Boy Cuddle (a Penguin paperback)
In 1935 the 'good books cheap' philosophy of Penguin was viewed with suspicion and uncertainty by traditional publishers. Now Penguin leads the industry and is a household name.
The story's biggest fan was, and possibly still is, Liz Cohen: thanks, Liz! In winter 1993 Liz, myself, and some unpaid drama students made a 30-minute video adaptation of the story which is not great quality but it was fun, and instructive, to make.
Boy Cuddle was accepted for publication by the hardback publisher André Deutsch not long after it was finished, and first hit the shelves in 1992. The author photograph for the book was taken by my Sainsbury's mate Tim James, and whilst he was at it he took the terraced street image for the cover.
The following year, Penguin Books Ltd published the paperback after buying the rights from Deutsch. Sales numbered in the hundreds in hardback and around five thousand in paperback; the latter thanks to an aggressive promotion by Penguin. Unfortunately we had no control over the sleeve artwork this time (pictured right, and below).
The promotion involved national newspaper ads and a nationwide tour of a dozen readings from London to Edinburgh. I was privileged to be accompanied on the tour by Peter Ackroyd, David Lodge and Rupert Thomson. All were promoting Penguin paperbacks of their own and are all doing better than I am, now! Mind you, they were before.
If you're interested in a copy of the book, please visit your local bookstore and see if you can order it. You could also try going to Penguin's website and e-mailing them for it. Don't bother searching their site, though - I've tried and there's no mention of Boy Cuddle any more. They're probably doing their best to forget it ever happened, too!
