Dog Days In Soho

One Man's Adventures in 1950s Bohemia

Nigel Richardson first met Josh Avery when he was a boy. Richard sat in fascinated thrall to a rich fund of anecdotes of Josh's life in and around the post-war Soho demimonde, centring on the Gargoyle club, the Colony Room and the French pub, that included Daniel Farson, William Empson, George Barker, Henrietta Moraes, John Minton - and, most notably, Francis Bacon. Richardson was never quite sure if the stories were true or not, but it seemed not to matter.

Richardson has woven a life of Josh that might be true in every detail, or might not. He has produced a book which captures the essence of a time and a place now gone.