Tom Sharpe, 1928-2013

“Tom Sharpe, who has died aged 85, was in the great tradition of English comic novelists and his bawdy style and vulgar approach were said to have made bad taste into an art form — like ‘PG Wodehouse on acid’, in the words of one critic. Sharpe did not start writing comic novels until 1971, when he was 43, but once he got going he gained a large readership. He was a huge bestseller whose hardback editions sold like most authors only sell in paperback.” I will personally vouch for Blott On The Landscape, if you’re unfamiliar with the work.