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{{short description|British cult novelist}} |
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'''Kyril Bonfiglioli''' (born '''Cyril Emmanuel George Bonfiglioli'''; 29 May 1928 – 3 March 1985) was |
'''Kyril Bonfiglioli''' (born '''Cyril Emmanuel George Bonfiglioli'''; 29 May 1928 – 3 March 1985) was a British art dealer, magazine editor and comic novelist. His eccentric and witty ''[[Mortdecai]]'' novels have gained a following since his death. |
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==Biography== |
==Biography== |
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Bonfiglioli was born in [[Eastbourne]] on the south coast of England to an Italo-Slovene father, Emmanuel Bonfiglioli, and English mother, Dorothy née Pallett. Having served in the British Army from 1947 to 1954, and |
Bonfiglioli was born in [[Eastbourne]] on the south coast of England to an Italo-Slovene father, Emmanuel Bonfiglioli, and an English mother, Dorothy née Pallett. His mother and brother died in an air raid when he was 14. Having served in the British Army from 1947 to 1954, and being widowed, he applied to [[Balliol College, Oxford]], where he took his degree. After his divorce from his second wife, he lived in [[Silverdale, Lancashire|Silverdale]] in [[Lancashire]], then in [[Jersey]] and Ireland. With Keith Roberts, he edited ''[[Science Fantasy (magazine)|Science Fantasy]]'' magazine for a period from 1964 to 1966, appointed by David Warburton of Roberts and Vinter Ltd.; and the successor ''Impulse'' for its first few issues in 1966 before handing the reins to [[Harry Harrison (writer)|Harry Harrison]]. He died in Jersey of [[cirrhosis]] in 1985, having had five children.<ref name=Carey>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2004/09/20/040920crat_atlarge |title=The Genuine Article: the strange case of Kyril Bonfiglioli|magazine=The New Yorker |date=20 September 2004|last=Carey|first=Leo| access-date=25 October 2018}}</ref><ref name="Times">[https://web.archive.org/web/20140709142135/http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/culture/books/non_fiction/article1426514.ece "Don’t Point That Thing at Me by Kyril Bonfiglioli"]. ''The Sunday Times''. Retrieved 17 October 2014.</ref> |
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He described himself as "an accomplished fencer, a fair shot with most weapons and a serial marrier of beautiful women ... abstemious in all things except drink, food, tobacco and talking ... and loved and respected by all who knew him slightly."<ref>Bonfiglioli, Kyril. "After you with the Pistol", Penguin Books, 2014 edition, p. i (first page, publishers preface).</ref> |
He described himself as "an accomplished fencer, a fair shot with most weapons and a serial marrier of beautiful women ... abstemious in all things except drink, food, tobacco and talking ... and loved and respected by all who knew him slightly."<ref name=Carey/><ref>Bonfiglioli, Kyril. "After you with the Pistol", Penguin Books, 2014 edition, p. i (first page, publishers preface).</ref> |
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==Charlie Mortdecai novels== |
==Charlie Mortdecai novels== |
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{{Main|Mortdecai}} |
{{Main|Mortdecai}} |
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Bonfiglioli wrote four books featuring Charlie Mortdecai, three of which were published in his lifetime, and one posthumously as completed by the satirist and |
Bonfiglioli wrote four books featuring Charlie Mortdecai, three of which were published in his lifetime, and one posthumously as completed by the satirist and parodist [[Craig Brown (satirist)|Craig Brown]]. Charlie Mortdecai is the fictional art dealer [[anti-hero]] of the series. His character resembles, among other things, an amoral [[Bertie Wooster]] with occasional [[psychopath]]ic tendencies. His [[Mortdecai]] comic-thriller trilogy received critical plaudits back in the 1970s and early 1980s. The dry satire and black humour of the books were favourably reviewed by ''[[The New Yorker]]'' and others. The books are still in print and have been translated into several languages. The books "attract a devoted cult following and are consistently praised by a wide variety of publications",<ref name="meslow">{{cite news |last1=Meslow |first1=Scott |title=Anatomy of a flop: How a horribly misguided movie like Mortdecai made it into theaters |url=https://theweek.com/articles/535868/anatomy-flop-how-horribly-misguided-movie-like-mortdecai-made-into-theaters |access-date=30 May 2024 |work=The Week |date=27 January 2015 |language=en}}</ref> although a writer in ''[[The Paris Review]]'' said that "readers are pretty much evenly divided between those who relish the books' unflinching, un-PC meanness, and those who are appalled".<ref name="stein">{{cite news |last1=Stein |first1=Sadie |title=Something Nasty |url=https://www.theparisreview.org/blog/2015/01/20/something-nasty/ |access-date=30 May 2024 |work=The Paris Review |date=20 January 2015 |language=en}}</ref> |
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''Don't Point That Thing At Me'' was awarded the 1973 [[CWA New Blood Dagger]] for the best crime novel by a hitherto unpublished writer. |
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| ⚫ | Actors [[Stephen Fry]] and [[Hugh Laurie]] are among those who are fans of his work.<ref name="Times"/> Hugh Laurie praised "the excellent Kyril Bonfigliolo" [sic] in the afternotes of his book ''[[The Gun Seller]]''.<ref>Hugh Laurie, [https://books.google.com/books?id=8DJq3GXqGP8C&pg=PA348 ''The Gunseller''], Washington Square Press, 1996, p. 345.</ref> |
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The three original books, published out of chronological order: |
The three original books, published out of chronological order: |
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* ''Don't Point That Thing At Me'' ([[Weidenfeld and Nicolson]], 1972), Book One |
* ''Don't Point That Thing At Me'' ([[Weidenfeld and Nicolson]], 1972), Book One |
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::Reissued (Penguin, 2015 ISBN |
::Reissued (Penguin, 2015 {{ISBN|978-0-241-97267-0}}) as film tie-in under title ''Mortdecai'' |
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* ''After You With The Pistol'' ([[Secker and Warburg]], 1979), Book Two |
* ''After You With The Pistol'' ([[Secker and Warburg]], 1979), Book Two |
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* ''Something Nasty In The Woodshed'' (Macmillan, 1976), Book Three |
* ''Something Nasty In The Woodshed'' (Macmillan, 1976), Book Three |
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* ''The Great Mortdecai Moustache Mystery'' completed by [[Craig Brown (satirist)|Craig Brown]] ([[Black Spring Press]], 1999) |
* ''The Great Mortdecai Moustache Mystery'' completed by [[Craig Brown (satirist)|Craig Brown]] ([[Black Spring Press]], 1999) |
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Bonfiglioli's second wife Margaret wrote and compiled a posthumous anthology of works and anecdotes, called ''The Mortdecai ABC'' (London: Penguin / Viking, 2001), ISBN |
Bonfiglioli's second wife Margaret wrote and compiled a posthumous anthology of works and anecdotes, called ''The Mortdecai ABC'' (London: Penguin / Viking, 2001), {{ISBN|0-670-91084-8}}. |
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===2015 film=== |
===2015 film=== |
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{{Main|Mortdecai (film)}} |
{{Main|Mortdecai (film)}} |
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''[[Mortdecai (film)|Mortdecai]]'', a film based on the books directed by [[David Koepp]] and starring [[Johnny Depp]] in the title role, was released in January 2015. The film was a [[box office bomb]], and received overwhelmingly negative reviews.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/25/mortdecai-box-office-flop_n_6542100.html |title='Mortdecai' Is One Of Johnny Depp's Worst Flops Ever |publisher=Huffingtonpost.com |date=2015-01-25 |accessdate=2015-06-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Stephanie Garcia |url= |
''[[Mortdecai (film)|Mortdecai]]'', a film based on the books directed by [[David Koepp]] and starring [[Johnny Depp]] in the title role, was released in January 2015. The film was a [[box office bomb]], and received overwhelmingly negative reviews.<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/01/25/mortdecai-box-office-flop_n_6542100.html |title='Mortdecai' Is One Of Johnny Depp's Worst Flops Ever |publisher=Huffingtonpost.com |date=2015-01-25 |accessdate=2015-06-12}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=Stephanie Garcia |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/films/news/mortdecai-becomes-johnny-depps-fifth-consecutive-box-office-bomb-10003543.html |title=Mortdecai becomes Johnny Depp's fifth consecutive movie to flop at the box office - News - Films |work=[[The Independent]] |date=2015-01-26 |accessdate=2015-06-12 |location=London}}</ref> The [[Rotten Tomatoes]] aggregated rating for the movie stands at just 12%.<ref>[http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/mortdecai/ Rotten Tomatoes: Mortdecai]</ref> |
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==References== |
==References== |
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{{Wikiquote|Kyril Bonfiglioli}} |
{{Wikiquote|Kyril Bonfiglioli}} |
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*[http://www.detecs.org/mortdecai.html Entertaining review & quotes] |
*[http://www.detecs.org/mortdecai.html Entertaining review & quotes] |
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*[ |
*[https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/features/forgotten-authors-no-56-kyril-bonfiglioli-2043234.html "Forgotten authors No 56: Kyril Bonfiglioli"], ''The Independent''. Retrieved 17 October 2014] |
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*[http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2004/09/20/040920crat_atlarge Article on Bonfiglioli] in ''The New Yorker'' |
*[http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2004/09/20/040920crat_atlarge Article on Bonfiglioli] in ''The New Yorker'' |
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*[http://bonfigliolirememberedbydonwells.blogspot.co.uk/2013_03_01_archive.html Recollections of Bonfiglioli by an old friend] |
*[http://bonfigliolirememberedbydonwells.blogspot.co.uk/2013_03_01_archive.html Recollections of Bonfiglioli by an old friend] |
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*[ |
*[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3045616/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1 Mortdecai Film on IMDB] |
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*{{IMDb name|5795768|Kyril Bonfiglioli}} |
*{{IMDb name|5795768|Kyril Bonfiglioli}} |
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*{{ |
*{{ISFDB name|id=Kyril_Bonfiglioli|name=Kyril Bonfiglioli}} |
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{{Authority control}} |
{{Authority control}} |
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[[Category:English male novelists]] |
[[Category:English male novelists]] |
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[[Category:British speculative fiction editors]] |
[[Category:British speculative fiction editors]] |
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[[Category:20th-century English male writers]] |
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[[Category:English male non-fiction writers]] |
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Latest revision as of 04:04, 14 June 2024
Kyril Bonfiglioli (born Cyril Emmanuel George Bonfiglioli; 29 May 1928 – 3 March 1985) was a British art dealer, magazine editor and comic novelist. His eccentric and witty Mortdecai novels have gained a following since his death.
Biography
[edit]Bonfiglioli was born in Eastbourne on the south coast of England to an Italo-Slovene father, Emmanuel Bonfiglioli, and an English mother, Dorothy née Pallett. His mother and brother died in an air raid when he was 14. Having served in the British Army from 1947 to 1954, and being widowed, he applied to Balliol College, Oxford, where he took his degree. After his divorce from his second wife, he lived in Silverdale in Lancashire, then in Jersey and Ireland. With Keith Roberts, he edited Science Fantasy magazine for a period from 1964 to 1966, appointed by David Warburton of Roberts and Vinter Ltd.; and the successor Impulse for its first few issues in 1966 before handing the reins to Harry Harrison. He died in Jersey of cirrhosis in 1985, having had five children.[1][2]
He described himself as "an accomplished fencer, a fair shot with most weapons and a serial marrier of beautiful women ... abstemious in all things except drink, food, tobacco and talking ... and loved and respected by all who knew him slightly."[1][3]
Charlie Mortdecai novels
[edit]Bonfiglioli wrote four books featuring Charlie Mortdecai, three of which were published in his lifetime, and one posthumously as completed by the satirist and parodist Craig Brown. Charlie Mortdecai is the fictional art dealer anti-hero of the series. His character resembles, among other things, an amoral Bertie Wooster with occasional psychopathic tendencies. His Mortdecai comic-thriller trilogy received critical plaudits back in the 1970s and early 1980s. The dry satire and black humour of the books were favourably reviewed by The New Yorker and others. The books are still in print and have been translated into several languages. The books "attract a devoted cult following and are consistently praised by a wide variety of publications",[4] although a writer in The Paris Review said that "readers are pretty much evenly divided between those who relish the books' unflinching, un-PC meanness, and those who are appalled".[5]
Don't Point That Thing At Me was awarded the 1973 CWA New Blood Dagger for the best crime novel by a hitherto unpublished writer.
Actors Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie are among those who are fans of his work.[2] Hugh Laurie praised "the excellent Kyril Bonfigliolo" [sic] in the afternotes of his book The Gun Seller.[6]
The three original books, published out of chronological order:
- Don't Point That Thing At Me (Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 1972), Book One
- Reissued (Penguin, 2015 ISBN 978-0-241-97267-0) as film tie-in under title Mortdecai
- After You With The Pistol (Secker and Warburg, 1979), Book Two
- Something Nasty In The Woodshed (Macmillan, 1976), Book Three
Anthologised in:
- The Mortdecai Trilogy (Black Spring Press, 1991)
An historical prequel about one of Charlie's Dutch ancestors:
- All the Tea in China (Secker and Warburg, 1978)
The posthumously completed sequel:
- The Great Mortdecai Moustache Mystery completed by Craig Brown (Black Spring Press, 1999)
Bonfiglioli's second wife Margaret wrote and compiled a posthumous anthology of works and anecdotes, called The Mortdecai ABC (London: Penguin / Viking, 2001), ISBN 0-670-91084-8.
2015 film
[edit]Mortdecai, a film based on the books directed by David Koepp and starring Johnny Depp in the title role, was released in January 2015. The film was a box office bomb, and received overwhelmingly negative reviews.[7][8] The Rotten Tomatoes aggregated rating for the movie stands at just 12%.[9]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Carey, Leo (20 September 2004). "The Genuine Article: the strange case of Kyril Bonfiglioli". The New Yorker. Retrieved 25 October 2018.
- ^ a b "Don’t Point That Thing at Me by Kyril Bonfiglioli". The Sunday Times. Retrieved 17 October 2014.
- ^ Bonfiglioli, Kyril. "After you with the Pistol", Penguin Books, 2014 edition, p. i (first page, publishers preface).
- ^ Meslow, Scott (27 January 2015). "Anatomy of a flop: How a horribly misguided movie like Mortdecai made it into theaters". The Week. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
- ^ Stein, Sadie (20 January 2015). "Something Nasty". The Paris Review. Retrieved 30 May 2024.
- ^ Hugh Laurie, The Gunseller, Washington Square Press, 1996, p. 345.
- ^ "'Mortdecai' Is One Of Johnny Depp's Worst Flops Ever". Huffingtonpost.com. 25 January 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
- ^ Stephanie Garcia (26 January 2015). "Mortdecai becomes Johnny Depp's fifth consecutive movie to flop at the box office - News - Films". The Independent. London. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
- ^ Rotten Tomatoes: Mortdecai
External links
[edit]
Wikiquote has quotations related to Kyril Bonfiglioli.
- Entertaining review & quotes
- "Forgotten authors No 56: Kyril Bonfiglioli", The Independent. Retrieved 17 October 2014]
- Article on Bonfiglioli in The New Yorker
- Recollections of Bonfiglioli by an old friend
- Mortdecai Film on IMDB
- Kyril Bonfiglioli at IMDb
- Kyril Bonfiglioli at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
