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Willy Russell was born in Whiston, near Liverpool. He has worked as a ladies' hairdresser, stacked stockings and cleaned girders, before getting into writing, first as a songwriter then as a playwright. He is the author of many multi-award-winning plays. He and his family live in Liverpool.
Hard to believe that this is Willy Russell's first novel. Rich in Liverpudlian wit and wisdom from the first line. Told as a series of letters to the singer-songwriter Morrissey, the story centres around the 19-year-old Raymond Marks and his frequently frustrated attempts to get to Grimsby to take up a labouring job that he doesn't really want. At each halting step along the way, Raymond encounters carpet fitters, cowboys and some distinctly hostile Rotarians, among others. Hilarious and diverting though these encounters are, they are simply a diversion. The real heart of the story lies in his autobiographical essays to his morose songwriting hero. His troubles really began when he was just 11, when he invented a game called 'flytrapping', a game so ludicrously bizarre that only a child could have conceived it in all innocence. From there on, it is a downward spiral that includes Transvestite Nativity plays, the defamation of Princess Leia, false accusations of homosexuality and worse. Raymond's only ally in his war against society in general (and his Uncle Jason in particular) is his Gran. It is her death that finally tips the scales and leads ultimately to this most sporadic and unlikely of road trips. In common with all Russell's work, there is a serious, brittle core of acute social observation underlying the comedy, and Raymond is a real, fallible protagonist who deserves our sympathy even as he inspires our laughter. A must for established Russell fans and newcomers alike. (Kirkus UK)
