Terry Pratchett
A Life With Footnotes* * The Official Biography
Ratings13
Average rating4.5
"Off all the dead authors in the world, Terry Pratchett is the most alive." (John Lloyd)
'Always readable, illuminating and honest. It made me miss the real Terry.' - NEIL GAIMAN 'Sometimes joyfully, sometimes painfully, intimate . . . it is wonderful to have this closeup picture of the writer's working life.' - FRANK COTTRELL-BOYCE, THE OBSERVER 'Wilkins has pulled off the extraordinary feat of writing an 'authorised' biography which is nonetheless as frank, funny and unsentimental as anything its subject might have produced himself.' - MAIL ON SUNDAY 'A moving and acutely observed account . . . by the man who knew him best.' - THE SUNDAY TIMES At the time of his death in 2015, award-winning and bestselling author Sir Terry Pratchett was working on his finest story yet - his own. The creator of the phenomenally bestselling Discworld series, Terry Pratchett was known and loved around the world for his hugely popular books, his smart satirical humour and the humanity of his campaign work. But that's only part of the picture. Before his untimely death, Terry was writing a memoir: the story of a boy who aged six was told by his teacher that he would never amount to anything and spent the rest of his life proving him wrong. For Terry lived a life full of astonishing achievements: becoming one of the UK's bestselling and most beloved writers, winning the prestigious Carnegie Medal and being awarded a knighthood. Now, the book Terry sadly couldn't finish has been written by Rob Wilkins, his former assistant, friend and now head of the Pratchett literary estate. Drawing on his own extensive memories, along with those of the author's family, friends and colleagues, Rob unveils the full picture of Terry's life - from childhood to his astonishing writing career, and how he met and coped with what he called the 'Embuggerance' of Alzheimer's disease. A deeply moving and personal portrait of the extraordinary life of Sir Terry Pratchett, written with unparalleled insight and filled with funny anecdotes, this is the only official biography of one of our finest authors.
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A touching tribute to my favourite author. I can't really explain what it is about this guy. Maybe it's the fact he died before I had read any of his work, meaning I could never experience him as more than an idol. Reading this biography brought me closer to him than ever before and helped me bring this to a point of reconciliation. Thank you Rob.
Heartfelt and touching. Narrated by Rob (Pratchett's personal assistant) himself, the audiobook made me shed tears several times.
Do NOT skip the footnotes!
A pleasing medley of historical fact and anecdote, touching moments, silly moments and moments of fascinating insight. Great pacing, at no stage in the life recounted does the reader feel lost in the weeds - like a particular time period has overstayed its welcome, or that it was too brief; would that we could say the same for Terry's life span.
Hard to shake pervasive sadness reading this, knowing he's gone, that his final years were often a struggle, nevertheless a fair amount of giggling was done as well, and I was surprised to realize that Wilkins' writing elicited it almost as often as those passages directly credited to Pratchett.
Something of a dual narrative, the story of Terry's life interwoven with the story of the biographer's time with Terry, which I don't mind, because I think the warm remembrance of a friend is a better fit than a coldly factual account would be. Which does not stop the biographer from being honest, even matter of fact about Terry's flaws.
While I appreciate the sparing intermittent references to Pratchett's deterioration throughout earlier chapters, flashing forward before going back to linear narrative, as it feels like an attempt to gently prepare us for the time when it will start to go downhill, I was still sobbing by the end.
⚠️ Particularly if you have ever witnessed a loved one dealing with Alzheimer's, there are passages in this book that will rip your heart out; discussion of assisted dying.
I think I was resistant to the idea of anybody but Terry Pratchett writing about Terry Pratchett, but that last line, and footnote, of the epilogue capped it for me. This was beautifully written, and while my eyes and nose and emotions are raw, I'm still glad I read it.
