The Humorist - Tapa dura

'A brilliant writer. Dark but very funny.' --Amanda Ross
'Every comedian wants to deliver the punchline to end all punchlines, and in this slick, viscerally nasty book, award-winning stand-up Kane does just that' Guardian
'Comedian Russell Kane takes a break from stand-up and TV panel shows to write a novel. Whirring with weirdness and wit, it follows a troubled writer with the gift-cum-curse of being able to see comedy as a scientific formula. A recommended read that plays to Kane's strengths' --Shortlist

'The climactic period of the book... reminds one of the kind of contretemps that Douglas Adams could colour so well. Kane is also no slouch at building a scene overflowing with both tension and humour. The blurb directs the reader to make comparisons with Will Self, Michel Houellebecq and Martin Amis. The satirical and surreal qualities of the former are present, as is the casual-yet-compelling inhumanity of the latter two. Crucially, Kane's own voice - a driving, occasionally overwrought, stream of interlocking description and observation - is dominant' --Julian Hall, Independent

'Every comedian wants to deliver the punchline to end all punchlines, and in this slick, viscerally nasty book, award-winning stand-up Kane does just that' --Guardian

'The climactic period of the book... reminds one of the kind of contretemps that Douglas Adams could colour so well. Kane is also no slouch at building a scene overflowing with both tension and humour. The blurb directs the reader to make comparisons with Will Self, Michel Houellebecq and Martin Amis. The satirical and surreal qualities of the former are present, as is the casual-yet-compelling inhumanity of the latter two. Crucially, Kane's own voice - a driving, occasionally overwrought, stream of interlocking description and observation - is dominant' --Julian Hall, Independent

'Every comedian wants to deliver the punchline to end all punchlines, and in this slick, viscerally nasty book, award-winning stand-up Kane does just that' --Catherine Taylor, Guardian

'The climactic period of the book... reminds one of the kind of contretemps that Douglas Adams could colour so well. Kane is also no slouch at building a scene overflowing with both tension and humour. The blurb directs the reader to make comparisons with Will Self, Michel Houellebecq and Martin Amis. The satirical and surreal qualities of the former are present, as is the casual-yet-compelling inhumanity of the latter two. Crucially, Kane's own voice - a driving, occasionally overwrought, stream of interlocking description and observation - is dominant' --Julian Hall, Independent

'Every comedian wants to deliver the punchline to end all punchlines, and in this slick, viscerally nasty book, award-winning stand-up Kane does just that' --Catherine Taylor, Guardian

'The climactic period of the book... reminds one of the kind of contretemps that Douglas Adams could colour so well. Kane is also no slouch at building a scene overflowing with both tension and humour. The blurb directs the reader to make comparisons with Will Self, Michel Houellebecq and Martin Amis. The satirical and surreal qualities of the former are present, as is the casual-yet-compelling inhumanity of the latter two. Crucially, Kane's own voice - a driving, occasionally overwrought, stream of interlocking description and observation - is dominant' --Julian Hall, Independent

'A great read, by turns funny, sinister and macabre' --Mike Wade, The Times

'The climactic period of the book... reminds one of the kind of contretemps that Douglas Adams could colour so well. Kane is also no slouch at building a scene overflowing with both tension and humour. The blurb directs the reader to make comparisons with Will Self, Michel Houellebecq and Martin Amis. The satirical and surreal qualities of the former are present, as is the casual-yet-compelling inhumanity of the latter two. Crucially, Kane's own voice - a driving, occasionally overwrought, stream of interlocking description and observation - is dominant' --Julian Hall, Independent

Survivor, genius, critic. Murderer. Meet Benjamin Davids White, blessed since his infancy with an extraordinary gift: to understand humour at its deepest level. Yet Benjamin is cursed, too: in all his life, he has never laughed or smiled. At the height of his profession as a comedy critic, yet lacking any kind of human empathy, Benjamin discovers a formula that will allow him to construct the most powerful joke the world has ever known. A joke that has the power to kill...