A blackly comic and moving story of the cards, the horses, the girl and the bottle.

Hello, is that Jonathan Rendall?“Speaking.‘'My name’s Rachel Cugnoni. I’m calling from Yellow Jersey Press and I have a proposal for you. I’m looking for someone to give e12,000 to but the catch is they have to spend it all on gambling - horses, the dogs, casinos, boxing, golf, footie, that sort of thing - and then write a book about it. Any profits made are entirely that person’s but if they lose it all I still want my book. It’s high risk but without wanting to assume too much, I’ve heard a bit about you and somehow I thought it may appeal. Think about it - you’d have the opportunity to lay some serious bets offering serious returns, you could play hard ball in poker games for once, even go to Vegas and, as I said, those winnings are yours to blow in whatever way you wish’.‘When do I start?