Driving Short Distances

Driving Short Distances

Summary

Sam is 27 and needs to get a job. Keith, who claims to be a second cousin of his (absent) father, offers him one. On Keith’s card it says he does ‘distribution and delivery’, which seems to consist of ‘a lot of driving around, getting out of the car for a few minutes and then getting back in’, Sam tells his mother. And so the days go by, Keith driving to a trading estate, ducking into a portakabin, all the while telling Sam stories about his first boss, Geoff Crozier, his mentor in distribution and delivery. As the weeks pass, Sam gets to know Keith’s friends, flirty Hazel-Claire from whom they buy two pasties every day at lunchtime, a variety of receptionists, and a few tantalising secrets from Keith’s past…

As in Days of the Bagnold Summer, Joff Winterhart is a master at depicting ordinary life in all its utterly poignant and funny mundanity.

Reviews

  • In Driving Short Distances Joff Winterhart has created an unforgettable central player, Keith Nutt, who deserves to join Keith Talent in the short but potent list of great British literary Keiths. He is an unforgettable character, beautifully drawn and exquisitely written, and he confirms Winterhart as one of the most talented graphic novelists in the UK.
    Zadie Smith

About the author

Joff Winterhart

Joff Winterhart is an illustrator and film-maker and plays drums in his band, Bucky. He lives in Bristol, where he walks his greyhound, Peep-Peep. He is the author of Days of the Bagnold Summer, which was shortlisted for the 2012 Costa Award for Best Novel.
Learn More

Sign up to the Penguin Newsletter

For the latest books, recommendations, author interviews and more