Review: The Book of Forgotten Authors by Christopher Fowler

 I picked up Christopher Fowler’s The Book of Forgotten Authors as a good ‘dippy-inny’ book while I was backstage, performing in a play. The chapters were short and self contained and I didn’t need to keep any plot in my head as I went out on stage and performed the plot there. I was interested in the topic, and I have fond memories of Fowler as the writer of Roofworld and Calabash. 

Of the 99 authors listed, I’ve read 9 of them and own books by another 5. It was interesting reading about the authors I did know well because we have quite different views on them. In the section on Dino Buzzati, he never named The Bears’ Famous Invasion of Italy. His under appreciated pick for TH White was Goodbye Victoria, with Mistress Masham’s Repose getting only a little nod at the end. There were some authors I didn’t recognise I had read till he mentioned the book’s title, things like Mr Gay’s London, and Mrs Pettigrew Lives for a Day. 

Of the authors I hadn’t heard of (or had vaguely heard of) the entries were really interesting. There are all sorts of potted biographies in here of all sorts of intriguing lives. Some very good sounding people, some absolute horrors. I didn’t realise Pierre Boule wrote e Bridge over the River Kwai and Planet of the Apes, nor did I know the man playing Private Godfrey was an author who’d fought in both world wars.

Many of the books and authors appealed to me but I made a note of the ones that jumped the highest. Alexander Baron seems a very interesting writer and I’ll be seeking out King Dido in particular. Then there’s John Collier’s His Monkey Wife: Or, I married a chimp, which wins on title alone. 

This is an entertaining book, featuring lots of peculiar potted histories and intriguing books. It’s a good read by itself and a finger pointing at interesting reads in the future.