Consider this. There are four types of vehicle that play a sound as they drive: police cars, fire engines, ambulances… and ice-cream vans. “It’s so incongruous,” says Matthew Dooley, author and illustrator of Flake, the book that won the 2020 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction, the first time a graphic novel has scooped (pun intended) the prestigious award.
At the heart of this wry, warm, affectionate graphic novel is ice cream – or rather, the men who purvey it. Shy Howard is happy with his lot, half-heartedly selling his wares while doing the crossword. Enter brash Tony, intent on expanding his ice-cream empire out from the fictional Dobbiston (loosely based on Dooley’s home town of Ormskirk, Lancashire) and across the north-west. Who will Photo: Adrian Lourie Writer Pictures enjoy the sweet taste of success? Consider this. There are four types of vehicle that play a sound as they drive: police cars, fire engines, ambulances… and ice-cream vans. “It’s so incongruous,” says Matthew Dooley, author and illustrator of Flake, the book that won the 2020 Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Fiction, the first time a graphic novel has scooped (pun intended) the prestigious award. The language of Flake is joyfully playful – who could resist a double 99 from an ice-cream van named Walt Whipman? – and critics have compared his work with that of Alan Bennett. Dooley bats off such comparisons, but said in a recent interview that he was drawn, Bennett-like, to “a mix of the absurd and the mundane”. Perhaps that would explain his other job: working in the education department of the House of Commons…
Reviews:
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If Alan Bennett made graphic novels, they might look like this… But Dooley deserves to be recognised for his own talents and they are all on display in this fine, funny graphic novel that is full of sly humour and facial hair, set against a world of pub quizzes, crazy golf and crosswords. His flat drawing style has a deadpan comedy all its own, but it’s the world he conjures up that stays with you. Lovely. Teddy Jamieson, Herald Scotland *50 best books to give at Christmas*
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Full of irresistible puns… A meld of Alan Bennett and the American comic-book artist Chris Ware…and also Tom Gauld. Tim Lewis, Observer
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The first graphic novel to win the Wodehouse prize for comic literature. It’s a cheerfully nostalgic trip into a north-western English town of pub quizzes, crazy golf and crosswords, and a testament to the powers of salt water and friendship in a crisis. Dooley’s merrily inventive ice lollies are worth a book of their own. James Smart, Guardian *Books of the Yea
Matthew will be appearing at LitFest on Saturday 2 October at 6pm at St Mary’s Church Hall in a live event.