Who is Peter Ackroyd?
Hmmm ... let me think. Is he the guy in the photograph below?
Nope! But you're close!The guy in the photo below is Charles Dickens. Peter Ackroyd wrote a biography about Dickens. He also wrote a bio about William Shakespeare, in case the mention about the Charles Dickens bio is not impressive enough. :) If that's not impressive enough, then if you like biographies or biographical notes about celebrated, it might interest you to know that he wrote a bunch of books about famous people like Alfred Hitchcock, Charlie Chaplin, Edgar Allan Poe, Sir Isaac Newton, and more.
His series is called Ackroyd's Brief Lives.
Peter
Ackroyd is an author. A word to describe him? Eccentric. There was another word used to describe him but it wasn’t very complimentary (my opinion), and as such, won’t be mentioned by me. A few synonyms for eccentric are: odd, bizarre, outlandish, peculiar, weird and strange.
Sounds like he lives in Austin, Texas. But he currently resides in
England. Eccentric? I’ll say. He writes using a pen and paper in longhand. That’s insane! Nobody does that anymore!
Well fine then, Mr. Ackroyd. You certainly can’t be accused of not working. Peter Ackroyd’s body of writings include: poetry, bibliographies of notable persons like T.S. Eliot, Charles Dickens, and William Shakespeare, a series of history books for children, a collection of English ghost stories, and several novels. He even retold Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and wrote a libretta for an opera. His current projects include: the completion of six volumes of the History of England, a few more novels, and a biography of Alfred Hitchock.
Where does he find the time? Uh … that’s all he does, all day and all night. He says he isn’t much interested in socializing and reserves two Sundays in the month for some interaction with people. Most of the time, it’s just him and his books.
Has Mr. Ackroyd written so many books you don’t know where to begin? Start here: The Trial of Elizabeth Cree
; a murder mystery, the setting is 1880 Victorian London; a woman is accused of poisoning her husband.
* * *
Reference:
Rosen, Jody. “Man of Many Words: Up Close and Personal with Peter Ackroyd …” T: New York Times Style Magazine 15 Sept. 2013: 110-14. Print. Men’s Fashion Issue, Arts and Letters
Charles Dickens (1812-1870) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Peter
Ackroyd is an author. A word to describe him? Eccentric. There was another word used to describe him but it wasn’t very complimentary (my opinion), and as such, won’t be mentioned by me. A few synonyms for eccentric are: odd, bizarre, outlandish, peculiar, weird and strange.
Sounds like he lives in Austin, Texas. But he currently resides in
England. Eccentric? I’ll say. He writes using a pen and paper in longhand. That’s insane! Nobody does that anymore!
“It’s just the way I work”, he says.
Well fine then, Mr. Ackroyd. You certainly can’t be accused of not working. Peter Ackroyd’s body of writings include: poetry, bibliographies of notable persons like T.S. Eliot, Charles Dickens, and William Shakespeare, a series of history books for children, a collection of English ghost stories, and several novels. He even retold Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales and wrote a libretta for an opera. His current projects include: the completion of six volumes of the History of England, a few more novels, and a biography of Alfred Hitchock.
Where does he find the time? Uh … that’s all he does, all day and all night. He says he isn’t much interested in socializing and reserves two Sundays in the month for some interaction with people. Most of the time, it’s just him and his books.
Has Mr. Ackroyd written so many books you don’t know where to begin? Start here: The Trial of Elizabeth Cree
; a murder mystery, the setting is 1880 Victorian London; a woman is accused of poisoning her husband.* * *
Reference:
Rosen, Jody. “Man of Many Words: Up Close and Personal with Peter Ackroyd …” T: New York Times Style Magazine 15 Sept. 2013: 110-14. Print. Men’s Fashion Issue, Arts and Letters
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