D.J. Taylor

D.J. Taylor was born in 1960, went to Norwich School and St John's College, Oxford, and is the author of two acclaimed biographies, Thackerary (1999), and Orwell: The Life, which won the Whitbread Biography Prize in 2003. He has written nine novels, the most recent being Derby Day (2011), At the Chime of a City Clock (2010), Ask Alice (2009) and Kept: A Victorian Mystery (2006).

From his Q & A at the Independent:

Choose a favourite author, and say why you admire her/him

John Cheever. I'm convinced that the creators of 'Mad Men' – which I think is absolutely brilliant – have been reading Cheever. You could draw a Venn diagram to connect them.

* * *
Which fictional character most resembles you?

Any one of the embittered hacks in 'New Grub Street', George Gissing's astringent vision of the late-Victorian literary marketplace.

* * *
Who is your hero/heroine from outside literature?

In public life it is the Labour MP Frank Field, for his maverick qualities. He has undeviatingly followed his own moral line.

Read the complete Q & A.

Learn about the book that changed D.J. Taylor's life.

Visit D.J. Taylor's website and blog.

--Marshal Zeringue