Jasper Fforde (born 11 January 1961) is an English novelist, whose first novel, '' The Eyre Affair'', was published in 2001. He is known mainly for his '' Thursday Next'' novels, but has published two books in the loosely connected '' Nursery Crime'' series and the first books of two other independent series: ''

The Last Dragonslayer ''The Last Dragonslayer'' is a young adult fantasy novel by Jasper Fforde. It is set in an alternative world in which magic is real, but has become weakened and is also being replaced by modern technology. The setting is almost like modern Brit ...

'' and ''

Shades of Grey Variations of gray or grey include achromatic grayscale shades, which lie exactly between white and black, and nearby colors with low colorfulness. A selection of a number of these various colors is shown below. Chart of computer web color ...

''. Fforde's books abound in literary

allusions Allusion is a figure of speech, in which an object or circumstance from unrelated context is referred to covertly or indirectly. It is left to the audience to make the direct connection. Where the connection is directly and explicitly stated (as ...

and wordplay, tightly scripted plots and playfulness with the conventional, traditional genres. They usually contain elements of

metafiction Metafiction is a form of fiction which emphasises its own narrative structure in a way that continually reminds the audience that they are reading or viewing a fictional work. Metafiction is self-conscious about language, literary form, and stor ...

parody A parody, also known as a spoof, a satire, a send-up, a take-off, a lampoon, a play on (something), or a caricature, is a creative work designed to imitate, comment on, and/or mock its subject by means of satiric or ironic imitation. Often its sub ...

, and

fantasy Fantasy is a genre of speculative fiction involving magical elements, typically set in a fictional universe and sometimes inspired by mythology and folklore. Its roots are in oral traditions, which then became fantasy literature and d ...

Early life

Fforde was born in London on 11 January 1961, the son of

John Standish Fforde John Standish Fforde (16 November 1921 – 10 April 2000) was a British economist who was active in the Bank of England between 1957 and 1984. As Chief Cashier The Chief Cashier of the Bank of England is the person responsible for issuing b ...

, the 24th Chief Cashier for the

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the English Government's banker, and still one of the bankers for the Government o ...

. He is a grandson of the Polish political activist, Joseph Retinger, and a great-grandson of the journalist E. D. Morel. Fforde was educated at the progressive

Dartington Hall School Dartington Hall in Dartington, near Totnes, Devon, England, is an historic house and country estate of dating from medieval times. The group of late 14th century buildings are Grade I listed; described in Pevsner's Buildings of England as "o ...

. In his first jobs, he worked as a

focus puller A focus puller or first assistant camera (1st AC) is a member of a film crew's camera department whose primary responsibility is to maintain the camera lens's optical focus on whatever subject or action is being filmed. "Pulling focus" refers t ...

in the film industry. He worked on a number of films, including ''

The Trial ''The Trial'' (german: Der Process, link=no, previously , and ) is a novel written by Franz Kafka in 1914 and 1915 and published posthumously on 26 April 1925. One of his best known works, it tells the story of Josef K., a man arrested and p ...

'', '' Quills'', ''

GoldenEye ''GoldenEye'' is a 1995 spy film, the seventeenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions, and the first to star Pierce Brosnan as the fictional MI6 agent James Bond. Directed by Martin Campbell, it was the first in the se ...

'', ''

The Mask of Zorro ''The Mask of Zorro'' is a 1998 American swashbuckler film based on the character of the masked vigilante Zorro created by Johnston McCulley. It was directed by Martin Campbell and stars Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, Catherine Zeta-J ...

'', and ''

Entrapment Entrapment is a practice in which a law enforcement agent or agent of the state induces a person to commit a "crime" that the person would have otherwise been unlikely or unwilling to commit.''Sloane'' (1990) 49 A Crim R 270. See also agent prov ...

''.

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 ''Lost in a Good Book'' is an alternate history fantasy novel by Jasper Fforde. It won the Independent Mystery Booksellers Association 2004 Dilys Award. It is the second in the Thursday Next series. Synopsis ''Lost in a Good Book'' is the seco ...

'', '' The Well of Lost Plots'', '' Something Rotten'', ''

First Among Sequels ''First Among Sequels'' is an alternate history, comic fantasy novel by the British author Jasper Fforde. It is the fifth Thursday Next novel, first published on 5 July 2007 in the United Kingdom, and on 24 July 2007 in the United States. The no ...

'', '' One of our Thursdays Is Missing'' and ''

The Woman Who Died a Lot ''The Woman Who Died A Lot'' is the seventh ''Thursday Next'' book, by the British author Jasper Fforde. It was published in July 2012; set in an alternative world where love of novels and plays is at the heart of modern society, it takes place i ...

''. ''The Eyre Affair'' had received 76 publisher rejections before its eventual acceptance for publication. Fforde won the Wodehouse prize for comic fiction in 2004 for ''The Well of Lost Plots''. Several streets in the Thames Reach housing development in Swindon have been named after characters in the series. '' The Big Over Easy'' (2005), set in the same alternative universe as the ''Next'' novels, reworks his first written novel, which initially failed to find a publisher. Its original title was ''Who Killed Humpty Dumpty?'' It was later entitled ''Nursery Crime'', which now refers to the series of books. These 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 "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" (originally titled "The Story of the Three Bears") is a 19th-century English fairy tale of which three versions exist. The original version of the tale tells of an obscene old woman who enters the forest home ...

. ''

'', the first novel in a new series, was published December 2009 in the United States and January 2010 in the United Kingdom. In November 2010 he produced ''

'', the first novel in a new series. It is a young-adult (YA) fantasy novel about a teenage orphan Jennifer Strange which has now been adapted for television. Two further books have been published in the series, ''The Song of the Quarkbeast'' (2011) and ''The Eye of Zoltar'' (2014). The series was originally planned as a trilogy, but a fourth book in the series was announced in 2014, ''The Great Troll War'' (2021).

Short stories

In 2009, Fforde published a story in the Welsh edition of ''

Big Issue ''The Big Issue'' is a street newspaper founded by John Bird and Gordon Roddick in September 1991 and published in four continents. ''The Big Issue'' is one of the UK's leading social businesses and exists to offer homeless people, or individ ...

'' magazine (distributed by the homeless) called "We are all alike" (previously "The Man with no Face"). He also published "The Locked Room Mystery mystery" in ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers '' The Observer'' and '' The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the ...

'' newspaper in 2007; this story remains available online. The U.S. version of ''Well of Lost Plots'' features a bonus chapter (34b) called "Heavy Weather", a complete story in itself, featuring Thursday Next in her position as Bellman.

Other interests

Fforde has an interest in aviation and owns and flies a Rearwin Skyranger.

Fforde Ffiesta

Originating with the Fforde Ffestival in September 2005, the Fforde Ffiesta (cf.

Ford Fiesta The Ford Fiesta is a supermini car marketed by Ford since 1976 over seven generations. Over the years, the Fiesta has mainly been developed and manufactured by Ford's European operations, and has been positioned below the Escort (later the ...

) is an annual event built around Fforde's books and held in Thursday Next's home town of

Swindon Swindon () is a town and unitary authority with borough status in Wiltshire, England. As of the 2021 Census, the population of Swindon was 201,669, making it the largest town in the county. The Swindon unitary authority area had a population ...

over the May bank holiday weekend. People travel from afar to take part in a wide range of events, including a reenactment of the gameshow ''Name That Fruit'', Hamlet Speed Reading competitions, and interactive performances of ''

Richard III Richard III (2 October 145222 August 1485) was King of England and Lord of Ireland from 26 June 1483 until his death in 1485. He was the last king of the House of York and the last of the Plantagenet dynasty. His defeat and death at the Bat ...

''.

Bibliography

* Thursday Next **'' The Eyre Affair'' (2001) **''

'' (2002) **'' The Well of Lost Plots'' (2003) **'' Something Rotten'' (2004) **''

'' (2007) **'' One of Our Thursdays is Missing'' (2011) **''

'' (2012) * Nursery Crime Division **'' The Big Over Easy'' (2005) **'' The Fourth Bear'' (2006) *

**''Shades of Grey'' (2009) **''Red Side Story'' (2023) *The Dragonslayer **''

'' (2010) **'' The Song of the Quarkbeast'' (2011) **'' The Eye of Zoltar'' (2014) **'' The Great Troll War '' (2021) *Standalone Novels **'' Early Riser'' (2018) **'' The Constant Rabbit'' (2020)

References

External links

*
The Fforde Ffiesta, annual fan gathering
* * * *
Interview
broadcast by the Lewis Burke Frumkes Radio Show in January 2010 (audio) {{DEFAULTSORT:Fforde, Jasper 1961 births Living people People from Gloucestershire 21st-century English novelists People educated at Dartington Hall School Dilys Award winners English male novelists Postmodern writers 21st-century English male writers