A Fool's Alphabet
 First edition | |
| Author | Sebastian Faulks |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Published | 1992 (Hutchinson) |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 288 pp |
| ISBN | 0-09-177299-0 |
| OCLC | 26300769 |
| 823/.914 20 | |
| LC Class | PR6056.A89 F66 1992 |
A Fool's Alphabet is a 1992 novel by author Sebastian Faulks, telling the story of photographer Pietro Russell, born in 1950 to a British soldier and his Italian wife, in twenty-six alphabetical chapters.
It is Faulks's second novel and his most experimental.[1] It is unusual for being composed of chapters named after places associated with the character but arranged alphabetically rather than chronologically.[2] The title is taken from the joke alphabet that begins "A for 'orses, B for mutton".[3]
The chapters and locations are as follows:
- Anzio, Italy, 1944
- Backley, Berkshire, England, 1950
- Colombo, Sri Lanka, 1980
- Dorking, Surrey, England, 1963
- Evanston, Illinois, USA, 1985
- Fulham, London, England, 1964
- Ghent, Belgium, 1981
- Houches, Les, France, 1967
- Ibiza, Balearic Islands, 1966
- Jerusalem, Israel, 1982
- Kowloon, Hong Kong, 1980
- Lyndonville, Vermont, USA, 1971
- Mons, Belgium, 1914
- New York, USA, 1983
- Oxford, England, 1976
- Paris, France, 1979
- Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, 1974
- Rome, Italy, 1978
- Sorrento, Italy, 1958
- Terminal 5, Heathrow Airport, England, 1988
- Uzès, France, 1987
- Vladimirci, Yugoslavia, 1986
- Watsonville, California, USA, 1974
- Xianyang, China
- Yarmouth, England, 1991
- Zanica, Italy, 1970
References
[edit]- ^ Rennison, Nick (2004). Contemporary British Novelists. Taylor & Francis. p. 53. ISBN 9781134604708.
- ^ "A FOOL'S ALPHABET". Kirkus Reviews. 19 May 2010.
- ^ Gaisford, Sue (15 July 1992). "BOOK REVIEW / Around the world with letters of introduction: A Fool's Alphabet - Sebastian Faulks". The Independent. Retrieved 21 July 2025.
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