This is a fascinating biography of a man who bored himself to death. Surreal, satirical and often plain silly, Peter Cook's comedy was like Monty Python with fangs. Achieving everything he could hope for at the beginning of his career, he spent the rest of his life looking for a vehicle, suffering the same fate as countless other unique comic talents - years ahead of his time, he was eventually marginalised by an establishment that couldn't find a role for him, ending his career with a few brilliant flourishes and a sense that he never really fitted in.

The biography itself is the best that can be hoped for - despite a lack of support from Cook's last wife, Harry Thompson interviews almost everybody who knew him, and the book covers everything he did up to and including 'Why Bother?', with Chris Morris. At the end of the book you'll want to go out and buy the complete 'Beyond the Fringe' recordings, and a higher compliment cannot be paid.