John O'Farrell

Infobox Writer


imagesize = 150px
name = John O'Farrell
caption =
pseudonym =
birthdate = Birth date and age|1962|3|27
birthplace = Abingdon, England
deathdate =
deathplace =
occupation = Writer, Editor
nationality = British
period = 1986-present
genre = Fiction, Non-fiction
subject =
movement =
debut_works = Things Can Only Get Better: Eighteen Miserable Years in the Life of a Labour Supporter, 1979-1997
influences =
influenced =


website =
footnotes =

John O'Farrell (born March 27 1962) is a British author, broadcaster and comedy script writer.

Career

His debut book - "Things Can Only Get Better: Eighteen Miserable Years in the Life of a Labour Supporter" - was a factual account of his (torrid) time supporting Labour during their wilderness years, and became a number one bestseller. "The Best a Man Can Get", "This Is Your Life" and "May Contain Nuts" are comic and satirical novels. They have been translated into around twenty languages. His latest book, "An Utterly Impartial History Of Britain - Or 2000 Years of Upper Class Idiots in Charge", has been serialised on BBC Radio 4 while his last novel, "May Contain Nuts", was recently filmed as a two part drama for ITV.

"Global Village Idiot", "I Blame the Scapegoats" and "I Have A Bream" are collections of his pieces for "The Independent" and "The Guardian". O'Farrell's column, which he wrote from 1999 to 2005, usually took a humorous or satirical look at a major event in British or world politics of the previous week. His views are somewhat left-of-centre and, though a member of the Labour Party, O'Farrell has been a consistent critic of his party's policy in Iraq.

O'Farrell previously wrote for comedy television and radio shows with co-writer Mark Burton. Early roles include many years writing for "Spitting Image" (where he is credited for having had the idea of making John Major entirely grey) and the non-spontaneous parts of "Have I Got News For You", later becoming a guest himself. He co-wrote many of the "Head to Heads" for "Alas Smith and Jones", worked on "Murder Most Horrid", and is also credited for additional material in the Nick Park comedy "Chicken Run". Less successfully, he co-wrote the BBC1 sitcom "The Peter Principle". He has also been employed by the then Chancellor Gordon Brown and Prime Minister Tony Blair on occasion as a joke writer. As a result, O'Farrell was lampooned in "Private Eye" - edited by O'Farrell's former colleague, Ian Hislop. In his last article for "The Guardian" he wondered whether his familiarity with the top members of the Labour Party had made him less satirical [http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Column/0,,1534727,00.html] .

O'Farrell is still politically active, having successfully campaigned for a new state secondary school in his part of South London, Lambeth Academy, where he is now chair of governors. He stood as a no-hope Labour candidate in the 2001 general election in his home town of Maidenhead, which was the subject of the BBC documentary "Losing My Maidenhead". During the 2005 general election his comic emails to Labour Party members raised hundreds of thousands of pounds. O'Farrell insists he has no serious political ambitions and that he will not be standing anywhere again. He regularly appears on British television on such programmes as "Grumpy Old Men", "Question Time" and "Have I Got News For You".

In September 2006, O'Farrell launched the news satire website NewsBiscuit to create a new outlet for British comedy on the internet. The site also develops new writing using a submissions board where readers can rate each other's material and suggest rewrites or edits.

He recently recorded the pilot for his new BBC Radio comedy, also entitled NewsBiscuit, based at a radio station in the Isle of Wight. The news stories featured are similar to those on NewsBiscuit.com.

During the recording, O'Farrell said that the programme was an opportunity for new writers and actors to gain experience. It stars Anna Crilly, best known for her role as Magda, the housekeeper, in Jack Dee's "Lead Balloon". O'Farrell is married with two children. He and his family live in Clapham in South London.

Bibliography

Novels

*"May Contain Nuts" (May 2, 2005) (2005, Doubleday, ISBN 0-385-60608-7)
*"This Is Your Life" (2002) (2004, Grove Press, ISBN 0-8021-4134-X) (2003, Black Swan, ISBN 0-552-99849-4) (2002, Doubleday, ISBN 0-385-60098-4)
*"The Best a Man Can Get" (2000) (2002, Broadway Books, ISBN 0-7679-0714-0) (2001, Black Swan, ISBN 0-552-99844-3) (2001, Broadway Books, ISBN 0-7679-0713-2) (2000, Doubleday, ISBN 0-385-60084-4)

Non Fiction

*"An Utterly Impartial History of Britain - Or 2000 Years of Upper Class Idiots In Charge" (October 22 2007) (2007, Doubleday, ISBN 9780385611985)
*"I Have A Bream" (February 2007) (2007, Doubleday, ISBN 0-385-61088-2)
*"I Blame the Scapegoats" (2003) (2004, Black Swan, ISBN 0-552-77194-5) (2003, Doubleday, ISBN 0-385-60674-5)
*"Global Village Idiot" (2001) (2004, Grove Press, ISBN 0-8021-4038-6) (2002, Corgi, ISBN 0-552-99964-4) (2001, Doubleday, ISBN 0-385-60293-6)
*"Things Can Only Get Better: Eighteen Miserable Years in the Life of a Labour Supporter, 1979-1997" (1998) (1998, Doubleday, ISBN 0-385-41059-X) (1999, Black Swan, ISBN 0-552-99803-6)

External links

* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/Columnists/Archive/0,5673,-461,00.html Archive of O'Farrell's columns in the Guardian]
* [http://www.apwatt.co.uk/ O'Farrell literary agent]
* [http://reply-new.labour.org.uk/go.asp?/bLAB001/mSTMGG1 O'Farrell's fundraising election message]
* [http://www.booksattransworld.co.uk/catalog/interview.htm?command=search&db=twmain.txt&eqisbndata=0385606087 Interview with John O'Farrell]
* [http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7003243.stm BBC Online Magazine Article]
* [http://www.newsbiscuit.com/ NewsBiscuit]
* [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4158/is_20001217/ai_n14363457 'How we Met' - Clive Anderson & John O'Farrell]