Tom Sharpe (Thomas Ridley Sharpe, born 30 March 1928) is an English satirical author, born in London and educated at Elmhurst School for Boys, Lancing College and Pembroke College, Cambridge. After conscription to National Service in the Royal Marines he moved to South Africa in 1951, doing social work and teaching in Natal, until deported in 1961.
His work in South Africa inspired the novels Riotous Assembly and Indecent Exposure. From 1963 until 1972 he was a History lecturer at the Cambridge College of Arts and Technology, which inspired his "Wilt" series Wilt, The Wilt Alternative, Wilt on High and Wilt in Nowhere.
His novels feature bitter and outrageous satire of the apartheid regime (Riotous Assembly and its sequel Indecent Exposure), "dumbed-" or watered-down education (the Wilt series), English class snobbery (Ancestral Vices, Porterhouse Blue, Grantchester Grind), the literary world (The Great Pursuit), political extremists of all stripes, political correctness, bureaucracy and stupidity in general. Characters may indulge in bizarre sexual practices, and coarser characters use very graphic and/or profane language in dialogue. Sharpe often parodies the language and style of specific authors commonly associated with the social group held up for ridicule. Sharpe's bestselling books have been translated into many languages. He has lived since 1995 at Llafranc, a small town on the Costa Brava.
Screen adaptations
Blott on the Landscape was adapted as a 6-part BBC television series in 1985, starring Geraldine James, George Cole, and David Suchet as Blott. The script was by Malcolm Bradbury and the director was Roger Bamford.
Bradbury also adapted Porterhouse Blue in four episodes in 1987, this time for Channel 4, starring David Jason, Ian Richardson, Griff Rhys Jones and John Sessions, directed by Robert Knights.
A film of Wilt was made in 1989, scripted by Andrew Marshall and David Renwick and starring Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones with Alison Steadman and Diana Quick. The director was Michael Tuchner.
Bibliography
- Riotous Assembly (1971)
- Indecent Exposure (1973)
- Porterhouse Blue (1974)
- Blott on the Landscape (1975)
- Wilt (1976)
- The Great Pursuit (1977)
- The Throwback (1978)
- The Wilt Alternative (1979)
- Ancestral Vices (1980)
- Vintage Stuff (1983)
- Wilt on High (1985)
- Grantchester Grind (1995)
- The Midden (1996)
- Wilt Omnibus (1996) - a collection of the first three Wilt novels sometimes known as "Wilt in Triplicate"
- Wilt in Nowhere (2004)
- The Gropes (2009)
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