Books by Richard Blandford
Flying Saucer Rock and Roll
It’s the dawn of the Nineties in suburban Quirely. Chris and Neil go way back, but now, as they enter their teenage years, Chris is no longer sure he wants Neil as his friend. Neil is embarrassing. Neil is odd. Neil talks about strange things that nobody else knows about, or wants to. And Chris just wants to be popular now that it’s time to be seen hanging around outside the gates of the local girls’ school.
Still, Chris has other interests. He’s fallen in love with the instrumental rock stylings of Joe Satriani, and is learning guitar at school in order to emulate his hero, if only he can get the hang of Streets of London first. But there’s another boy in his guitar class who’s miles ahead of everybody. He’s a natural at it, if a bit lazy when it comes to anything else. His name is Ben.
It’s only a matter of time before Chris and Ben find themselves in a band, Animal Magnets. On drums is Jase, sure of himself and easy-going. The bass player is Thomas Depper, ginger and spectacled, bad-tempered and violent. But who can they get to be their front-man? Although they hate to admit it, there’s really only one boy for the job…
Flying Saucer Rock ‘n’ Roll follows Chris and Neil, Ben, Thomas and Jase through the years, into their teenage golden age and out the other side, where between them they face disillusionment and determination, the nine-to-five grind and art college, Britpop and Brighton. It is a tale of those who are alienated and those who belong, their childhoods lost and adulthoods found, and the fine line they walk between belief and madness. Most of all, it defines a generation, its music and mindset, a reminder of a time just gone, a world lost forever.
UK & Commonwealth (excl. Canada): Jonathan Cape
Other territories: Jenny Brown Associates
Hound Dog
A novel of redemption and rock’n’roll, masturbation and morality.
He’s an Elvis impersonator who hates Elvis. An ex-con who learnt his craft in prison yards to avoid a beating. Now on the outside he gigs at social clubs in the Cambridge area, fuelled by cocaine, shagging anything that moves (though he’d like his conquests a little less … mature) and bullying and belittling his assistant performers who he cruelly calls Gay and Fat Elvis.
After his performances he dreams about Bridget; the sister who hung herself many years ago. And Eddie. Eddie, the Elvis-loving deviant who changed his life forever … and is willing to help him out again.
Hound Dog is a must-read from an exuberant new talent.
“Blandford does for fat, middle-aged, coke-addicted, sex deviant Elvis impersonators what Peter Guralnick has done for the man himself.”
Niall Griffiths, author of Sheepshagger
“’Phoenix Nights’ meets America Psycho. In Cambridge.’
Kevin Sampson, author of Powder
“Slick, efficient and faintly nasty, this novel croons indie Brit-flick.”
The Observer
UK & Commonwealth (excl. Canada): Jonathan Cape
Other territories: Jenny Brown Associates
75,000 words
Film/TV Rights Optioned by GRD Media