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Toby Litt

Goodreads Author

Born

Bedfordshire, England, The United Kingdom

Website

http://www.tobylitt.com/

Twitter

tobylitt

Genre

Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry

Influences

Muriel Spark, Virginia Woolf, Claire-Louise Bennett, Samuel Beckett, O ...more

Member Since

November 2012

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/toby_litt

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Toby Litt was born in Bedfordshire, England. He studied Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia where he was taught by Malcolm Bradbury, winning the 1995 Curtis Brown Fellowship.

He lived in Prague from 1990 to 1993 and published his first book, a collection of short stories entitled Adventures in Capitalism, in 1996.

In 2003 Toby Litt was nominated by Granta magazine as one of the 20 'Best of Young British Novelists'.

In 2018, he published Wrestliana, his memoir about wrestling, writing, losing and being a man.

His novel, A Writer's Diary, was published by Galley Beggar Press on January 1st 2022.

A Writer's Diary continues daily on Substack.

He lives in London and is the Head of Creative Writing at the University of Southampton. ...more

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Toby Litt’s books

Average rating: 3.52 · 8,013 ratings · 880 reviews · 89 distinct works • Similar authors

	Dead Boy Detectives, Volume 1: Schoolboy Terrors by Toby Litt (Goodreads Author) (Writer), Mark Buckingham (Illustrator) 3.46 avg rating — 1,005 ratings — published 2013 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	deadkidsongs 3.84 avg rating — 779 ratings — published 2001 — 15 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Corpsing 3.33 avg rating — 468 ratings — published 2000 — 18 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Dead Boy Detectives, Volume 2: Ghost Snow by Toby Litt (Goodreads Author) (Artist), Mark Buckingham (Illustrator), Ryan Kelly (Illustrator) 3.69 avg rating — 404 ratings — published 2015 — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Patience 4.14 avg rating — 289 ratings — published 2019 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Hospital 3.35 avg rating — 346 ratings — published 2007 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	I Play the Drums in a Band Called Okay 3.45 avg rating — 264 ratings — published 2008 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Beatniks 3.17 avg rating — 265 ratings — published 1997 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Finding Myself 3.14 avg rating — 252 ratings — published 2003 — 13 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Journey Into Space 3.41 avg rating — 162 ratings — published 2009 — 9 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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208 posts
Toby Litt's Blog

On a Benediction

This is something I’ve been yearning to share for over two years.

I hope those of you who’ve been following the Writer’s Diary will understand.

It’s something I’m proud of and which still moves me.

Whilst I was writing the first draft of A Writer’s Diary, partly during the early lockdowns, one entry in particular came straight out as a little piece that I felt would have a wider life. I had a suspici

Toby is Currently Reading

Toby Litt is currently reading

Concept Of Mind

by Gilbert Ryle

bookshelves: currently-reading

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Aug 17, 2025 01:07AM

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The Cat (Penguin Modern Classics)

by Georges Simenon

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Nov 23, 2025 10:29PM

Toby Litt is currently reading

Howards End (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics) by E. M. Forster(1977-06-30)

by E.M. Forster

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Jul 31, 2025 04:19AM

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Toby Litt rated a book liked it The 39 Steps (Richard Hannay, #1) by John Buchan	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Toby Litt rated a book really liked it Bright Fear by Mary Jean Chan	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 25, 2025 05:01AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Bright Fear by Mary Jean Chan. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Bright Fear by Mary Jean Chan <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Toby Litt rated a book liked it Kind Of Blue: The Making Of The Miles Davis Masterpiece by Ashley Kahn	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Sep 29, 2025 04:52AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Boyhood of Cain by Michael Amherst. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Boyhood of Cain by Michael Amherst <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Toby Litt rated a book it was amazing Beautiful Darkness by Fabien Vehlmann	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Toby Litt rated a book liked it The Blue Moment: Miles Davis's Kind of Blue and the Remaking of Modern Music by Richard Williams	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Toby Litt rated a book really liked it The House on the Borderland and Other Novels by William Hope Hodgson	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
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Toby Litt wants to read Kind Of Blue: The Making Of The Miles Davis Masterpiece by Ashley Kahn	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 12, 2025 07:05AM · 1 like · like
Toby Litt started reading The Blue Moment: Miles Davis's Kind of Blue and the Remaking of Modern Music by Richard Williams	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Sep 12, 2025 07:05AM · 1 like · like

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Quotes by Toby Litt (?)

“Conversely, bad writers often write in order to forward a cause or enlarge other people’s understanding of a contemporary social issue. Any attempt to write fiction in order to make the world a better, fairer place is almost certain to fail.”
― Toby Litt

tags: baad-writing, criticism, writing, writing-process

2 likes

“...the pleasures of literary fiction are the pleasures of orientation; the pleasures of literature are the pleasures of bewilderment.”
― Toby Litt

tags: literary-fiction, literature

0 likes

“Bad writing is almost always a love poem addressed by the self to the self. The person who will admire it first and last and most is the writer herself.”
― Toby Litt

tags: bad-writing, criticism, writing

0 likes

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Topics Mentioning This Author

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The Seasonal Read...: 20.9 - Moderator's Pet - Wendy UK's task: Celebrate Norwich!	14	77	Jun 10, 2016 02:08PM
The Seasonal Read...: * Summer Challenge 2016: Tasks	11	730	Jul 20, 2016 05:55PM
Forgotten Classic...: What Are You Reading?	12	58	Sep 11, 2018 06:21PM
Reading the 20th ...: What books are you reading now? (2017-19)	2003	235	Jun 10, 2019 08:43PM

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