ALEXEI SAYLE

The renowned comedian and presenter Alexei Sayle proves himself to be a formidable literary talent in this wonderful collection of sleek, dark, and witty short stories. A septuagenarian contract killer, a chronic hypochondriac, two zombie-creating comedians, a good Samaritan and a man called Barnaby whose holiday takes an unexpected turn. In these sleek and witty tales, described by Loaded as an excellent collection of dark, funny and bizarre short stories , Alexei Sayle s characters are vividly, wryly - and occasionally disturbingly - portrayed. Their voices, and the stories they have to tell will remain in the mind for a long, long time.

Northern girl Harriet lives and works on a London estate which is a battleground between the white working class plus the immigrants versus the newly arrived middle class focaccia-eaters.Unhappy and overweight, she hires a personal trainer who lures her into joining the martial arts class he runs. There she learns the regime of the completely phoney martial arts ''master'' and embarks on a spiritual and literal journey which leads her to a hotel opposite the railway station at Crewe, the ''Weeping Women Hotel''. This is Alexei Sayle''s best work to date - good plot, great characters plus his trademark anarchic black humour.

The acclaimed BARCELONA PLATES revealed Alexei Sayle as a writer with an outstanding ability to describe contemporary life in an unusual way. | Now, in his new collection THE DOG CATCHER, he brilliantly captures the morals and absurdities of our so-called cool culture, populated by characters as recognizable as they are memorable. | THE DOG CATCHER will confirm Alexei Sayle s reputation as not only one of the great exponents of the short story genre, but also | as a profound commentator on the way we live now.