Alan Bennett
Yorkshire playwright, diarist and raconteur who openly detests his oft-applied sobriquet of "national treasure"...
Born in 1934, the son of a Leeds butcher, Alan Bennett gained a scholarship to Oxford and prepared himself for a career as a medieval historian. However, Bennett soon discovered that he had thespian tendencies and became increasingly active in local stage productions and revues. Bennett achieved fame and notoriety in 1960 when he appeared in Beyond the Fringe with Peter Cook, Dudley Moore and Jonathan Miller. Throughout the 1960s Bennett continued to write for (and occasionally appear in) satirical sketch-based shows, but his real passion was drama and during the 1970s he made a name for himself as a playwright.
Bennett's wistful, melancholy style and fine ear for the nuances of Northern, working-class speech have transformed him from an enfant terrible into a national treasure ( a sobriquet he detests) and when he published his diaries in the mid-nineties, they topped the bestseller lists. He followed up with another set of diaries in 2005, which proved equally popular, and in Autumn 2006, a successful adaptation of his play, The History Boys, was released as a film. Bennett's work also adapts exceptionally well to the audiobook format, and he is perhaps the single most successful British writer and performer in that format.
Fact file
Name: Alan Bennett
Date of birth: 1934
Place of birth: Leeds
Current Home: Camden, London
Education: St Catherine's College, Oxford
Similar Authors: Bernard MacLaverty, Alan Sillitoe, Melvyn Bragg
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The Uncommon Reader
(Hardback)
The Uncommon Reader is none other than HM the Queen who drifts accidentally into reading when her corgis stray into a mobile library parked at Buckingham Palace. She reads widely (J. R. Ackerley, Jean Genet, Ivy Compton Burnett, and the...
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Untold Stories (Paperback)
by Alan Bennett
| Format: | Paperback 672 pages |
|---|---|
| Published: | 07/09/2006 |
| Publisher: | Faber and Faber |
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Untold Stories: Stories Pt. 1 (Audio CD)
by Alan Bennett
| Format: | Audio CD |
|---|---|
| Published: | 10/10/2005 |
| Publisher: | BBC Audiobooks Ltd |
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"Untold Stories", Alan Bennett's first major collection of prose since his bestselling "Writing Home", brings together the... Read more
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The Uncommon Reader (Hardback)
by Alan Bennett
| Format: | Hardback 160 pages |
|---|---|
| Published: | 06/09/2007 |
| Publisher: | Profile Books Ltd |
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The Uncommon Reader is none other than HM the Queen who drifts accidentally into reading when her corgis stray into a mobile library parked at... Read more
£10.99
The History Boys (Audio CD)
by Alan Bennett
| Format: | Audio CD |
|---|---|
| Published: | 03/04/2006 |
| Publisher: | BBC Audiobooks Ltd |
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Alan Bennett's new, award-winning play as heard on BBC Radio 3 features the National Theatre cast. After a sell-out national tour and an... Read more
£13.25
Four Stories (Paperback)
by Alan Bennett
| Format: | Paperback 240 pages |
|---|---|
| Published: | 07/09/2006 |
| Publisher: | Profile Books Ltd |
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Here are Alan Bennett's four hugely admired, triumphantly reviewed and bestselling stories, brought together in one book for the first time.... Read more
RRP £8.99
£6.39
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Three Stories (Paperback)
by Alan Bennett
| Format: | Paperback 240 pages |
|---|---|
| Published: | 28/08/2003 |
| Publisher: | Profile Books Ltd |
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Here are Alan Bennett's hugely admired, triumphantly reviewed and bestselling novellas, brought together in one book for the first time: Father!... Read more
Writing Home (Paperback)
by Alan Bennett
| Format: | Paperback 656 pages |
|---|---|
| Published: | 07/09/2006 |
| Publisher: | Faber and Faber |
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This book brings together Alan Bennett's diaries for 1980-1995, with reminiscences and reviews, the diary he kept during the production of his... Read more
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The History Boys (Paperback)
by Alan Bennett
| Format: | Paperback 144 pages |
|---|---|
| Published: | 17/06/2004 |
| Publisher: | Faber and Faber |
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An unruly bunch of bright, funny sixth-form boys in pursuit of sex, sport and a place at university. A maverick English teacher at odds with the... Read more
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Alan Bennett, Untold Stories: Written on the Body Pt. 3 (Audio CD)
by Alan Bennett
| Format: | Audio CD |
|---|---|
| Published: | 04/09/2006 |
| Publisher: | BBC Audiobooks Ltd |
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Usually despatched in 2-3 weeks
Alan Bennett reads five more extracts from "Untold Stories", his major collection of new writings. "Untold Stories", Alan... Read more
£13.25
Alan Bennett, Single Spies (Audio CD)
by Alan Bennett
| Format: | Audio CD |
|---|---|
| Published: | 04/09/2006 |
| Publisher: | BBC Audiobooks Ltd |
Not available online. Check availability in branch
This is a critically-acclaimed double bill of Alan Bennett plays, originally performed at the National Theatre and adapted for BBC Radio 4. "An... Read more
Clothes They Stood Up in (Paperback)
by Alan Bennett
| Format: | Paperback 112 pages |
|---|---|
| Published: | 06/07/1998 |
| Publisher: | Profile Books Ltd |
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When an elderly couple are burgled, the only possessions they are left with are the clothes they stand u p in. In Alan Bennett''s immensely... Read more
Alan Bennett, Untold Stories: Common Assault Pt. 4 (Audio CD)
by Alan Bennett
| Format: | Audio CD |
|---|---|
| Published: | 04/09/2006 |
| Publisher: | BBC Audiobooks Ltd |
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Usually despatched in 2-4 weeks
Alan Bennett reads three further chapters from Untold Stories, his major collection of new writings. "Untold Stories", Alan Bennett's... Read more
£13.25
The Lady in the Van (Paperback)
by Alan Bennett
| Format: | Paperback 96 pages |
|---|---|
| Published: | 18/03/1999 |
| Publisher: | Profile Books Ltd |
10+ in stock
Usually despatched within 48 hours
Alan Bennett is the author of "Writing Home", "The Madness of George III", "Talking Heads", "The Clothes They... Read more
£4.99
Telling Tales (Audio CD)
| Format: | Audio CD |
|---|---|
| Published: | 06/11/2000 |
| Publisher: | BBC Audiobooks Ltd |
Available to order
Usually despatched in 2-4 weeks
This book features ten childhood snapshots from the master of the monologue such as: "A Strip Of Blue", "Proper Names",... Read more
£13.25
Untold Stories: Diaries Pt. 2 (Audio CD)
by Alan Bennett
| Format: | Audio CD |
|---|---|
| Published: | 10/10/2005 |
| Publisher: | BBC Audiobooks Ltd |
Available to order
Usually despatched in 2-4 weeks
"Untold Stories", Alan Bennett's first major collection of prose since his bestselling "Writing Home", brings together the... Read more
£13.25
Telling Tales (Paperback)
by Alan Bennett
| Format: | Paperback 95 pages |
|---|---|
| Published: | 06/09/2001 |
| Publisher: | BBC Books |
Out of stock
Publication abandoned
Ten childhood snapshots from the master of the monologue. Alan Bennett recalls his childhood in a sequence of talks that are funny, touching and... Read more
Talking Heads (Paperback)
by Alan Bennett
| Format: | Paperback 96 pages |
|---|---|
| Published: | 24/03/1988 |
| Publisher: | BBC Books |
Not available online. Check availability in branch
This is a series of six monologues written for television, each in its own way reflecting Alan Bennett's marvelously observant view of the... Read more
The History Boys (Hardback)
by Alan Bennett
| Format: | Hardback 144 pages |
|---|---|
| Published: | 05/10/2006 |
| Publisher: | Faber and Faber |
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Usually despatched in 3-5 days
An unruly bunch of bright, funny sixth-form boys in pursuit of sex, sport and a place at university. A maverick English teacher at odds with the... Read more
RRP £12.99
£10.39
You save: £2.60
Talking Heads: No. 1 - BBC Radio Collection (Audio CD)
| Format: | Audio CD |
|---|---|
| Published: | 03/10/2005 |
| Publisher: | BBC Audiobooks Ltd |
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Usually despatched in 2-4 weeks
This title features: "A Chip in the Sugar" with Alan Bennett, "A Lady of Letters" with Patricia Routledge, "Bed Among the... Read more
£16.34
The Complete "Talking Heads" (Paperback)
by Alan Bennett
| Format: | Paperback 208 pages |
|---|---|
| Published: | 06/09/2001 |
| Publisher: | BBC Books |
Not available online. Check availability in branch
The contains the first series of six "Talking Heads" monologues, written for BBC television in 1987, as well as the second series written... Read more
Forty Years on: AND A Woman of No Importance (Audio CD)
by Alan Bennett
| Format: | Audio CD |
|---|---|
| Published: | 02/06/2003 |
| Publisher: | BBC Audiobooks Ltd |
Not available online. Check availability in branch
This version of Alan Bennett's popular stage play, starring Sir John Gielgud, Alan Bennett and Paul Eddington, is paired with one of his famous... Read more
The History Boys (Hardback)
by Alan Bennett
| Format: | Hardback 96 pages |
|---|---|
| Published: | 17/06/2004 |
| Publisher: | Faber and Faber |
Not available online. Check availability in branch
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An unruly bunch of bright, funny sixth-form boys in pursuit of sex, sport and a place at university. A maverick English teacher at odds with the... Read more
Telling Tales
| Format: | Audio cassette |
|---|---|
| Published: | 06/11/2000 |
| Publisher: | BBC Audiobooks |
Not available online. Check availability in branch
Alan Bennett recalls his childhood in a sequence of ten talks. He relives family crises, early pieties and the last of a tradition of musical... Read more
Untold Stories - The Diaries
by Alan Bennett
| Format: | Audio cassette |
|---|---|
| Published: | 10/10/2005 |
| Publisher: | BBC Audiobooks Ltd |
Not available online. Check availability in branch
"Untold Stories", Alan Bennett's first major collection of prose since his bestselling "Writing Home", brings together the... Read more
The Lady in the Van - BBC Radio Collection (Audio CD)
| Format: | Audio CD |
|---|---|
| Published: | 06/08/2001 |
| Publisher: | BBC Audiobooks Ltd |
Not available online. Check availability in branch
The humorous and moving tale of Miss Shepherd, an eccentric old lady who, by a bizarre series of twists and turns, lived in the author's garden... Read more
Alan Bennett at the BBC (Audio CD)
by Alan Bennett
| Format: | Audio CD |
|---|---|
| Published: | 04/08/2003 |
| Publisher: | BBC Audiobooks Ltd |
Not available online. Check availability in branch
This is a unique anthology of Alan Bennett's radio and television work featuring extracts from his diaries and readings, tributes to friends... Read more
Writing Home (Paperback)
by Alan Bennett
| Format: | Paperback 482 pages |
|---|---|
| Published: | 06/07/1998 |
| Publisher: | Faber and Faber |
Not available online. Check availability in branch
Autobiographical and idiosyncratic, this is a collection of Alan Bennett's prose writings, assembled by Bennett himself from over a quarter of a... Read more
