I'll Go To Bed At Noon
Gerard Woodward
  • Published: 1 September 2005
  • ISBN: 9780099286936
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 448
  • RRP: $40.00

I'll Go To Bed At Noon

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SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE 2004.

It is 1970 in the suburbs of north London and, from the untidy comfort of her crowded house, Colette Jones is watching her older brother go to pieces, drinking himself into oblivion on home-made wine. Colette knows the solace a drink can provide, being partial to an evening at the Red Lion herself. But soon she finds she cannot afford to ignore the destructive effect that alcohol is having on her family, and with gritted teeth Colette is forced to exile the alcoholic son she loves so much from the house. But this act takes its toll and, just as she can't resist a drink, so she can't resist allowing Janus back into her life - with heartbreaking consequences for everyone.

Gerard Woodward's magnificent second novel continues the story of the Joneses, so memorably introduced in August. By way of an odyssey through the pubs, parks and shopping parades of suburban London, it lurches from farce to tragedy as the members of one unforgettable family build and destroy their lives.
  • Published: 1 September 2005
  • ISBN: 9780099286936
  • Imprint: Vintage
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 448
  • RRP: $40.00
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About the author

Gerard Woodward

Gerard is the author of an acclaimed sequence of novels, August (shortlisted for the 2001 Whitbread First Novel Award), I'll Go to Bed at Noon (shortlisted for the 2004 Man Booker Prize) and A Curious Earth. He was born in London in 1961, and published several prize-winning collections of poetry before turning to fiction. His latest collection of poetry, We Were Pedestrians was shortlisted for the 2005 T.S.Eliot Prize. He is Lecturer in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University and lives in Bath with his family.

Also by Gerard Woodward

Caravan Thieves
A Curious Earth
August
Island To Island
See all

Praise for I'll Go To Bed At Noon

This is a novel where the characters seem like friends and family. It's a fine achievement

Blake Morrison, Guardian

The narrative is mind-bogglingly crisp, resourceful and sometimes hilarious in its description of the myriad ways in which people drink... This is both a moral and a literary book... Remarkable

Sunday Times

Far above the ordinary. Woodward's characters are wonderfully complex and rich

Daily Telegraph

A painfully funny, beautifully written account of a wayward family falling like dominoes to the demon drink

Rowan Pelling

The funniest sad book you'll read all year

The Times