author
Theodore Edward Hook
1788–1841
A brilliant Georgian wit, Theodore Edward Hook was a novelist, composer, journalist, and celebrated practical joker whose life moved from comic opera and royal favor to scandal, satire, and literary success. He is remembered for the infamous Berners Street hoax and for founding the influential Tory journal John Bull.
4 Audiobooks
The Choice Humorous Works, Ludicrous Adventures, Bons Mots, Puns, and Hoaxes of Theodore Hook
by Theodore Edward Hook
Jack Brag, vol. 3 (of 3)
by Theodore Edward Hook
Jack Brag, vol. 1 (of 3)
by Theodore Edward Hook
Jack Brag, vol. 2 (of 3)
by Theodore Edward Hook
About the author
Born in London in 1788, Hook showed an early talent for music, improvisation, and comic writing. At sixteen, he achieved success with The Soldier’s Return, a comic opera written with his father, composer James Hook, and soon became a familiar figure in theatrical and fashionable circles.
The Prince Regent appointed him accountant-general and treasurer of Mauritius, but a financial scandal brought his government career to an end. Back in England, Hook turned to journalism and founded John Bull in 1820, while also writing popular novels such as Sayings and Doings, Gilbert Gurney, and Jack Brag. He died in London in 1841, leaving behind a reputation for dazzling wit, mischief, and energetic satire.