Desmond Skirrow: Difference between revisions
imported>Hayford Peirce (added presumed info about his agency and early death) |
imported>Hayford Peirce (added name of his verse) |
||
| Line 5: | Line 5: | ||
''[[Punch]]'' called the John Brock books "the Chandler formula, basically, but louder and funnier," while a critic for the ''[[Sunday Express]]'' wrote that "When I opened his first novel, a thriller, I got the impression that the late Raymond Chandler had come back to life, reanimated perhaps by some of the crude vitality of Mr Mickey Spillane." The ''[[Guardian]]'' said about his next book that it was "Much better written than much of the turgid solemnity that passes for serious fiction. Neat, sharp, well observed, and extremely funny."<ref>All critical quotations from the back dust jacket of ''I'm Trying to Give It up'', The Bodley Head, London, 1968</ref> | ''[[Punch]]'' called the John Brock books "the Chandler formula, basically, but louder and funnier," while a critic for the ''[[Sunday Express]]'' wrote that "When I opened his first novel, a thriller, I got the impression that the late Raymond Chandler had come back to life, reanimated perhaps by some of the crude vitality of Mr Mickey Spillane." The ''[[Guardian]]'' said about his next book that it was "Much better written than much of the turgid solemnity that passes for serious fiction. Neat, sharp, well observed, and extremely funny."<ref>All critical quotations from the back dust jacket of ''I'm Trying to Give It up'', The Bodley Head, London, 1968</ref> | ||
Skirrow also wrote a bit of verse that is included in the ''New Oxford Book of Light Verse'':<ref>''New Oxford Book of Light Verse'', edited by Kingsley Amis, Oxford University Press, 1987</ref> | Skirrow also wrote a bit of verse, "Ode on a Grecian Urn Summarized", that is included in the ''New Oxford Book of Light Verse'':<ref>''New Oxford Book of Light Verse'', edited by Kingsley Amis, Oxford University Press, 1987</ref> | ||
:Gods chase | :Gods chase | ||
Revision as of 11:00, 2 October 2008
Desmond Skirrow (1923 or 1924–1976) was a British advertising executive and thriller writer. Born in Wales, he was a painter, designer, journalist and a creative director for ad agencies.[1] In the late 1960s he wrote three outstanding spy novels about a fictional British agent named John Brock. Like his creator, Brock works in advertising in London, but is also a part-time agent for an undercover department run by The Fat Man. The three novels are tough, irreverent, and witty. He also wrote another novel, Poor Quail, about an advertising executive's move to the countryside, that apparently is not about his secret agent.
Punch called the John Brock books "the Chandler formula, basically, but louder and funnier," while a critic for the Sunday Express wrote that "When I opened his first novel, a thriller, I got the impression that the late Raymond Chandler had come back to life, reanimated perhaps by some of the crude vitality of Mr Mickey Spillane." The Guardian said about his next book that it was "Much better written than much of the turgid solemnity that passes for serious fiction. Neat, sharp, well observed, and extremely funny."[2]
Skirrow also wrote a bit of verse, "Ode on a Grecian Urn Summarized", that is included in the New Oxford Book of Light Verse:[3]
- Gods chase
- Round vase.
- What say?
- What play?
- Don't know.
- Nice, though.
He was, apparently, the Creative Director at a major London advertising agency, Masius Wynne-Williams, when he died prematurely at age 52 or 53.
Novels
- The Case of the Silver Egg — The Bodley Head, London, 1966; Doubleday, New York, 1968, ISBN 9990371512; children's or young adult book
- It Won't Get You Anywhere — The Bodley Head, London, 1966; Lippincott, New York, 1966, ISBN 0552079111; John Brock novel
- I Was Following This Girl — The Bodley Head, London, 1967; Doubleday, New York, 1966, ISBN 0552081159; John Brock novel
- I'm Trying to Give It Up — The Bodley Head, London, 1968; Doubleday, New York, 1969, ISBN 0370006445; John Brock novel
- Poor Quail — The Bodley Head, London, 1969, ISBN 0370014049; humorous novel
References
- ↑ Crime Fiction 1749-1980: A Comprehensive Bibliography, by Allen J. Hubin, Garland Publishing, New York, 1984, page 370
- ↑ All critical quotations from the back dust jacket of I'm Trying to Give It up, The Bodley Head, London, 1968
- ↑ New Oxford Book of Light Verse, edited by Kingsley Amis, Oxford University Press, 1987