The Life of Brian

Inspiration
How to express my deep affection
for verse which blends depth and confection?
A story most mysterious, dramatic and witty,
with seances, bins, custard cremes and a kitty.
Bilston's diary has made me so happy,
I'm inspired to write poems, however crappy.

I have admired Brian Bilston since I stumbled upon his Twitter account where he posts poems about all sorts of things - from Brexit to biscuits and everything in-between*. His witty wordplay and punchy verse is delightful and always brightens my day.

Bilston's new book Diary of a Somebody (2019) is a fictional diary which follows a year in the life of Brian. Now in his mid-forties, Brian's New Year's resolution is to write a poem a day in an effort to get himself out of the rut he is in. He has a soulless office job, his teenage son is growing distant, his ex-wife has moved in with a motivational speaker, and, his book club dislikes him as he never finishes their monthly read. To make matters worse, his poetic nemesis Toby Salt, is constantly being published. 

Things are looking up... sort of. He has a crisp new diary to begin his writing career, Liz has joined his poetry group, and his ability to string together management jargon makes his boss think he is a genius. But Brian often misreads cues, avoids taking risks, and regularly retreats to places of comfort. The humdrum of his daily life is interrupted when Toby Salt disappears and Brian becomes a suspect.

The diary structure of the book works well to explore Brian's thoughts about the mundanities of life. Many days begin with a verse, which set up the diary entry that follows. It also makes it easy to read in short grabs or longer sessions. I briefly toyed with the idea of reading it over the course of the year, but once I started I couldn't stop. The story ebbs and flows, as in life when days roll on with nothing happening, punctuated by some event which changes the pace. 

Diary of a Somebody is a uniquely genius comic novel. I regularly laughed aloud at both the verse ('Her name was Yoda, / A showgirl she was') and the situations Brian finds himself in.  There is so much empathy, sweetness and warmth in this book. While it won't appeal to everyone, I absolutely loved it. It reminded me of Sue Townsend's The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, Aged 13 3/4 (1982) with a tiny bit of Bridget Jones. I would heartily recommend this book to lovers of language, wordplay and witticism.

*I particularly enjoy Bilston's commemorations of overlooked events like #InternationalCatDay or #SpoonerismDay