The Wrong Boy - Willy Russell

Haven’t we all been there? I’ll be totally honest, until I picked this book up I had never heard of Willy Russell before. How I never got to read about him I will never know. Born in Liverpool and rising through the mists of obscurity, he’s a successful playwright with some award-winning plays, later made into films. Who could ever forget the amazing “Educating Rita” and “Shirley Valentine?” From stage to screen and then to books, this talented man brings his lowly background into play with this novel. The Plot. In a nutshell, this is a story about a young boy who through no fault of his own becomes entrapped in an adolescent ...  Read the complete review

I've had The Wrong Boy sitting on a shelf since my last birthday, when a friend of mine lovingly wrapped and presented it to me, swearing blind that it was the best thing she'd ever read. "Thanks", I said, going through the Willy Russell-ography in my head which contained such uncool horrors as Shirley Valentine and Blood Brothers. Neither of which I've actually seen, but both of which through second hand accounts I'd long associated with the kind of thing my mum would really, really like. Eventually, last Thursday, I picked it up. Yesterday, I put it down. At some point fairly soon I'll pick it up and read the whole thing again as ...  Read the complete review

The Wrong Boy is the touching tale of Raymond Marks whose life was turned upside down while he was still at primary school. Suddenly friendless and lonely, Raymond's life leaves him miserable and confused for many years until he finds solace in Morrissey and The Smiths. We join Ray as he is about to make a fresh start, beginning with a journey to Grimsby. Like so much else in his life, the journey takes an unfortunate turn for the worse and as he travels, Ray writes about what is happening to him and about his past. Told largely through flashbacks and all from Ray's own perspective, the story unfolds. The author is Willy Russell, making his first foray ...  Read the complete review

Quite simply, this is one of the best books I've read in ages. It's well-told, gripping, deeply humorous and deeply tragic, all at the same time. The basic premise is that the main character of the book, Raymond Marks, is filling in time on an extremely long-winded journey to Grimsby by writing letters to his hero, Morrissey - hero to many a teenage depressive since the mid 80s. These letters may well never be mailed, but they end up forming his life story. A life story where one minor mishap in the final weeks of junior school was taken out of all proportion, leading from one disaster to another. With hilarious consequences? Well, some of them are ...  Read the complete review

Having lived in Liverpool for nearly ten years, I am ashamed to say this is the only Willy Russell book I have read. This will be remedied. Raymond James Marks is a somber, strange character that feels that only his Gran and Morrissey understand him. The book takes the form of number of letters to Mr. Morrissey as our hero embarks on an epic journey to Grimsby. I kid you not, Grimsby lies at the very epicenter of this charmingly bizarre tale. It soon becomes clear that all is not well with our young Raymond. Russell introduces us to a number of colourful characters along the way. We see why Raymond was expelled from ...  Read the complete review