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Pat Barker

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Author

The Resume

    (May 8, 1943- )
    Born in Thornaby-on-Tees, North Riding of Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom
    Birth name was Patricia Mary Drake
    Best known for the Regeneration trilogy: 'Regeneration' (1991), 'The Eye Is the Door' (1993), and 'The Ghost Room' (1995)
    Also wrote 'Union Street' (1982), 'The Man Who Wasn't There' (1988), 'Another World' (1998), 'Border Crossing' (2001), 'Life Class' (2007), 'Toby's Room' (2012), 'and 'The Silence of the Girls' (2018)
    Won the Booker Prize (1995)
    Named a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (2000)

Why she might be annoying:

    She had two children with her future husband, David Barker, while he was still married to his first wife.
    She said that her pre-'Regeneration' novels had left her 'strongly typecast as a northern, regional, working class, feminist novelist,' adding that she felt her career had gotten to 'a point where people are reading the labels instead of the books.'
    She complained about winning the Booker Prize, 'Too many intelligent, enthusiastic readers take it as a sign the book will be above their heads.'
    She claimed, 'I am not temperamentally fit to be a writer.'

Why she might not be annoying:

    Her mother covered up her out-of-wedlock birth by claiming to be a war widow.
    She was raised by her grandparents after her mother married when she was seven.
    'Granta' magazine and the Book Marketing Council named her one of the '20 Best Young British Novelists.' (1983)
    Her response to complaints about a lack of female characters in 'Regeneration' was 'There is a woman on every page -- me.'
    BBC News included 'Regeneration' on its list of the 100 'most inspiring' novels (2019).

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 5 Votes: 20.0% Annoying