Anything But Dull: The Life & Art of Jeff Nuttall

Anything But Dull is the first full-length biography of the poet, performance artist, provocateur, and polymath Jeff Nuttall, who famously wrote I paint poems, sing sculptures, draw novels. Nuttall was a key figure in the formation of the counterculture, collaborating with William Burroughs, John Latham, R. D. Laing, Alexander Trocchi, and other major avant-garde figures of the 1960s. With The People Show, Nuttall staged some of the first performance art in the United Kingdom and continued to push boundaries in his teaching career and the forty books he published. His best known is Bomb Culture, an insider’s account of the revolution that would irrevocably change British society.

In Anything But Dull the relentless excesses that defined Nuttall’s life are revealed in all their fascinating, enlightening, and bawdy detail. It is also a rigorous investigation and assessment of Jeff Nuttall’s creative work. His entire oeuvre is scrutinized with key writings examined in detail. The book examines the cultural forces that Nuttall encountered and influenced. Through meticulous and comprehensive analysis based on over one hundred interviews and supported by archival research, James Charnley enables the reader to understand and evaluate the artist and his achievements. What emerges is a passionately committed activist whose energies fed uncompromisingly radical art. Jeff Nuttall courted controversy, provoked both outrage and affection, and ultimately paid the price for his belief that all experience is to be embraced.