Probably not coming soon to a town near you

After a gruelling four-stop, two-nation world tour, Rhodes has finally come to the end of his live commitments for the year, and unless any earth-shattering invitations come in he’ll be keeping a low profile until the inevitable media bonanza surrounding the launch of his seventh book, This Is Life, in spring 2012. He has exclusively contacted us and asked us to thank everyone who came along to the events (apart from the intensely tiresome person sitting behind him in Cardiff, who distracted everyone within a ten foot radius with his incessant droning).

In other news, Little Hands Clapping will be published in Sweden and Finland in the coming weeks, and will be out in the US in the autumn. Details to follow.

Also, Little Hands Clapping is now out as an audiobook. It’s available here, from Audible - so now you can read Rhodes’ book with your eyes shut, or while gliding through the streets in your Lexus.

We don’t know for sure what he’ll be up to in the coming months, but we expect he’ll be hanging around in various exotic locations with his famous acquaintances. Speaking of which, we’ve managed to unearth this picture of him enjoying some quality time with his dear friend Meryl Streep:

Happy reading.

Cardiff Calling

Nobody ever believes us when we tell them, but it’s true – Dan Rhodes has never done a reading in Cardiff. That’s all about to change, though. On July 21st he’ll be part of the In Chapters night at the Millennium Centre, premiering some brand new stuff on the evening’s theme – carnivals. A mixture of music, fiction, poetry and whatever else, Rhodes will be joining musicians Richard “Mynci” James and Gareth “The Gentle Good” Bonello, as well as Rhymin’ Rhian Edwards, John “L” Williams and probably a bunch of others. See you all there. Details here.

In other news, word has reached us of history’s most peculiar party. Last month, in Noosaville, Australia, something unusual entered the water supply and a bunch of otherwise rational people ended up convinced that it would be a good idea to theme a party around Rhodes’ 2007 novel Gold. Implausible as it may seem, this photograph has not been tampered with:

We wish them all a speedy recovery.

Happy reading.

The ink is drying…

We are finally able to exclusively confirm the rumours that have been sweeping the business for months - Dan Rhodes has written a new novel, and it’ll be published by Canongate in March 2012. But what will this surefire million-seller be called? The exclusives just keep on coming. Find out below:

The beret and the Eugène Carrière painting suggest that it’s going to be another Parisian romp. We’ll see…

We strongly suspect that the title This Is Life is a nod to this song by the mighty Daniel Johnston. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time Rhodes has snuck a Daniel Johnston reference into a book.

And now we’re going to shut up about it until it’s back from the printers.

We hope you can stand the wait.

Happy reading.

Discover the ugly truth about Dan Rhodes

Dan Rhodes will be in conversation with Stewart “Comedy Vehicle” Lee at the Stoke Newington Literary Festival on Saturday 4th June at three in the afternoon. You really should be out of bed by then – so no excuses, Londoners. Come along and gape at Rhodes as he mumbles, contradicts himself and ultimately crumbles under Lee’s pitiless interrogation. The audience will be invited to contribute to his horrifying public collapse by asking him stuff too. Booking info lives here.

This is coming hot on the heels of his sell-out London show with the wonderful Barry Yourgrau at the Idler Academy, which, perhaps predictably, culminated in scenes of mass hysteria unseen since the days of the Beatles. We’ve hacked into Rhodes’ camera and extracted this memento of the big night. Here’s Barry:

Quite why Rhodes never wins awards for his photography is beyond us.

Happy reading.

Dan Rhodes to invade London

Rhodes is coming down from the hills and returning to London for what we calculate to be his fourth reading there in the past eight years. The capital truly belongs to him. This will be the official launch of the Little Hands Clapping paperback, and you are invited. We are delighted to announce that Rhodes will be joined by an extremely special guest - Barry Yourgrau. One of Rhodes’ all-time favourite writers, Barry will be making his London debut. A must-see, we reckon.

It’s all happening at The Idler Academy, 81 Westbourne Park Road, on Thursday 19th May. More details, booking info, etc, can be found on our Readings page. [UPDATE: This is now sold out. Another London date will be dramatically announced next week].

In other news, Rhodes has just returned from his annual pilgrimage to The Laugharne Weekend. He was billed on the posters as ‘Daniel Rhodes’, so apologies to anyone who made the trip to Carmarthenshire in the hope of seeing the author of vampire fiction of that name, only to end up disappointed. Still, there was plenty of other stuff to enjoy, not least these two characters, who sum up Rhodes’ feelings about the royal wedding .

And as ever, Rhodes – an established starmaker – has returned with a new musical recommendation for you all. Last year he single-handedly propelled Y Niwl to international fame, and this year it’s the turn of Trwbador to hold on to their hats as they are catapulted to the top of the hit parade. This is great:

Happy reading.