Dr Sweet and his Daughter

8vo. Pp. [viii], 341, [1]. Pictorial wraps.

Author's second novel. Dr Sweet's humdrum life is about to take a turn for the worse, when in the course of a single day he manages first to lose his mistress, then his job and, finally, his freedom, as the police arrest him for murder.

Since 1999, Bradshaw has been the chief film critic for the Guardian, and is a contributing editor at Esquire. Whilst penning a spoof diary for his Evening Standard column during the 1997 general election campaign, purporting to be written by the Conservative MP and historian Alan Clark, the subject of his lampoon sued him for "damage to his reputation as a serious man of letters". The judge in the case, Gavin Lightman, found in the plaintiff's favour, and granted an injunction, as "a substantial number of readers" could genuinely believe the diary entries were being written by Mr Clark. The Standard persisted with the publication of the column "Alan Clark's Secret Political Diary," with the addition of the negative particle "not" to the title and the politician's eyes in the accompanying photograph blacked out.

"Peter Bradshaw is fast becoming the best comic writer of his generation. Dr Sweet and His Daughter is a dark, unsettling yet deliriously funny journey." –Jonathan Ross