Where to start with: Paul Bailey

<p>The novelist and poet, who died a year ago, left a huge body of work distinguished by its melancholy wit and warmth. These are some of the highlights</p><p>Paul Bailey, who <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2024/oct/28/novelist-and-poet-paul-bailey-dies-at-87">died last October aged 87</a>, was best known as a novelist of comic brilliance, wide-ranging empathy – even for the worst of his characters – and a cleverness that was never clinical. His fiction was frequently occupied with the impact of memories on our lives, and usually heavily driven by sharp, syncopated dialogue. But he was also a memoirist, poet and more besides – so here’s a guide to the legacy of books he left behind.</p><p>***</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2025/oct/29/where-to-start-with-paul-bailey-novelist-poet">Continue reading...</a>