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Terry Pratchett: A Life With Footnotes

The moving and joyously funny must-read official biography of one of our finest storytellers

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Terry Pratchett: A Life With Footnotes

By: Rob Wilkins
Narrated by: Rob Wilkins
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Summary

Brought to you by Penguin.

WINNER OF THE BRITISH SCIENCE FICTION ASSOCIATION AWARD FOR BEST NON-FICTION


'PEOPLE THINK THAT STORIES ARE SHAPED BY PEOPLE. IN FACT, IT'S THE OTHER WAY AROUND.'

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.

At six years old, Terry was told by his headteacher that he would never amount to anything. He spent the rest of his life proving that teacher wrong. At sixty-six, Terry had lived a life full of achievements: becoming one of the UK's bestselling writers, winning the Carnegie Medal and being awarded a knighthood for services to literature.

Following his untimely death from Alzheimer's disease, the mantle of completing Terry's memoir was passed to Rob Wilkins, his former assistant, friend and now head of the author's literary estate.

Drawing on his own extensive memories, along with those of Terry's family, friends, fans and colleagues, Rob recounts Terry's extraordinary story - from his early childhood to the literary phenomenon that his Discworld series became; and how he met and coped with the challenges that 'The Embuggerance' of Alzheimer's brought with it.

'Of 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

© Rob Wilkins 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

Alzheimer's & Dementia Art & Literature Authors Friendship Physical Illness & Disease Relationships Dementia Alzheimer's Disease Biography

Critic Reviews

Always readable, illuminating and honest. It made me miss the real Terry.
Heart breaking and funny . . . sometimes joyfully, sometimes painfully, intimate . . . it is wonderful to have this closeup picture of the writer's working life. (Frank Cottrell-Boyce)
The joy of this biography . . . is that it spins magic from mundanity in precisely the way Pratchett himself did.
No one, after Pratchett's wife, Lyn, and daughter, Rhianna, knew the author as well as Wilkins. I wept through the last 20 pages - beautifully done - charting Pratchett's decline in a way that is both sensitive and unsparing.
Fond, funny and conveys a pitch-perfect sense of how Pratchett managed to take the elements of his 1950s working-class childhood . . . and turn it into a universe of limitless richness and invention.
The friendship and affection between the pair shines through every page . . . Of course, [Pratchett] fans will love the book . . . and even casual readers will delight in tales of his idiosyncratic passions.
A biography almost as funny and perceptive as one of Terry's novels . . . a rich, deeply affectionate portrait of a unique personality . . . it's a joy to see the much-missed author spring back into technicolour life in this fascinating and deeply moving tribute.
A moving and acutely observed account . . . Pratchett's magical mind, and dementia, by the man who knew him best.
Wilkins has many advantages over most biographers, having not only known his subject well, but taken down notes while he was alive for his projected memoir. The result, at times, is like a ventriloquist act, with Pratchett's voice and personality emerging loud and clear.
Both more and less than a biography . . . full of insights and revelations, in many ways the sort of thing Prathett might have written about himself, proud of what has been done, honest about the process . . . written with intelligence and compassion. (Christopher Priest)
All stars
Most relevant
Rob Wilkins was Terry Pratchett's personal assistant. There is a point, chronologically, when Rob Wilkins enters the narrative. At that point: a 2nd hand retelling morphs into a 1st hand recollection; the tone softens and the quality improves.

A touching memoir following an adequate retelling

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A wonderful insight into a great man, written with painful honesty and great affection by Rob Wilkins. At times, it was very hard to listen to, especially the last hour.
This is something very special.

Simply stunning

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Engrossing, learned so much about my favourite author. a great read. very much enjoyed the actual perfomance too!

well read, well written

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Such a funny, touching and informative read. I loved the warmth with which this biography/ autobiography is told. You can tell Rob Wilkins really loved Terry but also wanted to let us see the true Terry, warts and all. I really felt like I got to know who Terry was and what made him tick. I have been a Terry Pratchett fan for 30 years but this book has made me revisit my love for his writing and start rereading from the beginning.

A touching and funny biography

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The audiobook version. You can hear Rob Wilkins choking up in *that chapter*, and it made me cry.

On the shop floor at work.

I started the book the day it came out, and delayed it by reading every book mentioned as it was mentioned, and watching the Sky shows as they were mentioned. I've yet to read Rising Steam and Shepherd's Crown, as they were mentioned while I was at work, but they're next.

Damn, that book is well written and makes me feel like I knew Sir Pterry too.

Do not read last chapter in public.

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