He was a wonderful, witty, provocative writer. Here’s a review of a recent authorized biography. The review is both a welcome encapsulation of the author’s life and a tribute to his place as one of the mid-late 20th-C’s most influential novelists/postmodernists.
My recommendation for a Fowles newbie: Mantissa. It’s a brisk, erotic, uproarious trip inside an author’s head.
There’s also the easy intro, watching the movies based on his novels: The Collector (with Terence Stamp as the cold killer and Samantha Eggar is his prisoner), *The Magus * (with Anthony Quinn), and The French Lieutenant’s Woman (which broke open the nascent careers of Jeremy Irons and Meryl Streep). Be warned, though, *The Magus * got terrible reviews – but the other two films are excellent.
Then you can take on the heavier stuff, like The French Lieutenant’s Woman… 