Paul Bailey introduces Peter Smart, whose self-confessed failings gradually reveal a grotesque portrait gallery of the extraordinary people around him
Paul Bailey
- Prizes judged
Paul Bailey was a novelist who was shortlisted for the Booker Prize twice, with Peter Smart's Confessions (1977) and Gabriel's Lament (1986)
Bailey was also one of the judges of the 1982 Booker Prize, an experience he found dispiriting. Afterwards, he wrote: ‘There are many things I regret doing, and being a judge for the Booker Prize is one of them’. He was the winner of numerous awards, including the George Orwell Prize and the E M Forster Award. In addition to his fiction, he wrote for both radio and television, and his non-fiction work includes studies of Quentin Crisp and Cynthia Payne. He died in October 2024, aged 87.
All nominated books
Paul Bailey’s novel about shifting family relationships, loss and bereavement is surprisingly sad and remarkably funny in equal measure
