Alan Bennett

The Complete Talking Heads

Alan Bennett was born in West Yorkshire, the son of a stoic Leeds butcher and a mother who suffered from periodic depression. He grew up in the 1930s, constantly being warned to be quiet and well-behaved.

From The Complete Talking Heads: “Miss Fozzard Finds Her Feet”:

“I don’t know what’s got into people at work. I come in this morning and the commissionaire with the moustache who’s on the staff door says, ‘Have a good day, my duck.’ I said, ‘You may only have one arm, Mr. Capstick, but that doesn’t entitle you to pat me on the bottom.’”

Bennett planned on joining the clergy, but instead attended Oxford University on scholarship. There, he took in a lecture by the famous poet W. H. Auden, whom Bennett found to be such a bore that he was nearly turned off writing altogether. Bennett thereafter determined to write literature “with a small l.”

His breakthrough came with Beyond the Fringe, a satiric revue he co-wrote with Peter Cooke, Dudley Moore, and Jonathan Miller. A transatlantic hit in 1960, the show brought Bennett instant fame. His best-known plays are The Madness of George III and The History Boys. The Complete Talking Heads is a collection of sharply humorous monologues that were filmed by the BBC and aired by PBS, as well as performed onstage.

While Bennett is regarded as a national treasure in England and has received countless honors, he has rejected his country’s offer of a knighthood, not because he harbors republican sympathies, but because he didn’t think he could carry it off. He said, “It would be like wearing a suit every day of your life.” He lives in Camden Town with Rupert Thomas, his longtime partner.

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Sweet Sherry Cocoa

In The Complete Talking Heads, Miss Fozzard, often comically ignorant of people’s real intentions, accepts a glass of sweet sherry from Mr. Dunderdale, her new chiropodist, thinking it’s just a kind gesture.

6 oz. whole milk

1/8 cup hot cocoa mix

1 tbsp. sweet sherry

Whipped cream (optional)

Peppermint stick (optional)

Warm the milk in a saucepan, then whisk in cocoa mix and sherry. Pour into a mug and top with whipped cream and a peppermint stick, if desired. Serves 1.