Ben Elton

Author profile

born

May 03, 1959 in London, The United Kingdom

gender

male

genre

Dystopia, Humor

About this author

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Ben Elton was born on 3 May 1959, in Catford, South London. The youngest of four, he went to Godalming Grammar school, joined amateur dramatic societies and wrote his first play at 15. He wanted to be a stagehand at the local theatre, but instead did A-Level Theatre Studies and studied drama at Manchester University in 1977.

His career as both performer and writer encompasses some of the most memorable and incisive comedy of the past twenty years. His ground breaking work as a TV stand-up comedian set the (high) standard of what was to follow. He has received accolades for his hit TV sit-coms, The Young Ones, Blackadder and The Thin Blue Line.

More recently he has had successes with three hit West End musicals, including the global phenomen...more

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Books by Ben Elton

Average rating: 3.53 · 15,196 ratings · 1,095 reviews · 27 distinct works

	Dead Famous 3.52 avg rating — 2,265 ratings — published 2001 — 14 editions	My rating:
	High Society 3.68 avg rating — 1,444 ratings — 6 editions	My rating:
	Popcorn 3.37 avg rating — 1,545 ratings — published 1996 — 14 editions	My rating:
	Past Mortem 3.59 avg rating — 1,166 ratings — published 2004 — 10 editions	My rating:
	Blind Faith 3.54 avg rating — 1,125 ratings — published 2007 — 10 editions	My rating:
	Stark 3.52 avg rating — 1,159 ratings — published 1989 — 8 editions	My rating:
	Inconceivable 3.42 avg rating — 1,213 ratings — published 1999 — 18 editions	My rating:
	Chart Throb 3.43 avg rating — 1,091 ratings — published 2006 — 9 editions	My rating:
	The First Casualty 3.69 avg rating — 810 ratings — published 2005 — 9 editions	My rating:
	Gridlock 3.46 avg rating — 941 ratings — published 1991 — 11 editions	My rating:

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Quotes by Ben Elton

“This calls for a very special blend of psychology and extreme violence.”
― Ben Elton, Bachelor Boys: The Young Ones Book

tags: humor , violence , vyvyan

363 people liked it

“The internet was supposed to liberate knowledge, but in fact it buried it, first under a vast sewer of ignorance, laziness, bigotry, superstition and filth and then beneath the cloak of political surveillance. Now...cyberspace exists exclusively to promote commerce, gossip and pornography. And of course to hunt down sedition. Only paper is safe. Books are the key. A book cannot be accessed from afar, you have to hold it, you have to read it.”
― Ben Elton, Blind Faith

tags: internet , luddites , technophobes

14 people liked it

“Kingsley watched her disappear from the room, wondering if his heart would break. Logic informed him that of course it would not. The heart was no more than a muscle, a pump which distributed blood about the body; it had nothing whatsoever to do with a man's emotions. But if that was the case, why did it ache so?”
― Ben Elton, The First Casualty

6 people liked it

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