Jasper Fforde

Infobox Writer
name = Jasper Fforde

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caption = Jasper Fforde at a book signing in New York July 2007
birthdate = Birth date and age|1961|1|11|df=yes
birthplace = London, England
occupation = novelist
genre = Alternate history, Comic fantasy
website = http://www.jasperfforde.com/

Jasper Fforde (born in London on 11 January, 1961) is an English novelist. Fforde's first novel, "The Eyre Affair", was published in 2001. Fforde is mainly known for his Thursday Next novels, although he has written another series, the Nursery Crime Stories series.

Family

Fforde was born on 11 January, 1961. His father was John Standish Fforde, the 24th Chief Cashier for the Bank of England (whose signature used to appear on sterling banknotes). [cite web|url=http://www.jasperffordeffanclub.com/faqs.html|title=Jasper Fforde Fan club FfAQs|accessdate=2008-01-13] He is the cousin of the author Katie Fforde.

Early life

Fforde was educated at the progressive Dartington Hall School, and his early career was spent as a focus puller in the film industry, where he worked on a number of films, including "Quills", "GoldenEye", and "Entrapment". [imdb name|0275532|Jasper Fforde]

Novels

Fforde published his first novel, "The Eyre Affair", in 2001.

His published books include a series of novels starring the literary detective Thursday Next: "The Eyre Affair", "Lost in a Good Book", "The Well of Lost Plots", "Something Rotten", and "First Among Sequels". "The Eyre Affair" had received 76 publisher rejections before its eventual acceptance for publication. [cite news | url=http://books.guardian.co.uk/review/story/0,,1005687,00.html | title=If it's Thursday it must be the valley of death | publisher="The Guardian" | author=John Sutherland | date=26 July 2003 | accessdate=2007-11-22] Fforde won the Wodehouse prize for comic fiction in 2004 for "The Well of Lost Plots". [cite news | url=http://books.guardian.co.uk/hay/story/0,,1228118,00.html | title=Lost Plots gains a prize | publisher="The Guardian" | author=John Ezard | date=31 May 2004 | accessdate=2007-11-22]

"The Big Over Easy" (2005), which shares a similar setting with the Next novels, is a reworking of his first written novel, which initially failed to find a publisher. Its original title was "Who Killed Humpty Dumpty?" [cite news | url=http://books.guardian.co.uk/reviews/crime/0,,1508996,00.html | title=Back off or Humpty Dumpty gets it | publisher="The Observer" | author=Peter Guttridge | date=19 June 2005 | accessdate=2007-11-22] , and later had the working title of "Nursery Crime", which is the title now used to refer to this series of books. These books describe the investigations of DCI Jack Spratt. The follow-up to "The Big Over Easy", "The Fourth Bear", was published in July 2006 and focuses on Goldilocks and the Three Bears.

Fforde's books are noted for their profusion of literary allusions and wordplay, tightly scripted plots, and playfulness with the conventions of traditional genres. His works usually contain various elements of metafiction, parody, and fantasy. None of his books have a chapter 13.

In 2006 Jasper Fforde said:

"The Thursday Next series has four books, so the next book I'm going to be writing is five, so we're going to go back to her for a book and after that I don't know, I might experiment with a new series or two. It's an exciting time because I don't know what's going to come out in '09. I am going to have a book for '09 but I don't know what it's about, and that's very exciting because where is it, right now? It's going to be there in two years' time but it's not here now. I pledged a book a year for 10 years to try and get established and that finishes in four years and I said to myself that I could have a year off then. So I'm looking forward to that." [cite web | url=http://www.abc.net.au/news/arts/articulate/200609/s1742516.htm | title=Q & A: Jasper Fforde | publisher = ABC News | work = Articulate | author= Gary Kemble | date=2006-09-16 | accessdate=2008-02-01]

Fforde recently stated that there will be "No new Fforde book for 2008" [cite web | url=http://www.jasperfforde.com/whatsnew.html | title=Jasper Fforde.com : What's New? | date=2008-01-25 | accessdate=2008-02-01] , and publication of the first novel in his new "Shades of Grey" series is now planned for July 2009, having been originally announced by publishers as available in summer 2008 [cite web | url=http://booksellers.penguin.com/static/forms/Adult-Hardcover-May-August-2008-Frontlist.xls | publisher= Penguin Group (US)| title=Adult Hardcover May - August 2008 Frontlist | accessdate=2008-02-01] . According to the (less recent) "First Among Sequels" Special Features section on Fforde's website, the sixth Thursday Next novel, entitled "One of Our Thursdays Is Missing", is also scheduled to be published in 2009 [cite web | url=http://www.jasperfforde.com/sftn5.php | title='First Among Sequels' Special Features Section | date=2007-04-07 | accessdate=2008-02-01] .

Fforde also plans a third "Nursery Crime" novel, "The Last Great Tortoise Race":

"The Last Great Tortoise Race" will be the third and final installment of the NCD series. I have no idea when it will be written, or published." [cite web | url=http://www.jasperfforde.com/faq.html | title=Jasper Fforde.com : Frequently Asked Questions | ccessdate=2008-02-01]

Other Information

Fforde has an interest in aviation, and owns and flies a DH 82 Tiger Moth, (referred to indirectly in the books, where a Pet Tasmanian Tiger is called DH82).

Bibliography

* Thursday Next
** "The Eyre Affair" (2001)
** "Lost in a Good Book" (2002)
** "The Well of Lost Plots" (2003)
** "Something Rotten" (2004)
** "First Among Sequels" (2007)
* Nursery Crimes
** "The Big Over Easy" (2005)
** "The Fourth Bear" (2006)
* Shades of Grey
** "Painting by Numbers" (expected July 2009)

References

External links

* [http://www.jasperfforde.com/ Jasper Fforde's Web site]
* [http://www.thursdaynext.com/index2.html Thursday Next Web site]
* [http://www.nurserycrime.co.uk/home.html Home of the new series of Nursery Crime books]
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Persondata
NAME = Fforde, Jasper
ALTERNATIVE NAMES =
SHORT DESCRIPTION = English novelist
DATE OF BIRTH = 11 January, 1961
PLACE OF BIRTH = London, England
DATE OF DEATH =
PLACE OF DEATH =