About the Author: Jasper Fforde traded a varied career in the film industry for staring vacantly out of the window and arranging words on a page.

Fforde was born in London on 11 January 1961. His father was John Standish Fforde, the 24th Chief Cashier for the Bank of England (whose signature used to appear on sterling banknotes). He is the cousin of the author Katie Fforde.

Fforde was educated at the progressive Dartington Hall School, and his early career was spent as a focus puller in the film industry, where he worked on a number of films, including Quills, GoldenEye, and Entrapment.

Awards: Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize for Comic Writing Best Novel winner (2004) : The Well of Lost Plots
British Fantasy Society Best Novel nominee (2005) : Something Rotten