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I Sit in Hanger Lane
Horace Spurgeon Fenton, struggling scriptwriter is Jack Trevor Story's alter ego - over-committed financially and emotionally.In this darkly comic novel Story documents his hero collisions with the manic world of the Wardour Street film industry and his struggles to provide for his children, his wives and his lovers. First published in 1968 it is a New Grub Street for the '60s. Jack Trevor Story (1917-1991) was a scriptwriter, novelist and columnist. His work included Hitchcock's film The Trouble with Harry and the prophetic novel Live Now Pay Later, as well as two other Horace Spurgeon Fenton Hitler Needs You and One Last Mad Embrace. He was married three times, divorced at least once and had eight children. And bankrupt twice.'One of the funniest writers we have' said the Sunday Telegraph.
192 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1990
About the author
Jack Trevor Story
57 books12 followersJack Story was the son of a baker's roundsman and a domestic servant. During the First World War his father was killed and then his mother moved to Cambridge and worked in one of the colleges.
As a youngster he worked as a butcher's lad making local deliveries. He stated that his early education was derived from 'The Modern Boy', 'Melody Maker' and Action publications.
Self-taught, he began his writing in the early 1940s and it was said that he regularly wrote 4,000 words a day and often took only two or three weeks to finish a novel.
He was married three times and had eight children and also gained a reputation as a ladies' man and apparently he was often seen with glamorous women. As a consequence his domestic life was said to be chaotic, owing to his serial infidelity and his bankruptcy, both of which occasionally provided inspiration for some of his work.
He first achieved success as a writer with the Pinetop Jones Western stories (writing under the pseudonym Bret Harding) and he later achieved great fame contributing to the Sexton Blake detective series - he wrote 20 titles for the Sexton Blake Library. He was also well known for his Horace Spurgeon novels and the Albert Argyle trilogy. He also used the pseudonyms Alex Atwell and Rex Riotti.
When he was penniless in the 1970s he moved to the then new town of Milton Keynes, where he was given a flat about the Museum of Rural Life. He meant to stay only one year, but remained there for the rest of his life.
He wrote a weekly column for 'The Guardian' in the 1970s and appeared on television in the series 'Jack on the Box' in 1979. He wrote several screenplays, including the film 'Mix Me a Person', and was heavily involved in the film version of his novel 'Live Now - Pay Later'. His final broadcast was an audio diary entitled 'Jack's Last Tape'. His novel 'The Trouble with Harry' (1949) was filmed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1955.
When someone once asked him why he didn't write an autobiography. He replied [referring to his novels and other writings], 'What do you think I've been doing all these years?'
He died in Milton Keynes on 5 December 1991.
As a youngster he worked as a butcher's lad making local deliveries. He stated that his early education was derived from 'The Modern Boy', 'Melody Maker' and Action publications.
Self-taught, he began his writing in the early 1940s and it was said that he regularly wrote 4,000 words a day and often took only two or three weeks to finish a novel.
He was married three times and had eight children and also gained a reputation as a ladies' man and apparently he was often seen with glamorous women. As a consequence his domestic life was said to be chaotic, owing to his serial infidelity and his bankruptcy, both of which occasionally provided inspiration for some of his work.
He first achieved success as a writer with the Pinetop Jones Western stories (writing under the pseudonym Bret Harding) and he later achieved great fame contributing to the Sexton Blake detective series - he wrote 20 titles for the Sexton Blake Library. He was also well known for his Horace Spurgeon novels and the Albert Argyle trilogy. He also used the pseudonyms Alex Atwell and Rex Riotti.
When he was penniless in the 1970s he moved to the then new town of Milton Keynes, where he was given a flat about the Museum of Rural Life. He meant to stay only one year, but remained there for the rest of his life.
He wrote a weekly column for 'The Guardian' in the 1970s and appeared on television in the series 'Jack on the Box' in 1979. He wrote several screenplays, including the film 'Mix Me a Person', and was heavily involved in the film version of his novel 'Live Now - Pay Later'. His final broadcast was an audio diary entitled 'Jack's Last Tape'. His novel 'The Trouble with Harry' (1949) was filmed by Alfred Hitchcock in 1955.
When someone once asked him why he didn't write an autobiography. He replied [referring to his novels and other writings], 'What do you think I've been doing all these years?'
He died in Milton Keynes on 5 December 1991.
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