Twelve grand - Jonathan Rendall

Hello, is that Jonathan Rendall?'

'Speaking.'

'My name's Rachel Cugnoni. I'm calling from Yellow Jersey Press and I have a proposal for you. I'm looking for someone to give 12,000 to but the catch is they have to spend it all on gambling - horses, the dogs, casinos, boxing, golf, footie, that sort of thing - and then write a book about it. Any profits made are entirely that person's but if they lose it all I still want my book. It's high risk but without wanting to assume too much, I've heard a bit about you and somehow I thought it may appeal. Think about it - you'd have the opportunity to lay some serious bets offering serious returns, you could play hard ball in poker games for once, even go to Vegas and, as I said, those winnings are yours to blow in whatever way you wish'.

'When do I start?

Jonathan Rendall was born in 1964. He was educated at Campion School, Athens, and Magdalen College, Oxford. His first book, This Bloody Mary Is The Last Thing I Own, won the Somerset Maugham Award. He died in 2013.

Twelve Grand is a fantastic book - so few provide the reader pleasure any more. This is a book that approaches 'truth'. A great book
Thom Jones

A gallop to the gates of a personal hell which is breathtakingly redeemed by its originality and ability to fascinate
Herald

This is a clever book, with a vulnerable heart inside its tough outer shell... Absolutely cracking
Independent