The Black Dog: The life-affirming debut novel from one of Britain's most-loved comedians

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Watching Kevin, I was sure he was born to be a stand-up comic, but reading his book it is clear he can do absolutely anything he sets his mind to. I look forward to visiting his Michelin starred restaurant and living on his self-built space community. Everything that is great about Kevin's stand up - the characters he creates, the unapologetic root in working class life, the straddling of worlds - is what's great about this book.' Jon Richardson

The Black Dog by Kevin Bridges | Hachette UK

An unexpectedly down-beat read. Not at all what I was expecting. Given it’s the author’s first proper novel, it gets the benefit of the doubt as being OK, as it had a few decent parts. However, I suspect if his name wasn’t already so well known, this wouldn’t have got published as it also had many flaws, and wasn’t much fun to read. But I kinda hated the fact that there were no chapters which made it hard to break. There are obvious natural breaks but it still made it hard to work out reading time and when to stop. Vulnerable and raw - this is a beautiful debut novel from the king of comedic storytelling.' Tom AllenThere’s been a lot about Kevin Bridges in the press at the moment, thanks to the release of this, his debut novel, and he has been very upfront in talking about his own struggles with poor mental health, so that perhaps gives you an indication that this book features mental health very heavily as the motivation behind much of what the main characters do.

The Black Dog by Kevin Bridges | Goodreads

For me Glasgow is captured perfect in this book, it is not over the top with the no mean city stereotype or doesn’t romanticise places he just writes like it is, your slightly overbearing maw who loves you dearly but would boot your arse gladly. I'm clearly in the minority here with my star rating for this book - but I absolutely hated this book.Unfortunately it dwells for far too (for me) long in melodrama and the actual story is simple and predictable. Then, we jump to James getting on a flight from New York to London. He’s supposed to be doing film promotion work in London, but on arrival gets a call from his wife saying his recovering addict sister has taken an overdose, so he dumps the promo work and flies straight to Glasgow. A life-affirming debut novel from one of Britain's most-loved comedians, Kevin Bridges - exploring dysfunctional friendships, family, and how to face your problems head on.