Vivian and I

Vivian Mackerrell is the long-believed larger-than-life inspiration for Brue Robinson's timeless Withnail character. The comparisons are obvious, judging by this well-observed biography from Colin Bacon, even if it wasn't categorically admitted. The interesting thing reading this book is realising how much writers take from real-life sources when constructing their characters; sometimes the comparisons are stark, others subtle.

This memoir of a man who spent his dying days pumping alcohol via a syringe directly into his stomach and spent his last few weeks propped up on Moroccan cushions listening to his beloved Elvis, refusing any nourishment other than dry sherry, is a testament to the last half-century's cultural and social history, from World War II to ecstasy.

Flipping between a celebration of the loveable rogue, Vivian, and his travails through drama school, life and every possible scrap you can imagine, and Bacon's own memory of his time growing up in Nottingham, the result is a hilarious heady cocktail of excess while striving for success, through acting, working in fashion and good ol fashioned Nottingham pub culture, all barbed with a dry acerbic wit and enthrallingly brilliant turn of phrase.