A note by Professor Profundity, Head of Department in Profound Studies at Prestatyn University -

The stories in this collection were originally published as My Nice Big Book of First Stories by The Blocked Kitchen Sink Press in 1998. That was a short print run of 25 copies, and in order to prove that fiction is the engineer of the senses, a free Earl Grey teabag was stapled to the front of each cover.

It was later distributed to a group of tramps in London’s East End as part of the 1999 initiative Literature Hits The Street. The Arts Council was pleased to note that two of the tramps became so inspired by what they read that they soon went on to become joint-winners of the Nobel Prize For Bricklaying.

Paul Badger was the poet who taught Dylan Thomas how to drink; the novelist who taught Jane Austen how to be ironic; and the playwright who taught Shakespeare how to lower the toilet seat after he had used it.