Fruish is known for his novel
Kiss My ASBO. On its release the book was highly praised by British working-class writers
Alan Moore, Russ Litten and
Alex Wheatle, with
Courttia Newland describing it as "completely original". Writer and editor Steve Moore called the book "a masterpiece".
Kiss My ASBO is one of the books that have been
banned from
Guantanamo Bay. Fruish is also author of a 46,000-word single-sentence work that is entirely monosyllabic, called
The Sentence, and ended in March 2018 at the
British Library. Readers have included, Alan Moore,
Robin Ince, Jeff Young,
Alan Cox, Sean McCann, Frances Thorburn and
Gavin Mitchell. John Higgs said of the piece, "It is tempting to see
The Sentence as the spirit of all books raising their game now that virtual reality threatens to take their place as our most vivid art form." He has collaborated with a number of other artists on prison arts projects including Dr Bruce Wall of the London Shakespeare Workout and poet
John Row. Fruish is
dyslexic and was drawn to work with prisoners because of the large levels of
literacy problems found among the prison population. In a report by the House of Commons Business, Innovation and Skills Committee, on adult literacy and numeracy, Fruish is quoted as saying, "sadly, there are only a handful of writers-in-residence remaining working in prisons. Much of the expertise that has been built up over the last two decades is in danger of being lost". As a response to the pandemic Fruish edited three
TOOLBOX books and made them available to prisons in the UK. Inside Time described them as, "full of high-quality creative games, life enhancing exercise techniques and personal development tips for all ages and abilities. The books have many contributions from scores of writers, scientists and artists". Along with
Steve Moore,
John Higgs and Donna Bond he is one of the four editors of
Alan Moore's Jerusalem. Moore credits Fruish's research with providing vital information that allowed him to finish the novel. In an interview with his biographer, Lance Parkin, Moore states that he has few hobbies, but he likes to go for walks with Fruish, whom he met when Fruish invited Moore back to visit the school he was expelled from. Moore recounts how he and Fruish were ejected from
Easton Neston Hall while walking around it in
From Hell. Fruish also took Moore in to
HMP Wellingborough to meet prisoners. In the late 1980s Fruish worked for independent record company
Blast First. He also created two podcasts to accompany this production. The first is a conversation with
Erik Davis, the second,
In the Sphere Of The Mind, voiced by Oliver Senton as
Robert Anton Wilson, and Kate Alderton as Arlen Riley Wilson, a poetic take on
John Lilly's
Beliefs Unlimited. Fruish had previously given a talk entitled "R.A.W on the Inside" at the Daisy Eris curated festival
Find The Others, that accompanied the original performance of
Cosmic Trigger in Liverpool in 2014. Fruish appears, is credited, thanked or acknowledged in a number of books and publications including:
Yvvette Edwards'
The Mother,
Andrew O'Neill's
History of Heavy Metal, John Higgs
Watling Street, Deborah Delano's
Saddest Sound, and
A. William James Book Thirteen, which is in part dedicated to Fruish. He rides a
rowbike. Fruish is a member of the Northampton Arts Lab. == References ==