Adventures In Misogyny

You’ll never forget Bailey George. Bailey sprung to life one day, fully formed and fully armed with a set of unusual opinions. He has lived with me ever since, throwing shadows on my thoughts, showing me a darker side of everything. He is frightening. He is a fictional construct that in some ways I fear, in some ways I detest — but in all ways I can’t get rid of. He’ll do the same to you. You’ll never forget the way Bailey thinks. You won’t see the world in quite the same way again. Bailey knows what he is, how he got to be that way and what he wants. He makes no excuses for any of it but is careful to hide what he is. He has a hobby that is terrible. Truly disturbing. But it is not an illegal hobby. Anyone could do it. If they wanted to. You’ll never forget Bailey George. Bailey is out there somewhere. He’s also in all men. He should be feared by all women. But you’ve got to be able to recognise who he is, girls. That’s a very important point. You need to be aware of how a man like this thinks. To the observer, Bailey is normal. A handsome man. Tall and dark. He hunts, he seeks targets. He enjoys his career. Some would say he’s a monster. But, girls, you might fall for him. This isn’t a horror story, there isn’t any gore or supernatural happenings. It’s a story that could be, might be, very real. You’ll never forget Bailey George. Despite yourself, you might like him . . . A female test reader told me she’d hate him if she ever met him. But that she’d probably fancy him too. That’s what he does. He gets to you like that. He can be charming, even beguiling. He understands how women think. And he is an expert at picking up women, if nothing else you might certainly learn how to do that from him. You’ll never forget Bailey George. I almost want to say, “Don’t read this book”. You will find something to anger you. You might find a few things that disturb you. But I must also say, “You must read this book”. You will find much of yourself in here. You’ll discover what men are — whether that’s some men or all men is a judgment call you’ll have to make for yourself. But you should know that people like this exist. You’ll never forget Bailey George. I’ve tried to keep Bailey consistent, from start to end. Many books have their characters “going on a journey”. But people aren’t always like that. Many stay the same type, no matter what experiences they have. I also faced the problem of creating an anti-hero, but I’ve attempted to get the reader to if not like him, then to be alongside him as he does what he does. I couldn’t do this by making him have endearing traits or by having him do some good deeds. He does nothing good. Instead, I gave him some humour. This isn’t a funny book, but it does have funny moments. Bailey’s career takes in many adventures. He encounters fat women, jealous women, beautiful women and low class women. He meets teachers, nurses, DIY enthusiasts, nuns, policewomen and lawyers. He doesn’t like any of them. The law catches up with him after one of his more disturbing excesses. But are the forces of law and order enough to beat a man like Bailey George?