Dan Rhodes (born 1972) is an English writer, possibly best known for the novel ''
Timoleon Vieta Come Home'' (2003), a subversion of the popular ''
Lassie Come Home
''Lassie Come Home'' is a 1943 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Technicolor feature film starring Roddy McDowall and canine actor Pal, in a story about the profound bond between Yorkshire boy Joe Carraclough and his rough collie, Lassie. The film was dire ...
'' movie. He is also the author of ''
Anthropology
Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including past human species. Social anthropology studies patterns of be ...
'' (2000), a collection of 101 stories, each consisting of exactly 101 words. In 2010 he was awarded the
E. M. Forster Award.
Biography
Rhodes grew up in Devon,
[Writer hopes readers give his new book a big hand]
, thisisderbyshire.co.uk. and graduated in Humanities from the
University of Glamorgan
, image_name = University of Glamorgan arms.png
, image_size = 220px
, caption = University of Glamorgan coat of arms
, motto = Success Through Endeavour
, established =
, closed =
, administrative_staff =
, chancellor = John Morris ...
(now the
University of South Wales
The University of South Wales ( cy, Prifysgol De Cymru) is a public university in Wales, with campuses in Cardiff, Newport and Pontypridd. It was formed on 11 April 2013 from the merger of the University of Glamorgan and the University of Wa ...
) in 1994, returning in 1997 to complete an MA in Creative Writing. ''Don't Tell Me the Truth About Love'' was written at this time. He has held a variety of jobs, including stockroom assistant for
Waterstone's
Waterstones, formerly Waterstone's, is a British book retailer that operates 311 shops, mainly in the United Kingdom and also other nearby countries. As of February 2014, it employs around 3,500 staff in the UK and Europe. An average-sized Wa ...
, barman in his parents' pub, and a teacher in
Ho Chi Minh City. He has also worked on a fruit and vegetable farm and is still employed as a postman.
Following the publication of his second book, Rhodes's frustration with the publishing industry led him to announce his retirement from writing, though he later said, "I haven't really given up. I'm certainly not making any more grand pronouncements. I was just sick of the business and wanted out. Not just the publishers; everyone around me."
Rhodes was included on
Granta
''Granta'' is a literary magazine and publisher in the United Kingdom whose mission centres on its "belief in the power and urgency of the story, both in fiction and non-fiction, and the story’s supreme ability to describe, illuminate and ma ...
's Best of Young British Novelists list in 2003, to his own bemusement and frustration, partly because of Granta's selection methods ("It's one thing to judge a writer by stuff they've written, but to judge them on stuff they're going to write is lunacy") but also because some of the others on the list failed to respond to his request to sign a joint statement protesting the
Iraq War
{{Infobox military conflict
, conflict = Iraq War {{Nobold, {{lang, ar, حرب العراق (Arabic) {{Nobold, {{lang, ku, شەڕی عێراق ( Kurdish)
, partof = the Iraq conflict and the War on terror
, image ...
.
[Guest, Katy]
Dan Rhodes: 'Revenge is why I write'
''The Independent'', 7 February 2010.[Gallix, Andrew]
3ammagazine.com, July 2003.
In 2014, Rhodes self-published the novel ''
When the Professor Got Stuck in the Snow'', a "rural farce" about a visit to an obscure English village by a fictional Richard Dawkins, stating that he wanted to get the book out faster than conventional publishing allowed. Traditional publishers were loath to publish the novel for fear of legal action from Professor
Richard Dawkins, who is parodied in it. Rhodes appealed repeatedly to Dawkins, a defender of satire and free speech, for permission to "publish and be damned" but received no response. The novel was republished by Aardvark Bureau in October 2015.
In 2021, Lightning Books published his novel ''Sour Grapes'', a satire on the literary world set at a rural book festival.
Rhodes is married with two children.
Bibliography
Collections
* ''
Anthropology: And a Hundred Other Stories'' (2000)
* ''
Don't Tell Me the Truth About Love'' (2001)
* ''
Marry Me'' (2013)
Novels
* ''
Timoleon Vieta Come Home'' (2003)
* ''
The Little White Car'' (under the pen name Danuta de Rhodes) (2004)
* ''
Gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...
'' (2007)
* ''
Little Hands Clapping
''Little Hands Clapping'', is a novel by British author Dan Rhodes, published in 2010 by Canongate. Its title comes from a line in Robert Browning's poem ''The Pied Piper of Hamelin''.
Plot introduction
The novel centres around a bizarre German ...
'' (2010)
* ''
This Is Life'' (2012)
* ''
When the Professor Got Stuck in the Snow'' (2014, self-published limited edition; 2015 formal publication by Aardvark Bureau
)
* ''Sour Grapes'' (2021)
References
External links
Dan Rhodes Official SiteDan Rhodes - The SRB Interviewfrom ''
The Telegraph
''The Telegraph'', ''Daily Telegraph'', ''Sunday Telegraph'' and other variant names are popular names for newspapers. Newspapers with these titles include:
Australia
* ''The Telegraph'' (Adelaide), a newspaper in Adelaide, South Australia, publ ...
''
Of dogs and men: Interview with Dan RhodesCanongate author page*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rhodes, Dan
1972 births
21st-century British novelists
Alumni of the University of Glamorgan
Living people
People from Buxton
Writers from Devon
British male novelists
21st-century British male writers
21st-century pseudonymous writers