From Big Brother to book deal

5:13pm Wednesday 20th August 2008

THE Big Brother contestant who readily admits he has never read a book in his life puts pen to paper for his debut novel. Essex, Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll is the intriguingly, if not slightly unoriginally titled first work of Jonathan Durden, the notorious Big Brother housemate who found his personal life exposed further than expected last year when reports of his drug taking and soliciting were splashed across the national press.

Successful advertising executive Mr Durden insists, however, that the book that centres around sex, drugs and the London media world - telling the story of a man who seemingly had everything only to have his world turned upside down - is only partly autobiographical.

He added: “I started writing the book in 2004 when I took sabbatical after the death of my first wife. I had never done anything like this before but I sat down for 15 hours a day, seven days a week.

“The first four or five chapters are autobiographical, but I didn’t do it for therapy, it was more of a challenge. “I came back to the book after my Big Brother experience and from then on the majority of it is pure fiction.”

After the story’s anti-hero Mark Cohen returns to his Essex mansion from a business trip to find his wife seriously ill and his teenage daughter recovering from a suicide attempt, he sets out on a one-way trip to redemption.

The jet-black comedy promises to throw the reader headfirst into the world of porn, politics and bed hopping, and gives you an unpalatable taste of “what it feels like to have your genitals plugged into the national grid.”

“It's a book about finishing unfinished business and moving forward,” said Durden, who spent a chunk of his own life in a £10million Essex mansion.

“When he loses all fear of consequence the main character goes through several scenarios that most people would never experience.

“I made most of it up because I don’t think my life has been interesting enough to write an autobiography, but unfortunately the stuff about Essex is mainly true.” l The book is the first fiction title published by Adelita and is available in most good book shops for £7.99.

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