of Nothing, 2020; Rainer, Arcola Theatre; Candy, King’s Head Theatre). The cast is completed by Jemma Churchill (Doctor Who, BBC; Birthdays Past, Birthdays Present, New Vic Theatre; NATIVITY! The Musical, UK tour), Jamie Zubairi (Cucumber, Why The Lion Danced, Yellow Earth; The Letter; Wyndham’s Theatre), Sorcha Kennedy (Rainer; Arcola Theatre, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Comedy of Errors – Sam Wanamaker Festival; Shakespeare’s Globe) and Ryan Rajan Mal, making his stage debut.

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The brilliant thing about this whole structure is the way the banalities of life are turned into rhyming ditties and entries in the diary which are so wonderful to read. Most people's diaries would be quite boring I suspect, but Brian's life is just so fraught with calamity and misunderstanding that the banal becomes interesting, even though it's not dramatic. He just ploughs on hoping for the best. Staged for the first time in 35 years, Diary of a Somebody is a deep dive into the mind of one of the most witty, rebellious, and acclaimed artists of his generation. Introducing George Kemp (Bridgerton, Netflix; Call My Agent, Netflix; The Trial of Christine Keeler, BBC) as notorious artist and playwright Joe Orton, Diary of a Somebody will see Toby Osmond (Game of Thrones, HBO; Henry VIII and His Six Wives, BBC; Dead Souls, Monkhead Theatre) take to the stage as his mentor and partner, the actor and writer Kenneth Halliwell. She is working on something that “fills and dominates my soul”. But, as with all the things that matter to Laura profoundly, she doesn’t say what this Great Project is, either because it would be dangerous for her to do so, because she is a spy or a bombmaker; or because “it” is so obvious to her, so much a part of her, that “it” must be on a par with her existence. After 1990, everything succumbs to television. She disappears as a human being in these last years of her life, and reappears as cataloguer of Michael Barrymore gossip. She rages against “those who are stuffed with sleep”.

If you like a) laughing or b) words which rhyme with each other, you will love Brian Bilston -- Richard Osman A month later, I saw Laura Francis for the first time. She was standing in the doorway of her bungalow, clutching a ring-bound jotting pad in her right hand. “Are you Alex?” she said as I held out my hand to greet her. “I was just writing in my diary about you.” Orton remains a compelling central character, George Kemp capturing his chutzpah, his humour, his confidence that never grew to curdle into arrogance. Orton, with the eye of a triple outsider (gay, working class and provincial) saw the absurdity in a London that wasn't quite swinging and skewered it.

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The first is that my 148 diaries represent only about one eighth of the total number of volumes Laura wrote. It turns out that I don’t have a single complete year after 1962, and that almost all the 70s, the second half of both the 60s and 80s, and most of the 90s are missing. Estimating from the gaps in my collection, the correct total number of books is closer to 1,000, or 40m words. Laura was the most prolific diarist in known history.

Brian's resolution is to write a poem every day; poetry will be his salvation. But there is an obstacle to his happiness in the form of Toby Salt, his arch nemesis in the Poetry Group and rival suitor to Liz, Brian's new poetic inspiration. When Toby goes missing, Brian is the number one suspect. What the hell is poetry anyhow? The tearing open of the heart? the baring of the soul? The sharing of a universe? Or is it all mere postrue and pantomine? How do I laugh at thee? Let me count the ways . . . If you like sub-Carry On puns, clever parodies of famous poems and Wittgensteinian meditations on language, you'll love it * Mail on Sunday *Two terrible things happened during those five years in London. Dido, my writing collaborator for 25 years, was diagnosed with pancreatic neuroendocrine cancer, the same disease that killed Steve Jobs. It had seeded over her liver. Its spores were crowded in her blood. Richard, a well‑known professor of the history of ecology – a field he had almost invented – had a car crash and was grotesquely brain damaged. He was now in a wheelchair, unable to speak. The bloodbath diary was from 1961: greeny-blue and caved in halfway up the spine Jemma Churchill who played Orton’s agent, Peggy Ramsey, and voiced Edna Wellthorpe (Mrs), occasionally stole the show, and certainly had the biggest laugh of the night with the line ‘my vagina has come up the size of a football’. The rest of the chorus followed with some impressive character work, especially Jamie Zubairi as Kenneth Williams and Sorcha Kennedy as Miss Boynes. The direction, by Nico Rao Pimparé was well thought through, although some scene changes felt a little laboured. Nobody must find out about this unique gem, because I’m giving it to EVERYONE, and I want to appear clever and discerning.’ – Dawn French