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	{{About\|the author\|the doctor\|Peter Pook Chuen Keat}}		{{About\|the author\|the doctor\|Peter Pook Chuen Keat}}
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	{{Use British English\|date=June ~~2022~~}}		{{Use British English\|date=June 2012}}
	'''John Anthony Miller''' (25 April 1918 – 8 September 1978), better known by his [[pseudonym]] '''Peter Pook''', was a British author of humorous [[novel]]s.<ref name="Muir"/>		'''John Anthony Miller''' (25 April 1918 – 8 September 1978), better known by his [[pseudonym]] '''Peter Pook''', was a British author of humorous [[novel]]s.<ref name="Muir"/>

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{{short description|British writer}}
{{About|the author|the doctor|Peter Pook Chuen Keat}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2022}}
'''John Anthony Miller''' (25 April 1918 – 8 September 1978), better known by his [[pseudonym]] '''Peter Pook''', was a British author of humorous [[novel]]s.<ref name="Muir"/>

==Biography==
Born John Anthony Miller on 25 April 1918, in [[Falmouth, Cornwall|Falmouth]], [[Cornwall]], he grew up in [[Southsea]], [[Hampshire]] and was educated at Portsmouth Grammar School. At various times in his life he was a boxer, footballer, bank clerk, diver, Royal Marine, Indian Navy Lieutenant, antique dealer, schoolmaster, lecturer and author. His first novel, ''Banking on Form'',<ref name="Coventry"/> was published and reprinted by Robert Hale in March 1962, when he was forty-four, but his sense of humour won him a national literary competition when he was only nine. His pen name was from his mother as she was born a Pook and came from a Portsmouth family which had its origins in Devon. Peter Pook died suddenly on 8 September 1978.

==Writing==
Writing between 1960 and 1978, Pook produced a series of twenty-three "[[autobiography|autobiographical]]" novels in which the real events of his life were mingled with fanciful situations, and Pook himself is presented as an amiable [[dunderhead]] who is taken advantage of at every turn. After the first book in the series, ''Banking on Form'',<ref name="Coventry">{{cite news |last1=Bookmark |title=Frolics in the World of High Finance |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000769/19620308/030/0005 |accessdate=1 May 2019 |work=Coventry Evening Telegraph |date=8 March 1962 |page=5}}</ref> every subsequent volume has Pook's name in the title: ''Pook in Boots'', ''Pook in Business'', ''Pook Sahib'', etc.

Pook's first novel, ''Banking on Form'', was well received. ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' reviewer wrote that it "provides plenty of amusement".<ref name="Telegraph1962"/> Another reviewer compared it with [[Richard Gordon (English author)|Richard Gordon]]'s ''Doctor at Sea'', saying "Mr Pook takes the lid off banking quite irreverently, often hilariously, but never offensively ... There is nothing deep about the humour but I cannot recall many modern novels in which it is so well sustained."<ref name="Coventry"/> An Australian reviewer considered Pook "an outstanding humorous writer", and wrote "it is a relief and a joy to find a book like .. ''Banking on Form'' .... wonderful fun."<ref name=CT1/><br>
Pook became ''[[The Daily Mirror]]'' reviewer's "favourite "funny ha-ha" author of many years' chortling",<ref name="Muir2"/> while a later reviewer of ''The Teacher's Hand-Pook'' found it a "very funny little book", and suggested that "many a teacher might do worse than to take a few tips from the various Pookisms."<ref name="Izbicki"/>

Recurring themes in the books are Pook's obsession with [[physical culture]] and [[sport]],<ref name="Muir"/><ref name="Coventry"/> his [[military]] career<ref name="Muir2"/><ref name="Muir4"/> in the [[Royal Marines]], his teaching <ref name="Muir"/><ref name="Muir2"/><ref name="Izbicki"/> and banking careers,<ref name="Coventry"/><ref name="Telegraph1967"/> overseas travels,<ref name="Telegraph1962"/> his ambition to be an [[actor]] and his own writing career. The earlier books are totally light-hearted, though in some of the later works, particularly those depicting the war years, occasional glimpses of grim reality break in.

==Bibliography==
* ''Banking on Form'' (1962)<ref name="Coventry"/><ref name="Telegraph1962">{{cite news |last1=A.P.D. |title=Novels in Brief |url=http://link.galegroup.com.rp.nla.gov.au/apps/doc/IO0703470155/TGRH?u=nla&sid=TGRH&xid=27a2a02d |accessdate=1 May 2019 |work=The Daily Telegraph (The Telegraph Historical Archive) |issue=33275 |date=13 April 1962 |page=21}}</ref><ref name=CT1>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article130576931 |title=Hilarious World Of Peter Pook, Banker |last=R.R. |newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]] |volume=36 |issue=10,241 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=2 June 1962 |accessdate=1 May 2019 |page=19 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref name="Fairclough">{{cite news |last1=Fairclough |first1=Alan |title=There was a young lady .. and lots more besides! |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000560/19640113/160/0015 |accessdate=1 May 2019 |work=Daily Mirror |date=13 January 1964 |page=15}}</ref>
* ''Pook in Boots'' (1963)<ref name="Fairclough"/>
* ''Pook in Business'' (1963)<ref name="Fairclough"/>
* ''Pook Sahib'' (1965)
* ''Bwana Pook'' (1965)
* ''Professor Pook'' (1966)
* ''Banker Pook Confesses'' (1967)<ref name="Telegraph1967">{{cite news |last1=A.P.D. |title=Novels in Brief |url=http://link.galegroup.com.rp.nla.gov.au/apps/doc/IO0703353597/TGRH?u=nla&sid=TGRH&xid=00f45aaa |accessdate=1 May 2019 |work=The Daily Telegraph (The Telegraph Historical Archive) |date=22 June 1967 |page=21}}</ref>
* ''Pook at College'' (1968)<ref name="Muir">{{cite news |last1=Muir |first1=Alexander |title=From Sir with laughs |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000560/19680622/161/0017 |accessdate=1 May 2019 |work=Daily Mirror |date=22 June 1968 |page=17}}</ref>
* ''Pook and Partners'' (1969)
* ''Pook's Tender Years'' (1969)
* ''Playboy Pook'' (Oct 1970)
* ''Pook's Class War'' (1971)<ref name="Muir2">{{cite news |last1=Muir |first1=Alexander |title=Books. Pook's Class War. |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000560/19710611/135/0021 |accessdate=1 May 2019 |work=Daily Mirror |date=11 June 1971 |page=21}}</ref>
* ''Pook's Tale of Woo'' (1972)<ref name="Muir3">{{cite news |last1=Muir |first1=Alexander |title=Voyage of death |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000560/19720413/133/0020 |accessdate=1 May 2019 |work=Daily Mirror |date=13 April 1972 |page=20}}</ref>
* ''Pook's Eastern Promise'' (1972)<ref name="Muir4">{{cite news |last1=Muir |first1=Alexander |title=Orange Secrets |url=https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000560/19721102/159/0021 |accessdate=1 May 2019 |work=Daily Mirror |date=2 November 1972 |page=21}}</ref>
* ''Beau Pook Proposes'' (1973)
* ''Pook's Tours'' (1974)
* ''The Teacher's Hand-Pook'' (1975)<ref name="Izbicki">{{cite news |last1=Izbicki |first1=John |title=How to survive in school |url=http://link.galegroup.com.rp.nla.gov.au/apps/doc/IO0702834366/TGRH?u=nla&sid=TGRH&xid=9fbbb364 |accessdate=1 May 2019 |work=The Daily Telegraph (The Telegraph Historical Archive) |issue=37393 |date=14 August 1975 |page=11}}</ref>
* ''Gigolo Pook'' (1975)
* ''Pook's Love Nest'' (1976)
* ''Pook's China Doll'' (1977)
* ''Pook's Curiosity Shop'' (1977)
* ''Marine Pook Esquire'' (1978)
* ''Pook's Viking Virgins'' (1979)

== References ==
{{reflist}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pook, Peter}}
[[Category:1918 births]]
[[Category:1978 deaths]]
[[Category:British writers]]
[[Category:People from Southsea]]
[[Category:People from Falmouth, Cornwall]]
[[Category:People educated at The Portsmouth Grammar School]]
[[Category:Royal Marines officers]]
[[Category:Indian Navy officers]]

Peter Pook - Revision history

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