Author:Willy Russell

The hilarious, bittersweet novel from the playwright behindEDUCATING RITA, SHIRLEY VALENTINE and award-winning musical BLOOD BROTHERS.
Dear Morrissey,
I'm feeling dead depressed and down. Like a streetlamp without a bulb or a goose at the onset of Christmas time.
Anyroad, I thought I'd pen a few lines to someone who'd understand...
It's 1991. Raymond Marks is a normal boy, from a normal family, in a normal northern town. Only lately, he's been feeling dead down. His dad left home after falling in love with a five-string banjo. His fun-hating grandma believes she should have married Jean-Paul Sartre: 'I could never read his books, but y' could tell from his picture, there was nothing frivolous about John-Paul Sartre.' Felonious Uncle Jason and Appalling Aunty Paula are lusting after the satellite dish.
And so he turns to the one person who'll understand what he's going through: Morrissey. Told through a series of heartfelt letters to the frontman of The Smiths, this is a laugh-out-loud funny, incredibly poignant tale from a character you can't help but love.
'Big-hearted, wonderfully funny and engrossing' THE MIRROR
'A warm, funny, poignant story. I loved The Wrong Boy - and so will you' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH
'A comic masterpiece' BEL MOONEY, MAIL ON SUNDAY
A big-hearted, wonderfully funny and engrossing saga.
—— The MirrorUnusual, funny, unsettling and rich with sadness.
—— The TimesA warm, funny, poignant story. I loved The Wrong Boy - and so will you.
—— Sunday TelegraphA comic masterpiece.
—— Bel Mooney , Mail on SundayWilly Russell's triumph is to have created an unforgettable character, both unique and an Everyman.
—— Mail on Sunday'It will be surprising if this year sees a more disturbing or haunting novel'
—— Peter Kemp , The Sunday Times'Stunning . . . evocatively brings to life the stifling humidity and constant rainfall of the Congo'
—— John Cooper , The Times'A really brilliant first novel, he is obviously a major talent'
—— Prunella Scales'The match of the madder moments of John Irving or Tom Sharpe...this is a promisingly entertaining "lite" read'
—— The Times'At its best when taking pot-shots at a wide variety of modern ills - fast food, tabloid media, downsizing, soap-opera politics...One of Morgan's nicer inventions is a computer program that boils down complex texts to their essentials. Its treatment of the Old Testament renders it down to: "Because I say so, that's why"'
—— Independent'Suspenseful, atmospheric and highly intelligent, Jody Shields focuses a brilliant light on the murky world of imperial Vienna'
—— D. M. Thomas