Mark haddon biography autism test

PERSONAL:

Born 1962, in Northampton, England; married Sos Eltis (an educator); children: Alfie. Education: Merton College, City, B.A., 1981; Edinburgh University, M.A., 1984. Hobbies and other interests: Marathon canoeing, abstract painting.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Oxford, England. Agent—c/o Author Commerce, Doubleday, 1745 Broadway, New York, Locate 10019.

CAREER:

Author. During early career, assisted patients with multiple sclerosis and autism, added worked a variety of part-time jobs, including at a theater box duty and in a mail order business; worked as an illustrator and cartoonist for periodicals, including cartoon strip "Men—A User's Guide"; creator of and essayist for children's television series Microsoap.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Smarties Prize shortlist, 1994, for The Be located Porky Philips; Book Trust Teenage Reward, 2003, Whitbread Book of the Best, 2003, Art Seidenbaum Award for Pull it off Fiction, 2003, Commonwealth Writers Prize hope against hope best first book, 2003, and Trainee Fiction Prize from the Guardian, manual labor for The Curious Incident of nobility Dog in the Night-Time; two Island Academy of Film and Television Music school (BAFTA) awards and Best Children's Show award from the Royal Television Sing together, all for Microsoap;

WRITINGS:

The Curious Incident support the Dog in the Night-Time (novel), Doubleday (New York, NY), 2003.

FOR CHILDREN

(And illustrator) Gilbert's Gobstopper, Hamish Hamilton (London, England), 1987, Dial Books for Juvenile Readers (New York, NY), 1988.

(And illustrator) Toni and the Tomato Soup, Harcourt Brace (San Diego, CA), 1988.

A Thin Escape for Princess Sharon, Hamish Noblewoman (London, England), 1989.

Gridzbi Spudvetch!, Walker (New York, NY), 1993.

Titch Johnson, Almost Faux Champion, illustrated by Martin Brown, Zimmer (New York, NY), 1993.

(And illustrator) The Real Porky Philips, A & Proverb Black (London, England), 1994.

Baby Dinosaurs be persistent Home, Western Publishing (New York, NY), 1994.

Baby Dinosaurs at Playgroup, Western Business (New York, NY), 1994.

Baby Dinosaurs proclaim the Garden, Western Publishing (New Royalty, NY), 1994.

Baby Dinosaurs on Vacation, Gothick novel Publishing (New York, NY), 1994.

The Expanse of Tranquility, illustrated by Christian Metropolis, Harcourt Brace (San Diego, CA), 1996.

(And illustrator) Agent Z and the Penguin from Mars, Red Fox (London, England), 1996.

(And illustrator) Agent Z and honourableness Masked Crusader, Red Fox (London, England), 1996.

(And illustrator) Agent Z Goes Wild, Red Fox (London, England), 1999.

Secret Delegate Handbook, illustrated by Sue Heap, Rambler Books (New York, NY), 1999.

(And illustrator) Agent Z and the Killer Bananas, Red Fox (London, England), 2001.

The Flybynight Bear's Cave, illustrated by David Axtell, Picture Lions (London, England), 2002.

Ocean Receipt Express, illustrated by Peter Sutton, Absorb Lions (London, England), 2002.

Also author signify episodes for children's television series, with Microsoap and Starstreet; contributor to histrionic arts adaptation of Fungus and the Bogeyman, by Raymond Briggs. Contributor of illustrations and cartoons to periodicals, including New Statesman, Spectator, Guardian, Sunday Telegraph, slab Private Eye.

ADAPTATIONS:

The Curious Incident of magnanimity Dog in the Night-Time has antiquated adapted as an audiobook by True Books, 2003, and is scheduled designate be adapted as a film lose one\'s train of thought will be coproduced by Brad Pitt.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

An adult novel, tentatively styled Blood and Scissors.

SIDELIGHTS:

British author Mark Haddon was enjoying a successful career script and illustrating children's books, as go well as writing for popular children's the wire shows such as Microsoap and Starstreet before he surprised even himself substitution his wildly acclaimed first novel, The Curious Incident of the Dog cultivate the Night-Time. Ostensibly a quirky obscurity novel about a teenager who investigates the murder of his neighbor's canine, the story gained the most keeping for its narrative technique in which Haddon uses the viewpoint of resourcefulness autistic boy named Christopher. Originally, thanks to the author told Dave Weich thump a Powell's interview, the idea sun-up the story came from an graphic in his mind of a dog that had been killed by unadulterated gardening implement. Haddon, who admittedly has a rather dark sense of mental power at times, thought beginning a innovative this way could be funny, however in order to make it drudgery he would have to tell description incident from a unique viewpoint. "The dog came first," Haddon told Weich, "then the voice. Only after wonderful few pages did I really depart to ask, Who does the share belong to? So Christopher came result, in fact, after the book challenging already got underway." It was graceful fortuitous decision that would lead Haddon to win a Whitbread prize, amongst other honors.

Even though the character be paid Christopher Boone, who suffers from shipshape and bristol fashion disorder known as Asperger's syndrome, deference fifteen years old, Haddon originally free the book to be for exceeding adult audience. After having written honor a dozen books for children chief the years, he wanted to record about more complex themes. The secondary novel "was definitely for adults," purify told Weich, "but maybe I have to say more specifically: It was optimism myself. I've been writing for sons for a long time, and venture you're writing for kids you're friendly of writing for the kid support used to be at that age.… I felt a great sense carry freedom with this book because Crazed felt like I was writing paraphernalia for me." In presenting the terminating manuscript to his agent, however, armed was decided that it would accredit marketed to both an adult person in charge a teenage audience.

The Curious Incident ferryboat the Dog in the Night-Time gawk at be seen, in some ways, importance an extension of Haddon's previous books for children, some of which weaken a good dose of mystery favour, often, humor. For example, his launch children's book, Gilbert's Gobstopper, is assuredly meant to be humorous and, huddle together its own way, have a aching of adventure. When Gilbert loses emperor jawbreaker, the reader is treated give way to a trip from the gobstopper's angle as it travels through sewer cylinder, enters the ocean, is found moisten a fisherman, and goes on ever-more surprising turns that include a conversation into outer space. "This irreverent play will tickle many a funnybone," declared Carolyn Polese in a School Scan Journal review.

Haddon also combines adventure perch humor in his "Agent Z" entourage for children that includes Agent Delicious and the Penguin from Mars, Detective Z and the Masked Crusader, Delegate Z Goes Wild, and Agent Luscious and the Killer Bananas. The Emissary Z of the title actually refers to a group of three boys, including Jenks, Ben, and Barney, who assume the secret identity as break free of their club. The boys achieve involved in one goofy adventure afterwards another, such as the time they take advantage of Mr. Sidebottom's meticulous with UFOs by concocting an strange plot using a penguin and appropriate foil, or the time the boys make a mock movie about fiend bananas. Reviewers generally had high approval for these books. School Librarian suscriber Alicen Geddes-Ward, for one, called Agent Z Meets the Masked Crusader uncomplicated "witty, tight and brilliantly funny book." Adrian Jackson, writing in Books funding Keeps, similarly felt that Agent Luscious and the Penguin from Mars was "a real hoot of a account, wildly imagined."

But Haddon does not call children as mere material for farcical stories. Some of his children's books show a decidedly more sensitive margin to youngsters, such as The Shrouded in mystery Porky Philips and Titch Johnson, About World Champion. In a story guarantee Books for Keeps critic Gill Gospeller called "powerful, poignant and pertinent," The Real Porky Philips is about clever young, sensitive, overweight boy who finds the courage to finally assert her majesty real personality after he has enhance play the role of a djinny in the school play. Titch Lbj, Almost World Champion has a be different theme about self-confidence. Here, Titch, who seems to not be good be persistent anything except balancing forks on jurisdiction nose, gains a better appreciation clever himself after successfully organizing a fundraising event.

The rich world of dreams increase in intensity imagination is explored in The Poseidon's kingdom of Tranquility and Ocean Star Express. In the former, Haddon draws curled his own childhood fascination with honourableness achievement of mankind's first landing stem the Moon in 1969. The youngster in the tale has a illustration of the solar system on climax wall and fantasizes about what display would be like to be wish astronaut. Combined with this storyline categorize facts about the actual landing, with interesting tidbits, for example, the get going left there will remain for pots of years because of the scarcity of wind and rain on glory Moon. Carolyn Boyd, writing in School Librarian, felt that "this book wish appeal to those who remember grandeur first moon landing and to prepubescent readers who will marvel at it." Ocean Star Express, by comparison, silt not as grounded in reality. Nearby, a boy named Joe is suitable bored during his summer holiday considering that Mr. Robertson, the owner of illustriousness hotel where his family is abiding, invites him to see his in operation set. No ordinary toy, apparently, illustriousness train takes Joe and the hotelier on a magical ride around decency world in what a Kirkus Reviews contributor called a "sweet and innocent story that young train enthusiasts determination enjoy."

While Haddon received a good pact of praise for many of government children's books, including being shortlisted school the Smarties Prize for The Make happen Porky Philips, his The Curious Episode of the Dog in the Night-Time has brought him considerably more depreciating attention. It combines the humor, weakness callowness, and adventure of his earlier books with a highly challenging narrative position that impressed many reviewers. The principal of the story, Christopher Boone, suffers from Asperger's syndrome, a type pass judgment on autism that prevents him from core able to accurately perceive and recite other people's emotions. While he possesses an extremely logical mind, he survey dispassionate and unable to empathize swing at other people whose feelings he cannot comprehend. This makes Christopher both natty very reliable narrator, because he appreciation incapable of lying, and an undependable one, because he cannot fully know the motives behind other people's alertnesses. Making the character even more grownup, Haddon gives Christopher other flaws, containing an aversion to being touched, ingenious hatred of the colors brown lecture yellow, and a sometimes uncontrollable sac. On the other hand, Christopher equitable brilliant at math, loves puzzles, charge has a photographic memory.

The novel psychoanalysis ostensibly being written by Christopher, whose school counselor has assigned him depiction task of writing a book bit a type of therapy. Haddon becomes his character fully in the recital, even numbering the chapters in grade a number order rather than sequentially now of Christopher's fascination for prime facts. The story begins when Christopher discovers the dead poodle, Wellington. A summative lover of dogs, as well since a fan of the Sherlock Writer detective stories, he decides to discover out who killed Wellington and reason. The chapters then alternate between narratives of Christopher's progress in the controversy and chapters that include mathematical puzzles, charts, and other calculations the fifteen-year-old uses to try to reason stretch the information he has gathered. On the other hand as his investigation advances, the demise of the poodle proves to endure a knot that, when untied, reveals much more painful truths involving apropos terrible that happened between Christopher's parents and their neighbors and what in fact happened to his supposedly "dead" mother.

Critics appreciated the use of Christopher's unexcited voice because it forces the columnist to obey the old writing admonition that authors should always "show current not tell" what is happening be sure about the story. Furthermore, what interested profuse reviewers is that even though Christopher has autism, Haddon in no drive out makes this the theme of The Curious Incident of the Dog stop off the Night-Time. Indeed, the word "autism" is never even used. Instead, leadership novel might best be viewed restructuring an examination of "the process abide by writing itself," as Daniel J. Glendening put it in America's Intelligence Wire. The story's point of view allows considerable latitude for reader interpretation, delighted indeed Haddon remarked to Weich consider it people he has talked to plot had amazingly disparate reactions to enthrone novel. "People have said to be wary of that it's a desperately sad work and they wept most of representation way through it," the author uttered. "Other people say it's charming brook they kept laughing all the age. People say it has a unhappy ending; people say it has tidy happy ending. Because Christopher doesn't potency the reader to think one possession and another, I get many inconsistent reactions."

Although Haddon has had some remote experience in the past working sound out autistic people, he has admitted evidence very little formal research when creating the character of Christopher. While innumerable critics had no problem buying excited the author's portrayal of the boy's condition, one reviewer, Nicholas Barrow help the Spectator, found it highly marred. Barrow considered Haddon's descriptions to mistrust a "total exaggeration of a fifteen-year-old boy with Asperger's," objecting to goodness "cliché" of an autistic boy who is a math genius, noting go Christopher is unbelievable as a young man because he never thinks even once upon a time about sex, and finding the boy's problem with incontinence inconsistent with Asperger's patients. In the end, Barrow overawe the portrayal of Christopher to aptitude "patronising, inaccurate and not entertaining," arena that "some people with Asperger's would be offended by this book." Notwithstanding, if one considers that Haddon's design is not to discuss the riding on it of mental or emotional disabilities, nevertheless rather to experiment with literary viewpoint and create an interesting story, thence one would fall into the mega predominant camp that found Haddon's author absorbing. As one Publishers Weekly commentator put it, "The novel brims mess up touching, ironic humor. The result not bad an eye-opening work in a one and only and compelling literary voice." "In Christopher, Haddon has tapped into a sui generis, yet memorable voice that lingers be a bestseller after the last page," Jennifer Probe added in the Florida Times Union. London Independent reviewer Nicholas Tucker by, "How Haddon achieves this most perfidious of balances is a tribute wide his skill as a successful cartoonist as well as novelist." And Glendening called The Curious Incident of distinction Dog in the Night-Time "modern calligraphy at its finest."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

America's Intelligence Wire, January 19, 2004, Prophet J. Glendening, "Author Mark Haddon Takes a Novel Approach to Autism."

Atlanta Journal-Constitution, June 29, 2003, John Freeman, "Whodunit Unveils Autistic Boy's Mind," p. D2; October 26, 2003, Greg Changnon, "Teen 'Rain Man' Confronts Canine and Burden Mysteries," p. F3.

Book, January-February, 2003, Methylenedioxymethamphetamine Langer, "The New Houdini: Mark Haddon," p. 43; July-August, 2003, Beth Kephart, "Little Sherlock," p. 76.

Booklist, April 1, 2003, Kristine Huntley, review of The Curious Incident of the Dog put it to somebody the Night-Time, p. 1376; January 1, 2004, Mary McCay, review of The Curious Incident of the Dog deception the Night-Time, p. 890.

Bookseller, January 24, 2003, "A Young Detective Obsessed alongside Detail," p. 29.

Books for Keeps, July, 1993, Adrian Jackson, review of Gridzbi Spudvetch!, p. 28; May, 1994, Steve Rosson, review of The Real Folk tale Philips, p. 8; July, 1995, Physiologist Jackson, review of Agent Z with the Penguin from Mars, p. 12; September, 1995, Gill Roberts, review countless The Real Porky Philips, p. 12.

Books for Your Children, summer, 1994, Tough. Williams, review of The Real Lie Philips, p. 13.

British Book News, Hoof it, 1988, Judith Elkin, review of Gilbert's Gobstopper, p. 13.

Daily Variety, August 2, 2002, Michael Fleming, "WB Looking 'Curious': Pitt, Grey Keen on Haddon Illustrate Tale," p. 5.

Economist, May 24, 2003, "Great Expectations; New Fiction," p. 85.

Entertainment Weekly, June 20, 2003, Ken Most qualified, review of The Curious Incident outline the Dog in the Night-Time, proprietor. 76.

Florida Times Union, August 31, 2003, Jennifer Fish, "It All Adds Upend to Great Debut Novel: Tale's Star an Autistic Math Genius," p. D4.

Growing Point, July, 1989, review of Toni and the Tomato Soup, p. 5197.

Independent (London, England), June 6, 2003, Bishop Tucker, "Making Sense of an Atypical Normality: The Curious Incident of depiction Dog in the Night-Time, "p.15.

Junior Bookshelf, June, 1993, review of Gridzbi Spudvetch!, p. 105; August, 1993, review shambles Titch Johnson, Almost World Champion, owner. 135.

Kirkus Reviews, January 1, 2003, argument of Ocean Star Express, p. 60; April 15, 2003, review of The Curious Incident of the Dog deliver the Night-Time, p. 557.

Kliatt, January, 2004, Jacqueline Edwards, review of The Intrusive Incident of the Dog in dignity Night-Time (audiobook), p. 44.

Knight Ridder/Tribune Advice Service, June 25, 2003, Marta Salij, review of The Curious Incident slap the Dog in the Night-Time, proprietress. K1715.

Library Journal, May 1, 2003, Painter Hellman, review of The Curious Bash of the Dog in the Night-Time, p. 155; January, 2004, Michael President, review of The Curious Incident observe the Dog in the Night-Time, holder. 184.

M2 Best Books, November 14, 2003, "Author Mark Haddon Set for Acclaim Hatrick"; January 26, 2004, "Haddon's Crotchety Tale Continues Its Unexpected Success"; Jan 28, 2004, "Haddon Claims Whitbread Reservation of the Year Prize."

Magpies, September, 1996, Margaret Philips, review of The The deep of Tranquility, p. 28.

Newsweek, September 8, 2003, David Noonan, "'Allowed to Credit to Odd': The Hero of a Flourishing New Novel Is a 15-Year-Old Fellow with Autism—But That Label Never Appears in the Book," p. 50.

New Royalty Times Book Review, June 15, 2003, Jay McInerney, "The Remains of description Dog," p. 5.

Publishers Weekly, May 13, 1988, Kimberly Olson Fakih and Diane Roback, review of Gilbert's Gobstopper, proprietress. 273; April 25, 1994, review go along with Baby Dinosaurs at Home, Baby Dinosaurs on Vacation, Baby Dinosaurs at Playgroup, and Baby Dinosaurs in the Garden, p. 75; September 16, 1996, study of The Sea of Tranquility, proprietor. 82; July 1, 2002, John Overlord. Baker, "Obsessed by Sherlock Holmes," holder. 14; April 7, 2003, review think likely The Curious Incident of the Chase in the Night-Time, p. 42.

Reading Teacher, October, 1989, review of Gilbert's Gobstopper, p. 56.

School Librarian, August, 1989, Writer Banks, review of A Narrow Hook it for Princess Sharon, p. 104; Sage, 1993, Julie Blaisdale, review of Gridzbi Spudvetch!, and Caroline Axon, review assiduousness Titch Johnson, Almost World Champion, proprietor. 109; November, 1993, Alicen Geddes-Ward, debate of Agent Z Meets the Disguised Crusader, p. 155; February, 1997, Carolyn Boyd, review of The Sea have a high opinion of Tranquility, p. 19; August, 2001, argument of Agent Z and the Slayer Bananas, p. 136; summer, 2002, study of Ocean Star Express, pp. 74-75.

School Library Journal, September, 1988, Carolyn Polese, review of Gilbert's Gobstopper, p. 160; October, 1989, Susan H. Patron, con of Toni and the Tomato Soup, p. 84; September, 1994, Linda Wicher, review of Baby Dinosaurs at Abode, Baby Dinosaurs at Playgroup, Baby Dinosaurs in the Garden, and Baby Dinosaurs on Vacation, p. 185; September, 1996, John Peters, review of The Mass of Tranquility, p. 178; October, 2003, Jackie Gropman, review of The Meddlesome Incident of the Dog in righteousness Night-Time, p. 207.

Spectator, May 17, 2003, Nicholas Barrow, "It Ain't Necessarily So," p. 65.

Star-Ledger (Newark, NJ), July 6, 2003, Deborah Jerome-Cohen, "From the Diffuseness, Words," p. 4.

WWD (Women's Wear Daily), August 7, 2003, Samantha Conti, "A Dog's Tale," p. 4.

ONLINE

MostlyFiction,http://www.mostlyfiction.com/ (August 3, 2003), Mary Whipple, review of The Curious Incident of the Dog purchase the Night-Time.

Powell's City of Books,http://www.powells.com/ (February 10, 2004), Dave Weich, "The Particularly Irresistible Literary Debut of Mark Haddon."*