Wibberley, Leonard
Entry updated 12 September 2022. Tagged: Author.
(1915-1983) Irish journalist and author, in the UK from about 1930, in the US from 1943, who published over 100 books, some of his detective fiction being as by Leonard Holton; much of his work was for children, many of these titles being as by Patrick O'Connor or Christopher Webb. Only a modest proportion of his output was sf or fantasy. His first and most famous sf novel, the ostensibly adult tale which begins the Grand Fenwick Ruritanian spoof sequence, was The Mouse that Roared (25 December 1954-29 January 1955 Saturday Evening Post as "The Day New York Was Invaded"; 1955; vt The Wrath of Grapes 1955), in which the tiny European Duchy of Grand Fenwick, having declared war on America with the intention of losing and gaining aid, invades New York when it is deserted due to a Civil Defense exercise; the Fenwick army stumbles over a doomsday super-Weapon, the Q-bomb, and imposes peace on the world. The book was filmed as The Mouse that Roared (1959) directed by Jack Arnold. Most of the subsequent volumes – Beware of the Mouse (1958), which is a prequel, The Mouse on Wall Street (1969), The Mouse That Poured (1981) and The True and Secret History of How the World Oil Crisis Was Solved by the Duchy of Grand Fenwick; Or, the Mouse that Saved the West (1981) – make little use of sf devices except in the most cursory fashion. The notable exception is The Mouse on the Moon (1962), which involves a farcical Space Flight to the Moon via an Antigravity principle which is found in Grand Fenwick's local wine and enables their makeshift Spaceship to beat both America and Russia to the goal of a first lunar touchdown; this was filmed as The Mouse on the Moon (1963).
The Uncle Bill sequence comprising Encounter Near Venus (1967) and Journey to Untor (1970) is fantasy, though most of it is set in space, and has been described as Children's SF. A singleton, One in Four (1976), depicts an America threatened by immaterial entities from the Far Future. Of fantasy interest were several further juveniles, including Mrs Searwood's Secret Weapon (1954), McGillicuddy McGotham (1956), Take Me to Your President (1957), The Quest of Excalibur (1959), Stranger at Killknock (1961) and The Crime of Martin Coverly (1981). Wibberley was an intermittently clever writer whose books were eaten by sweetness. [JC]
see also: Dalek I Love You.
Leonard Patrick O'Connor Wibberley
born Dublin, Ireland: 9 April 1915
died Santa Monica, California: 22 November 1983
works
series
Grand Fenwick
- The Mouse that Roared (Boston, Massachusetts: Little, Brown and Company, 1955) [Grand Fenwick: hb/John Morris]
- The Wrath of Grapes (London: Robert Hale Limited, 1955) [vt of the above: Grand Fenwick: hb/]
- Beware of the Mouse (New York: G P Putnam's Sons, 1958) [Grand Fenwick: hb/]
- The Mouse on the Moon (New York: William Morrow and Company, 1962) [Grand Fenwick: hb/Lydia Fruhauf]
- The Mouse on Wall Street (New York: William Morrow and Company, 1969) [Grand Fenwick: hb/Lydia Rosier]
- The True and Secret History of How the World Oil Crisis Was Solved by the Duchy of Grand Fenwick; Or, the Mouse that Saved the West (New York: William Morrow and Company, 1981) [Grand Fenwick: hb/Terry Fehr]
Uncle Bill
- Encounter Near Venus (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux/Ariel Books, 1967) [Uncle Bill: hb/]
- Journey to Untor (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux/Ariel Books, 1970) [Uncle Bill: hb/]
individual titles
- Mrs Searwood's Secret Weapon (Boston, Massachusetts: Little, Brown and Company, 1954) [hb/]
- McGillicuddy McGotham (Boston, Massachusetts: Little, Brown and Company, 1956) [hb/]
- Take Me to Your President (New York: G P Putnam's Sons, 1957) [hb/]
- The Quest of Excalibur (New York: G P Putnam's Sons, 1959) [hb/]
- A Feast of Freedom (New York: William Morrow and Company, 1964) [hb/]
- Stranger at Killknock (New York: G P Putnam's Sons, 1961) [hb/]
- One in Four (New York: William Morrow and Company, 1976) [hb/The Art Works]
- Homeward to Ithaka (New York: William Morrow and Company, 1978) [based on Irish and Greek legends: hb/James Barkley]
- Altar of the Ice Valley (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux/Ariel Books, 1980) [hb/]
- The Crime of Martin Coverly (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux/Ariel Books, 1980) [hb/Andrew Rhodes]
nonfiction
- Shamrocks and Sea Silver and Other Illuminations (San Bernardino, California: The Borgo Press, 1992) [nonfiction: coll: hb/]
links
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