Tobias Jones (writer)
Encyclopedia
Biography
Tobias Jones is a British author and journalist. He was educated at Jesus College, OxfordJesus College, Oxford
Jesus College is one of the colleges of the University of Oxford in England. It is in the centre of the city, on a site between Turl Street, Ship Street, Cornmarket Street and Market Street...
, and he then worked at the London Review of Books
London Review of Books
The London Review of Books is a fortnightly British magazine of literary and intellectual essays.-History:The LRB was founded in 1979, during the year-long lock-out at The Times, by publisher A...
and the Independent on Sunday. He moved to Parma
Parma
Parma is a city in the Italian region of Emilia-Romagna famous for its ham, its cheese, its architecture and the fine countryside around it. This is the home of the University of Parma, one of the oldest universities in the world....
in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
in 1999. He returned to the UK in 2004. Jones and his wife now manage a ten acre woodland shelter near Shepton Mallet
Shepton Mallet
Shepton Mallet is a small rural town and civil parish in the Mendip district of Somerset in South West England. Situated approximately south of Bristol and east of Wells, the town is estimated to have a population of 9,700. It contains the administrative headquarters of Mendip District Council...
, Somerset.http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2009/nov/17/tobias-jones-woodland-commune
Background to His Books
His first book, The Dark Heart of ItalyThe Dark Heart of Italy
The Dark Heart of Italy: Travels Through Time and Space Across Italy is a 2003 non-fiction book by British journalist Tobias Jones detailing his four years spent in Italy, along with discussions on the history and politics of the country. The Dark Heart of Italy was a bestseller in Britain, Italy...
was a bestseller in Britain, Italy and the United States. ("The Dark Heart will ensure Italy remains an object of our fascination". Sebastian Skeaping, The Observer
The Observer
The Observer is a British newspaper, published on Sundays. In the same place on the political spectrum as its daily sister paper The Guardian, which acquired it in 1993, it takes a liberal or social democratic line on most issues. It is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper.-Origins:The first issue,...
2003.)http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2003/jan/19/shopping.highereducation Following its publication, he was short-listed for the Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year award.
In January 2007 he published his second book Utopian Dreams (Faber & Faber
Faber and Faber
Faber and Faber Limited, often abbreviated to Faber, is an independent publishing house in the UK, notable in particular for publishing a great deal of poetry and for its former editor T. S. Eliot. Faber has a rich tradition of publishing a wide range of fiction, non fiction, drama, film and music...
) after a year spent travelling with his wife Francesca and first daughter Benedetta across five communities in Britain and Italy. The book was featured on BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
's Start the Week
Start the Week
Start the Week is a discussion programme broadcast on BBC Radio 4 which began in April 1970. The current presenter is the former BBC political editor Andrew Marr...
as well as being Book of the Week
Book of the Week
Book of the Week is a BBC Radio 4 series broadcast daily on week days. Each week the selected book, always a non-fiction work, is read in five episodes; each fifteen-minute episode is broadcast in the morning and repeated overnight . The Act of Worship replaces the morning broadcast on...
on that network. ("a refreshingly old-fashioned belief in the virtue of human community". Ian Thomson writing in The Independent
The Independent
The Independent is a British national morning newspaper published in London by Independent Print Limited, owned by Alexander Lebedev since 2010. It is nicknamed the Indy, while the Sunday edition, The Independent on Sunday, is the Sindy. Launched in 1986, it is one of the youngest UK national daily...
)http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books/reviews/utopian-dreams-by-tobias-jones-433629.html
His third book, The Salati Case, was the first in a series of crime novels featuring Castagnetti, a bee-keeping private detective in northern Italy. ("Observations like these lift this book above the usual level of the mystery novel". The Scotsman, June 2009) http://living.scotsman.com/books/Book-review-The-Salati-Case.5358270.jp
Broadcasting
Jones has written and presented two TV series for Rai 3: Ricchi d’Italia and Cervelli d’Italia. He has also written various documentaries for BBC Radio 3BBC Radio 3
BBC Radio 3 is a national radio station operated by the BBC within the United Kingdom. Its output centres on classical music and opera, but jazz, world music, drama, culture and the arts also feature. The station is the world’s most significant commissioner of new music, and its New Generation...
and BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4
BBC Radio 4 is a British domestic radio station, operated and owned by the BBC, that broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes, including news, drama, comedy, science and history. It replaced the BBC Home Service in 1967. The station controller is currently Gwyneth Williams, and the...
.
Veronese Controversy
In January 2008, Jones accepted a commission by the Daily Mail to write a malicious article against the city of VeronaVerona
Verona ; German Bern, Dietrichsbern or Welschbern) is a city in the Veneto, northern Italy, with approx. 265,000 inhabitants and one of the seven chef-lieus of the region. It is the second largest city municipality in the region and the third of North-Eastern Italy. The metropolitan area of Verona...
. Tim Parks
Tim Parks
Tim Parks is a British novelist, translator and author.-Life:Tim Parks was born in Manchester in 1954, the son of a clergyman. He grew up in Finchley , London and was educated at Cambridge University and Harvard. He has lived near Verona in Italy since 1981...
, who had originally been asked by the Mail to write the article but refused, was awarded the keys to the city and its honorary citizenship.
Personal
Jones is a regular contributor to the British and Italian press and plays for the England Writers Football team. His obsessions include Fabrizio De AndreFabrizio De André
Fabrizio De André was an Italian singer-songwriter.Known for his sympathies towards anarchism, libertarianism, and pacifism, he also was a convicted atheist , and his songs often featured marginalized and rebellious people, prostitutes and knaves, and attacked the Catholic Church...
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/e0adf2ca-dedc-11dd-9464-000077b07658.html?nclick_check=1, Ross Macdonald
Ross Macdonald
Not to be confused with John D. MacDonaldRoss Macdonald is the pseudonym of the American-Canadian writer of crime fiction Kenneth Millar...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/aug/01/ross-macdonald-crime-novels and Everton
Everton F.C.
Everton Football Club are an English professional association football club from the city of Liverpool. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of English football...
and Parma
Parma F.C.
Parma Football Club , commonly referred to as just Parma, is an Italian professional football club based in Parma, Emilia–Romagna that will compete in Serie A for the 2011–12 season, having finished in twelfth position last season. Founded as Verdi Foot Ball Club in July 1913, the club changed its...
football teams.