Fowler never disappoints.

"The Book of Forgotten Authors" is a wonderful and entertaining volume full of reading inspiration and little-known literary fun facts. Lots of the authors mentioned are more out of fashion rather than forgotten - most notably Margery Allingham and Barbara Pym. However, there are still lots of new names and titles worth looking up - especially if you love nothing more than scouring shabby second-hand bookshops and dusty libraries in search of new gems to read.

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1 person found this helpful

So many books and so little time. some old and half forgotten friends and some new.

I have not enough time to explore all the previously ignored or unknown....so little time...so little time.

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Good authors

It is a really good books of forgotten authors to listen to on audible on phone

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2 people found this helpful

Captivating !

Never a list.
This collection of essays on the forgotten authors is magical. They include much loved writers from my childhood, who I can't believe are out of print, and the most diverse and interesting people.
I've made notes and even wishlisted a few but I now have to buy the paperback version (I think with added chapters) to refer back to.
I adore Christopher Fowler's Bryant and May books but I must go read the rest of his work. I can't have him worrying he'll only be remembered for those, masterpieces though they are.
I think this is his first bash at narration but he is an expert already! His humour and the passion for his writers is evident all the way through. His voice is clear and animated. (My daughter thought he was Neil Gaiman when she overheard earlier. Don't tell Chris.)
This book sent me back to the library of my youth and the dozens of Jean Plaidy's and Peter Tinniswood's I devoured. I thoroughly enjoyed the journey and shall be seeking out a lot of these authors.

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8 people found this helpful

thanks for your help

wish I had some good ones and I don't think I can get it on the list of things I can do it for you to get it in the office

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A cornucopia of literary bygones & their writers

Fowler is a great companion as he takes us on his explorations of nooks, crannies and bywaters of past literary successes. For me many of the titles were familiar quality ones on my book shelves I’d enjoyed decades ago – Brian Moore, J.G.Farrell, Barbara Pym - and it’s good to re-live them. But the best part of Fowler’s incredibly big collection are all the surprises about the people who wrote them – that Charles Hamilton’s now politically incorrect Billy Bunter books written under the name of Frank Richards were part of his 100 million (yes!) word output; that Mary Elizabeth Braddon whose 1862 penny dreadful for grown-ups Lady Audley’s Secret brims with sensational murder had six children and wrote whilst living scandalously with her married publisher whose wife was in asylum; John Creasey spent just one week on each bestseller and often had two books on the go; the writer of the 100 The Saint books Lesley Charteris was really half Chinese; mystery murder writer Pamela Branch learned Urdu, lived in Kashmir and retired to a 12th century Greek Monastery; the witty erotic comic novel The Passion Flower Hotel by 15 year-old Rosalind Irskine as ‘recently’ as 1962 was a scandal in which sixth formers (and Rosalind was supposed to be one of them in real life) set up a brothel in the basement of their private school in order the learn about sex from the boys of the neighbouring school! Actually it was really written by Roger Irskine… Fowler just keeps it all coming at speed along with brisk analyses of the books.

He covers a vast range of books from pastiches of James Bond & Agatha Christie, science fiction; Booker Prize winners; apocalyptic tales, Coral Island-type stories; Arthur Mee’s hobby books teaching pre-war children to knit a pot cosy for the Empire, or keep ants as pets; books made into films or ravaged for films… It’s all immensely entertaining, but also Fowler (who’s a crime writer himself) analyses why books disappear and how writers of gigantic bestsellers can end so quickly on the pulp-file, dismissed from readers’ memories.

It’s consistently interesting with many incidental lessons for would-be writers along the way, and Fowler is a no-nonsense, friendly reader. Above all, it’ll send you rummaging through your nearest second hand book shop or car boot sale for one of these unjustly forgotten books to enjoy.

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16 people found this helpful

An engaging chat about the retro pleasures of paperbacks

Fascinating and humane, I looked forward to meeting some of my own beloved forgotten favourites but I had only read a scant handful. I enjoyed this tour of forgotten stories. Fowler’s passion for books is a delight in itself. His voice is easy to listen to. A chatty, fireside pleasure.

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4 people found this helpful