# Have you read Jeffrey Archer?



## opuscroakus (Aug 7, 2010)

I found, quite by accident, a nice little free short-story on the Amazon Top 100 Kindle free stories a week ago, and can't stop thinking about it.

Jeffrey Archer, author of a short-story collection called, _*And Thereby Hangs a Tale*_, put a free one up called, _*Stuck on You*_, and OH. MY. GOD. What a story. I was struck by his seamless integration of both technique and storytelling, and he had me clicking that next arrow without realising it. (I entered his sponsored short-story writing competition about a month ago and should be hearing something about it soon.)

I'd never read any of his other works before, and with my own short-story collections for sale, I was hoping I would like it, since I've heard that publishers are all but phasing short-story collections out.

Maybe with the success of this one, as I see it ALL over the web, they will make a huge come-back. I think Flannery O'Connor would be pleased, as she was THE most kick-ass short-story writer ever.

Has anyone else read it? What did you think?


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## MsBea (Dec 2, 2008)

I am a huge Jeffrey Archer fan! My favorite was Kane and Abel. He is a great storyteller! Right now, I am reading








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I have Thereby Hangs A Tail on my TBR list.


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## R. Doug (Aug 14, 2010)

I've not tried him yet, but my wife thinks he's the best thing since sliced bread.  And she's pretty darned picky.


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## Raffeer (Nov 19, 2008)

Archer is a reliable good read. I never hesitate to buy when I see his name.


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## Pushka (Oct 30, 2009)

Archer is extremely popular in Australia and the UK. He has led an extremely interesting life . He once wrote a small piece about one of my relatives in one of his books.


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## opuscroakus (Aug 7, 2010)

Pushka said:


> Archer is extremely popular in Australia and the UK. He has led an extremely interesting life . He once wrote a small piece about one of my relatives in one of his books.


Okay, with a hook like that, now you HAVE to tell us what it was.


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## R. Doug (Aug 14, 2010)

Pushka said:


> He has led an extremely interesting life .


That's certainly putting it delicately. Doing prison time for perjury in a libel case is definitely interesting.


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## opuscroakus (Aug 7, 2010)

R. Doug said:


> That's certainly putting it delicately. Doing prison time for perjury in a libel case is definitely interesting.


Yikes! Seriously?? Federal prison? How much time?


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## CegAbq (Mar 17, 2009)

I think 'A Prisoner of Birth' is one of my absolute favorite books.


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## R. Doug (Aug 14, 2010)

opuscroakus said:


> Yikes! Seriously?? Federal prison? How much time?


It was one of Her Majesty's prisons, and he served two years of a four year sentence, I believe.


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## opuscroakus (Aug 7, 2010)

R. Doug said:


> It was one of Her Majesty's prisons, and he served two years of a four year sentence, I believe.


Wow. Did he ever write about this in any of his books?


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## Pushka (Oct 30, 2009)

opuscroakus said:


> Wow. Did he ever write about this in any of his books?


Not directly, but A Prisoner of Birth probaly has some great insights.


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## opuscroakus (Aug 7, 2010)

Pushka said:


> Not directly, but A Prisoner of Birth probaly has some great insights.


I'm glad I asked and started the thread, because his writing was so compelling just in that one short, now I need to read more.


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## Pushka (Oct 30, 2009)

To clarify - he did keep a Prison diary and I see it is available on Amazon!


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## opuscroakus (Aug 7, 2010)

Pushka said:


> To clarify - he did keep a Prison diary and I see it is available on Amazon!


SWEET! I'm glad you said something. Y'know, when you think about it, TWO YEARS seems a bit excessive for perjury. I've known politicians who were in office longer!


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## Pushka (Oct 30, 2009)

opuscroakus said:


> SWEET! I'm glad you said something. Y'know, when you think about it, TWO YEARS seems a bit excessive for perjury. I've known politicians who were in office longer!


Except he was in Parliament, and had been made a 'Sir' by the Queen, when all this occurred. And I think maybe, just like his books, there is far more to the Tale!


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## 911jason (Aug 17, 2009)

opuscroakus said:


> SWEET! I'm glad you said something. Y'know, when you think about it, TWO YEARS seems a bit excessive for perjury. I've known politicians who were in office longer!


His biography is pretty incredible... he was a member of parliament and was a leading candidate for mayor of London until he withdrew after the perjury allegations.

Read the official bio on his site:
http://www.jeffreyarcher.co.uk/about-biography.htm



CegAbq said:


> I think 'A Prisoner of Birth' is one of my absolute favorite books.


Totally agree, it's in my personal Top 10!


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## opuscroakus (Aug 7, 2010)

911jason said:


> His biography is pretty incredible... he was a member of parliament and was a leading candidate for mayor of London until he withdrew after the perjury allegations.
> 
> Read the official bio on his site:
> http://www.jeffreyarcher.co.uk/about-biography.htm
> ...


I will do that; thanks. I wonder why he's not tackled his own memoir yet?


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## tbrookside (Nov 4, 2009)

I read _A Matter of Honor_ many, many years ago. It had a very clever premise, and I enjoyed it, but I never got around to reading any more Archer - I think I went on a Tom Clancy kick after that instead.


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## R. Doug (Aug 14, 2010)

Pushka said:


> Except he was in Parliament, and had been made a 'Sir' by the Queen, when all this occurred. And I think maybe, just like his books, there is far more to the Tale!


And there was. The editor of the _Daily Star_ was fired some six weeks after Archer prevailed in his libel case and the _Daily Star_ had to come up with a half-million quid in damages . . . all because Archer lied on the stand. So, he wrecked someone else's life and profited immensely through the crime.

Then, when it came out that he had lied on the stand, the tabloid press went after him with a vengeance. It was their way of getting even for the false claim of libel against a fellow publication and the termination of a respected colleague. Considering the damage Archer knowingly caused I thought he got off rather lightly, myself. Also in play with public opinion before the trial, as Opuscroakus correctly points out, were the facts that he was a wealthy and respected famous author, a conservative politician of some renown, and he had been made a life peer by Her Majesty the Queen.


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## MaryEllen Redmond (Oct 17, 2010)

The only one I read was "A Matter of Honor" when it came out years ago. Apparently, Steven Spielberg bought the rights but never made the movie. Pity, it would have been pretty good – an innocent man on the run story, kind of like Hitchcock.


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## Cochise (Sep 26, 2010)

R. Doug said:


> And there was. The editor of the _Daily Star_ was fired some six weeks after Archer prevailed in his libel case and the _Daily Star_ had to come up with a half-million quid in damages . . . all because Archer lied on the stand. So, he wrecked someone else's life and profited immensely through the crime.
> 
> Then, when it came out that he had lied on the stand, the tabloid press went after him with a vengeance. It was their way of getting even for the false claim of libel against a fellow publication and the termination of a respected colleague. Considering the damage Archer knowingly caused I thought he got off rather lightly, myself. Also in play with public opinion before the trial, as Opuscroakus correctly points out, were the facts that he was a wealthy and respected famous author, a conservative politician of some renown, and he had been made a life peer by Her Majesty the Queen.


Don't forget he had his eyes on the job of the Mayor of London.

I have never read any of his books but I do remember my Mother saying at the time of his trial that she thought it was was funny that he made quite a few mistakes in his personal life that characters from his books were advised to avoid. She thought that surely they were mistakes he should have avoided in real life.

Here is an eye opener from the satirical BBC television show "have I got news for you"... what a nice man.


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## opuscroakus (Aug 7, 2010)

MaryEllen Redmond said:


> The only one I read was "A Matter of Honor" when it came out years ago. Apparently, Steven Spielberg bought the rights but never made the movie. Pity, it would have been pretty good - an innocent man on the run story, kind of like Hitchcock.


Well, I can tell you that after working in showbusiness, NBC sitcoms mostly, and writing my own screenplay, one can purchase rights and then take nearly twenty years to get the picture made. I think Spielberg is a good one with his finger on the pulse of pop-culture, so when he thinks the public is primed and ready for Jeffrey's story, I'm sure he'll pull it together and lead the way.

But there's a lot involved in creating just the right story, in choosing the right screenwriter, and in choosing the right chemistry of cast and crew.


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## opuscroakus (Aug 7, 2010)

Cochise said:


> Don't forget he had his eyes on the job of the Mayor of London.
> 
> I have never read any of his books but I do remember my Mother saying at the time of his trial that she thought it was was funny that he made quite a few mistakes in his personal life that characters from his books were advised to avoid. She thought that surely they were mistakes he should have avoided in real life.


Hmmn. I have a theory about that.

What if he DID know what he was doing? What if he also, like Michael Jackson, had studied the models of P.T. Barnum and recognised that bad press is good press, and that no press is bad press? What if he allowed his publicist to engineer everything that happened, or appeared to happen, and profited from it in the way of fans and readers? If that was the case, I'd say he was a pretty brilliant man. If people think Michael Jackson actually did all of those eccentric things and didn't have his publicist leak stories to the tabloids, then folks are pretty naive.

Makes me wonder how many of us in real life have the guts to boost our own careers that way? I'll wager not many.


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## Pushka (Oct 30, 2009)

R. Doug said:


> Also in play with public opinion before the trial, as Opuscroakus correctly points out, were the facts that he was a wealthy and respected famous author, a conservative politician of some renown, and he had been made a life peer by Her Majesty the Queen.


Nope, that was me,  - Opuscroakus had heard nothing about all of this.



opuscroakus said:


> Hmmn. I have a theory about that.
> 
> What if he DID know what he was doing? What if he also, like Michael Jackson, had studied the models of P.T. Barnum and recognised that bad press is good press, and that no press is bad press?


No, he is extremely intelligent, but I think it was more about arrogance that he would get away with it, than using the publicity to further his career. Peers are above mere mortals, and the Law, or so they think! He created powerful enemies, he forgot that!


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## Cochise (Sep 26, 2010)

opuscroakus said:


> Hmmn. I have a theory about that.
> 
> What if he DID know what he was doing? What if he also, like Michael Jackson, had studied the models of P.T. Barnum and recognised that bad press is good press, and that no press is bad press? What if he allowed his publicist to engineer everything that happened, or appeared to happen, and profited from it in the way of fans and readers? If that was the case, I'd say he was a pretty brilliant man. If people think Michael Jackson actually did all of those eccentric things and didn't have his publicist leak stories to the tabloids, then folks are pretty naive.
> 
> Makes me wonder how many of us in real life have the guts to boost our own careers that way? I'll wager not many.


Is scandal the new publicity? notoriety the new fame? probably so.

Brilliant maybe, intelligent and talented certainly. Hubris was Archers downfall and the last thing he did was boost his career.


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## opuscroakus (Aug 7, 2010)

Cochise said:


> Is scandal the new publicity? notoriety the new fame? probably so.


It's always been that way. More people watched Marilyn Monroe's movies after her Kennedy scandal than ever before.

David Letterman had more viewers when someone was trying to extort money from him and his family.

Madonna...well, she goes without saying.



> Brilliant maybe, intelligent and talented certainly. Hubris was Archers downfall and the last thing he did was boost his career.


I don't know. I was reading about his literary journey last night, and it seems he became even more popular when he entered prison. Hubris may have been his downfall, but it certainly led to more readers. It's just how humans are hard-wired: we love a nice, juicy train wreck.


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## akw4572 (Nov 3, 2008)

I had never heard of Archer, but with the outrageous price on Follett's new book for the kindle, I picked up Archer on a "customer who bought this book also...", and read Kane and Abel.  Awesome book, and I just finished The Prodigal Daughter, and I picked up a third Archer book today.  Penguin's high price was Archer's and my gain, I found a new great author.


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## opuscroakus (Aug 7, 2010)

akw4572 said:


> I had never heard of Archer, but with the outrageous price on Follett's new book for the kindle, I picked up Archer on a "customer who bought this book also...", and read Kane and Abel. Awesome book, and I just finished The Prodigal Daughter, and I picked up a third Archer book today. Penguin's high price was Archer's and my gain, I found a new great author.


Awesome! I hope it happens that way with my own books.

Oh, and last night after I'd read the excerpt on his web-site of the Prison Diary, I needed more. I realised I had a $20 credit on audible.com, so downloaded the entire book, and I'm loving it! The reviews said it didn't spark quite as much as his fiction, and they're right, but it's fascinating and funny and poignant, nonetheless. Will let you know when I'm done.


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