{
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  "title": "The Wrong Boy",
  "subtitle": null,
  "slug": "the-wrong-boy",
  "url": "https://www.bookquiver.com/willy-russell/the-wrong-boy",
  "json": "https://www.bookquiver.com/willy-russell/the-wrong-boy.json",
  "markdown": "https://www.bookquiver.com/willy-russell/the-wrong-boy.md",
  "authors": [
    {
      "name": "Bill Russell",
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  "language": "en_GB",
  "original_title": null,
  "original_language": null,
  "first_published": "2001-07-01",
  "genres": [
    {
      "code": "FBA",
      "heading": "Modern and contemporary fiction: literary and general"
    },
    {
      "code": "FK",
      "heading": "Horror, ghost stories and supernatural fiction"
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  "cover": "https://quivercdn.com/covers/transworld-digital/willy-russell/the-wrong-boy_978-14-4815-253-7-d7594ff0.webp?v=2026-10-06%2003%3A36%3A33",
  "description": "The hilarious, bittersweet novel from the playwright behind EDUCATING RITA, SHIRLEY VALENTINE and award-winning musical BLOOD BROTHERS . 'B ig-hearted, wonderfully funny and engrossing' THE MIRROR 'A warm, funny, poignant story. I loved The Wrong Boy - and so will you' SUNDAY TELEGRAPH 'A comic masterpiece' BEL MOONEY, MAIL ON SUNDAY Dear Morrissey, I'm feeling dead depressed and down. Like a streetlamp without a bulb or a goose at the onset of Christmas time. Anyroad, I thought I'd pen a few lines to someone who'd understand... It's 1991. Raymond Marks is a normal boy, from a normal family, in a normal northern town. Only lately, he's been feeling dead down. His dad left home after falling in love with a five-string banjo. His fun-hating grandma believes she should have married Jean-Paul Sartre: 'I could never read his books, but y' could tell from his picture, there was nothing frivolous about John-Paul Sartre.' Felonious Uncle Jason and Appalling Aunty Paula are lusting after the satellite dish. And so he turns to the one person who'll understand what he's going through: Morrissey. Told through a series of heartfelt letters to the frontman of The Smiths, this is a laugh-out-loud funny, incredibly poignant tale from a character you can't help but love. ------- READERS LOVE THE WRONG BOY ***** 'The brilliant way this book is written has you laughing helplessly ' ***** 'How the author gets deep inside the head of this young boy as he grows up is incredible ' ***** 'Russell's voice is full of humour, laughter and comfort . It's heartwarming rather than heartbreaking and there is plenty to make you smile' ***** 'Raymond is a funny and poignant character and made me both laugh, and not just cry, but actually sob ' 'The dialogue - as you might expect from a dramatist - is cracking stuff: a colloquial poetry reminiscent of Roddy Doyle' THE GUARDIAN ' Russell delights in his skilful depiction of a child's-eye view' THE LITERARY REVIEW",
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      "title": "The Wrong Boy",
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    {
      "title": "The Wrong Boy",
      "subtitle": null,
      "url": "https://www.bookquiver.com/willy-russell/the-wrong-boy/9780552996457",
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      "isbn": "978-05-5299-645-7",
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