Fan celebrates new Dawn French book with tattoo

The Super Thursday publication of Dawn French’s Me·You A Diary was met with the approval of one mega fan, who promptly had the book's cover art tattooed on her body the day after publication.

Carli Cooper, 23, asked her tattooist to recreate Christopher Burke's line drawing of French, chosen by Penguin Random House UK to adorn the book's front cover, below her clavicle in tribute to the "inspiring" actor and comedian.

Published last Thursday (5th October), the same month as French's 60th birthday, Me·You A Diary is French's first non-fiction offering since her 2008 autobiography Dear Fatty, also following on from the writer, comedian and actor's three bestselling novels, A Tiny Bit Marvellous, Oh Dear Silvia and According to YES (Penguin).

Cooper told The Bookseller of her admiration for French and of how the illustration on the front cover of her new book "spoke" to her. 

"At the age of 11 I saved my pocket money to buy the 'French and Saunders Live' DVD after watching an episode of 'The Vicar of Dibley'. I immediately saw Dawn as a role model and she has always inspired me to be myself and take life as one big laugh!" said Cooper.

"This illustration spoke to me and shows how Dawn embraces life as a whole and I believe we should all do the same. I use this as a symbol for being a major part of my childhood and life! I think the book is a great concept on a diary and it will be a unique experience to share the year with Dawn in book form."

Cooper's taste in body art has gone down well with the team at Michael Joseph, too. Senior publicity manager Ellie Hughes commented: "When we saw Carli’s tattoo we had to share it – we knew people would love this book but she has set the bar very high, and only a day after publication!" 

Other books hitting the shelves on Super Thursday 2017, which saw a whopping 505 new hardbacks publish, included Five Escape Brexit Island by Bruno Vincent (Quercus), Tom Fletcher’s The Creakers (Puffin), My Life Story: Sofa, So Good by Scarlett Moffatt (Blink), Only Fools and Stories by David Jason (Century), Finding My Virginity by Richard Branson (Virgin), Alan Hollinghurst's The Sparsholt Affair (Picador), Nadiya’s Bake Me a Festive Story by Nadiya Hussain (Hodder Children’s), The Diary of a Bookseller by Shaun Bythell (Profile) and Mary Berry’s Mary’s Household Tips & Tricks (Michael Joseph).