AFTER the success of his novel Grow Up in 2011 Ben Brooks releases his highly anticipated follow up, Lolito.

It tells the story of 15-year-old Etgar, an unscrupulous teen with mild agoraphobia and a borderline drinking problem.

Reeling from the discovery that girlfriend Alice ‘sexed Aaron Matthews’, Etgar stumbles into a chat room and begins speaking to desperate housewife Macy, from Inverness. Their online affair appears to be going as expected until the 35-year-old mum decides to meet the mortgage broker he has been posing as for a no-strings night of fun.

A lot is said of author Brooks’ age, and it is impressive that he has penned two major novels by the age of 20. However the writer’s primary talent is his comic timing.

Through the darkness of an often disturbing text come roaringly hilarious one-liners that push away the clouds of despair.

The juxtaposition between sexual encounters and pathetically naive comprehension reminds you of all that it is to be 15, drunk and in love.

Intensely adult subject matter is dealt with frankly, but contrasted by often ridiculously immature language.

You become uncomfortably aware of the reality between the characters’ ages, and the comedy becomes even blacker still.

Ben Brooks is...

  • The author of five other books – Grow Up, Fences, An Island of Fifty, The Kasahara School of Nihilism, and Upward Coast & Sadie.
  • He was born in 1992 and lives in Gloucestershire.
  • The E4 television adaptation of Grow Up is in pre-production. Ben is working on the script.
  • Ben is on tour in the UK this month with fellow author Tao Lin for a number of joint events at book shops.
  • His work has been longlisted for the Dylan Thomas Prize and a Pushcart Prize.