Welcome to the world of Ed Reardon, writer and liver of life on the cutting edge. Above 'The Cutting Edge' to be accurate, a one-bedroom flat over a hairdresser's in Berkhamsted, where Ed has lived on his own since his wife and grown-up kids left him, forcing the sale of the London home.
Ed's first (and to date last) published novel 'Who Would Fardels Bear?' was bought by Hollywood, relocated from Oldham to San Francisco and turned into a Sally Field movie ('Sister Mom') in the mid-70s. It was directed by Ed's best mate Jaz Milvane whose career has since gone stratospheric. Ed's broke up on re-entry; with the exception of his episode of 'Tenko' in 1982, the royalties of which now amount to about 17 pounds a year--but are anxiously awaited nonetheless.
Ed has often been forced to do a spot of lowbrow work for the ever popular Christmas book market. 'Jane Seymour's Household Hints' (1996) and 'The Brand's Hatch Story' got him through a couple of winters, although sadly his own proposal for 'A Little Book of Publisher's Rejections' was turned down because it ran over two thousand pages.
Ed however remains bullishly optimistic, as the series reveals. He may have only one pair of trousers and a seven-figure Amazon rating but no writer knows more about stealing his agent's stationery... and as a freeloader Ed Reardon is the acknowledged leader of his profession.
'Ed Reardon's Week' tracks Ed's flawed attempts to escape poverty and gain the literary success that is surely his due...
