A Fool's Alphabet

A Fool's Alphabet is a 1992 novel by author Sebastian Faulks, telling the story of photographer Pietro Russell, born in 1950 to a British soldier and his Italian wife, in twenty-six alphabetical chapters.

A Fool's Alphabet

First edition
Author	Sebastian Faulks
Language	English
Published	1992 (Hutchinson)
Publication place	United Kingdom
Media type	Print (Hardback)
Pages	288 pp
ISBN	0-09-177299-0
OCLC	26300769
Dewey Decimal	823/.914 20
LC Class	PR6056.A89 F66 1992

It is Faulks's second novel and his most experimental.^[1] It is unusual for being composed of chapters named after places associated with the character but arranged alphabetically rather than chronologically.^[2] The title is taken from the joke alphabet that begins "A for 'orses, B for mutton".^[3]

The chapters and locations are as follows:

• Anzio, Italy, 1944
• Backley, Berkshire, England, 1950
• Colombo, Sri Lanka, 1980
• Dorking, Surrey, England, 1963
• Evanston, Illinois, USA, 1985
• Fulham, London, England, 1964
• Ghent, Belgium, 1981
• Houches, Les, France, 1967
• Ibiza, Balearic Islands, 1966
• Jerusalem, Israel, 1982
• Kowloon, Hong Kong, 1980
• Lyndonville, Vermont, USA, 1971
• Mons, Belgium, 1914
• New York, USA, 1983
• Oxford, England, 1976
• Paris, France, 1979
• Quetzaltenango, Guatemala, 1974
• Rome, Italy, 1978
• Sorrento, Italy, 1958
• Terminal 5, Heathrow Airport, England, 1988
• Uzès, France, 1987
• Vladimirci, Yugoslavia, 1986
• Watsonville, California, USA, 1974
• Xianyang, China
• Yarmouth, England, 1991
• Zanica, Italy, 1970