Duncan Fallowell
Encyclopedia
Duncan Fallowell is a novelist, travel writer and cultural commentator. Born in London in 1948, he graduated from Oxford in 1970, and at the age of 21 was given a rock column in the Spectator
. He was subsequently the magazine's film critic and fiction critic. During the 1970s he travelled extensively in Europe, India and the Far East, collaborated on the punk glossies Deluxe and Boulevard, and worked with the avant-garde German group Can
.
In 1979 he edited a collection of short stories, Drug Tales, and in 1982 published his first book, April Ashley's Odyssey, the biography of a trans-sexual. This was followed by two novels, Satyrday (1986) and The Underbelly (1987). During the 1980s he spent much of his time in the south of France and Sicily, celebrated in the travel book To Noto (1989). His second travel book, One Hot Summer in St Petersburg (1994) was the outcome of an exhilarating but difficult period living in Russia's imperial city.
In the March 2008 edition of Prospect
magazine, Fallowell admitted to being offered the role of lead singer in Can, after the departure of Damo Suzuki
in 1973. After a "long dark night of the soul", he decided to turn the invitation down. http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?id=10077 It was while living in St Petersburg that he wrote the first draft of the libretto for the opera Gormenghast, inspired by Mervyn Peake
’s trilogy. With music composed by Irmin Schmidt
, this was first staged in 1998 at the Wuppertal Opera House (Germany) which had commissioned it. Schmidt was a member of Can and Fallowell had already written the lyrics to two albums of his songs, Musk at Dusk (1987) and Impossible Holidays (1991).
A third novel, A History of Facelifting (2003),is set in the English countryside and was described by the poet and academic John Fuller as 'a classic of English eccentricity'. A third travel book, Going As Far As I Can (2008), recounted his wanderings through New Zealand - it was controversial but widely admired. He is currently working on two more novels.
Graham Greene
did not like his first novel but thought it belonged to the 21st century. William S. Burroughs
relished his books and Camille Paglia
has described them as ‘mordant, energetic and outrageous’. Jonathan Keates has called Fallowell 'Sebald with laughs,' and Roger Lewis in a recent book dubbed him 'the modern Petronius.' http://www.amazon.co.uk/Going-Far-Can-Duncan-Fallowell/dp/product-description/1846681251 His work is strikingly contemporary for the way it deals with ambivalence and bisexuality.
Fallowell's journalism includes interviews, reviews and essays on a broad range of cultural matters, and he contributes regularly to the intellectual monthly Prospect. He has had columns in the Evening Standard and on the internet magazine The First Post. A collection of interview-profiles, Twentieth Century Characters, was published in 1994. A second collection of profiles and commentaries, Platinum Peepshow, on the subject of art, fashion and entertainment, is in preparation. Fallowell lives in a book-lined flat London, wants a country retreat, and is planning a book on Brazil. How To Disappear: A Memoir For Misfits was published in September 2011 in a ground-breaking format by Ditto Press.
The Spectator
The Spectator is a weekly British magazine first published on 6 July 1828. It is currently owned by David and Frederick Barclay, who also owns The Daily Telegraph. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture...
. He was subsequently the magazine's film critic and fiction critic. During the 1970s he travelled extensively in Europe, India and the Far East, collaborated on the punk glossies Deluxe and Boulevard, and worked with the avant-garde German group Can
Can
Can may refer to:-Container:* Aluminum can* Steel can, an airtight tinplate container for storing food and other predominantly liquid products* Beverage can, a can designed to hold a single serving of a beverage* Oil can...
.
In 1979 he edited a collection of short stories, Drug Tales, and in 1982 published his first book, April Ashley's Odyssey, the biography of a trans-sexual. This was followed by two novels, Satyrday (1986) and The Underbelly (1987). During the 1980s he spent much of his time in the south of France and Sicily, celebrated in the travel book To Noto (1989). His second travel book, One Hot Summer in St Petersburg (1994) was the outcome of an exhilarating but difficult period living in Russia's imperial city.
In the March 2008 edition of Prospect
Prospect (magazine)
Prospect is a monthly British general interest magazine, specialising in politics and current affairs. Frequent topics include British, European, and US politics, social issues, art, literature, cinema, science, the media, history, philosophy, and psychology...
magazine, Fallowell admitted to being offered the role of lead singer in Can, after the departure of Damo Suzuki
Damo Suzuki
, universally known as Damo Suzuki , is a singer best known for his membership in the German krautrock group Can.-Biography:As a teenager, Suzuki spent the late 1960s wandering around Europe, often busking....
in 1973. After a "long dark night of the soul", he decided to turn the invitation down. http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/article_details.php?id=10077 It was while living in St Petersburg that he wrote the first draft of the libretto for the opera Gormenghast, inspired by Mervyn Peake
Mervyn Peake
Mervyn Laurence Peake was an English writer, artist, poet and illustrator. He is best known for what are usually referred to as the Gormenghast books. They are sometimes compared to the work of his older contemporary J. R. R...
’s trilogy. With music composed by Irmin Schmidt
Irmin Schmidt
Irmin Schmidt is a German keyboard player and composer, probably best known as a founding member of the band Can.-Biography:...
, this was first staged in 1998 at the Wuppertal Opera House (Germany) which had commissioned it. Schmidt was a member of Can and Fallowell had already written the lyrics to two albums of his songs, Musk at Dusk (1987) and Impossible Holidays (1991).
A third novel, A History of Facelifting (2003),is set in the English countryside and was described by the poet and academic John Fuller as 'a classic of English eccentricity'. A third travel book, Going As Far As I Can (2008), recounted his wanderings through New Zealand - it was controversial but widely admired. He is currently working on two more novels.
Graham Greene
Graham Greene
Henry Graham Greene, OM, CH was an English author, playwright and literary critic. His works explore the ambivalent moral and political issues of the modern world...
did not like his first novel but thought it belonged to the 21st century. William S. Burroughs
William S. Burroughs
William Seward Burroughs II was an American novelist, poet, essayist and spoken word performer. A primary figure of the Beat Generation and a major postmodernist author, he is considered to be "one of the most politically trenchant, culturally influential, and innovative artists of the 20th...
relished his books and Camille Paglia
Camille Paglia
Camille Anna Paglia , is an American author, teacher, and social critic. Paglia, a self-described dissident feminist, has been a Professor at The University of the Arts in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania since 1984...
has described them as ‘mordant, energetic and outrageous’. Jonathan Keates has called Fallowell 'Sebald with laughs,' and Roger Lewis in a recent book dubbed him 'the modern Petronius.' http://www.amazon.co.uk/Going-Far-Can-Duncan-Fallowell/dp/product-description/1846681251 His work is strikingly contemporary for the way it deals with ambivalence and bisexuality.
Fallowell's journalism includes interviews, reviews and essays on a broad range of cultural matters, and he contributes regularly to the intellectual monthly Prospect. He has had columns in the Evening Standard and on the internet magazine The First Post. A collection of interview-profiles, Twentieth Century Characters, was published in 1994. A second collection of profiles and commentaries, Platinum Peepshow, on the subject of art, fashion and entertainment, is in preparation. Fallowell lives in a book-lined flat London, wants a country retreat, and is planning a book on Brazil. How To Disappear: A Memoir For Misfits was published in September 2011 in a ground-breaking format by Ditto Press.