The Apocalyptical Novel Written by One of Britain’s Best Loved Comedians
Les Dawson’s 1986 novel A Time Before Genesis puzzled many critics, but it was the comic’s greatest wish he be taken seriously as a writer.
Les Dawson was a familiar face on British television throughout the 70s and 80s. The Mancunian was well known for his comic routines prominently featuring jokes about his mother-in-law, his off-tune piano playing and the expressions he would contort his face into. Less well-known was his writing, in particular, his novels. In a tribute in The Observer shortly after his death, comedian and writer Helen Lederer wrote, ‘Les Dawson has been described as having a “Naive enthusiasm” for this lesser known literary side. I would call it balls and intelligence.’
Among his works was A Card for the Clubs, a 1974 novel about working men’s clubs, and the spoof detective novel Well Fared My Lovely. A major departure from his comedic style was his 1986 novel A Time Before Genesis. A 2006 appraisal in The Spectator magazine suggested that ‘It provides a disturbing insight into the mind of the late comedian.’ It was a book that began with the Kennedy assassination and went on to cover Buddhism, genetic engineering, the mystery of Martin Bormann, the Glastonbury Triangle, Tibetan mysticism and group sex in Hyde Park. ‘I’ve taken a lot of half-baked ideas and tried to give them…
