Aristotle’s Cuttlefish

Matthew Dooley

$55

Hardback

Forthcoming
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English

Jonathan Cape Ltd
10 June 2025

Graphic novels; Fiction: special features

Enter the bowls clubs, caffs and corner shops of Dobbiston town, as the acclaimed author of Flake returns to tell the story of Mr Daniels and a chance connection that altered the course of his life.

A story about mislaid umbrellas, questionable scientific theories and unlikely friendship - from the author of Flake, winner of the 2020 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize

Where do all the lost things go?

In Dobbiston, they'll likely end up in the care of Mr Daniels, the long-time custodian of the local lost property office. Somewhere deep in the bowels of the town council's shabby premises he has spent a lifetime quietly cataloguing the carelessness of his fellow Dobbiston residents.

But when something unexpected interrupts his routine, Mr Daniels is forced to embrace a little bit of life's chaos.

Told through Lost Property Office vignettes - a snooker cue love story, a granny's tea cosy and a kid's toy on an intergalactic adventure - local histories are elevated to the momentous and profound, drawn with playful nostalgia and Dooley's deadpan wit.

PRAISE FOR FLAKE

'A joy... think of Joff Winterhart with a cone and a squirt of strawberry sauce' Herald Scotland

'(A) wonderful, elegiac debut... full of irresistible puns' Observer

'A cheerfully nostalgic trip into a north western english town of pub quizzes, crazy golf and crosswords' Guardian

By: Matthew Dooley
Imprint: Jonathan Cape Ltd
Country of Publication: United Kingdom
Dimensions: Height: 248mm, Width: 177mm, Spine: 25mm
Weight: 852g
ISBN: 9781787333956
ISBN 10: 1787333957
Pages: 224
Publication Date: 10 June 2025
Audience: General/trade , ELT Advanced
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Forthcoming

Matthew Dooley won the Cape/Observer Graphic Short Story Prize and his debut FLAKE, published by Cape in 2020, went on to win the Wodehouse Bollinger Prize, the first time for a graphic novel. It was also a Guardian Book of the Year. He is from the north-west of England and now lives in London.