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Terry Pratchett: A Life With Footnotes: The…
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Terry Pratchett: A Life With Footnotes: The Official Biography (edition 2022)

by Rob Wilkins (Author)

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3861666,637 (4.38)1 / 34
"'People think that stories are shaped by people. In fact, it's the other way around.' Terry Pratchett, creator of the phenomenally bestselling Discworld series, knight of the realm, and holder of more honorary doctorates than he knew what to do with, was known and loved around the world for his wildly popular books, his brilliant satirical humour and for the humanity of his campaign work. But that's only part of the picture. At the time of his death in 2015, he was working on his finest story yet - his own. The story of a boy who was told by his headteacher aged six that he would never amount to anything, and spent the rest of his life proving him wrong. Who walked out on his A levels to become a journalist, encountering some very dead bodies and the idea for his first novel before he reached twenty. Who celebrated his knighthood by smelting himself a sword, and who, on being awarded the prestigious Carnegie Medal, switched it during the prizegiving for a chocolate replica and proceeded to eat it in front of an audience of horrified librarians. Tragically, Terry ran out of time to complete the memoir he so desperately wanted to write. But now, in the only authorised biography of one of our best known and best loved writers, his manager and friend Rob Wilkins picks up where Terry left off, and with the help of friends, family and Terry's own unpublished work, tells the full story of an extraordinary life"--Publisher's description.… (more)
Member:Esmebrrl
Title:Terry Pratchett: A Life With Footnotes: The Official Biography
Authors:Rob Wilkins (Author)
Info:Doubleday (2022), Edition: 01, 336 pages
Collections:Your library, Currently reading
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Terry Pratchett: A Life With Footnotes: The Official Biography by Rob Wilkins

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» See also 34 mentions

Showing 1-5 of 15 (next | show all)
Well written and a good read. Definitely not a critical literary biography. Reads more like a fan biography, and that's fine. Just leaves out a lot. ( )
  wellred2 | Mar 11, 2024 |
Hilarious to heartbreaking and so well written & read by Pratchett’s personal assistant. Reduced to tears by the end and the early onset dementia that robbed Terry of more time ( )
  SESchend | Feb 2, 2024 |
Wilkins writes well, but this is a somewhat soulless book. It is a reasonable biography of Pratchett-the-writer, and nearly silent on Pratchett-the-person. Whether this is a deliberate choice isn't clear. Pratchett's spouse and offspring get some mention in the earlier parts of the book, but then somehow almost vanish for most of the second half.

Generally interesting, but I'm not sure that I would recommend it. ( )
  fred_mouse | Jan 2, 2024 |
This is a biography of the Discworld author by his longtime assistant, based on notes Pratchett made toward an autobiography that he never got around to writing. Lots of good details on Pratchett's youth and early career especially; I liked hearing about his working as a journalist and as a press officer for a nuclear power plant in particular. There's also great but devastating insight into his later years, as the cognitive decline of Alzheimer's began to take hold. I did think that at times Wilkins is (for perhaps natural reasons) a bit too into Pratchett's finances and contracts, and I felt like Pratchett's wife totally disappeared from the book, but if you're even a mild Pratchett fan (which is where I would categorize myself) there's a lot to get out of this book. This is a strong work about a key figure in the sf&f field. (Abigail Nussbaum has a very good negative review of the book that I largely agree with... but I still think it's a very good book!)
  Stevil2001 | Oct 15, 2023 |
Showing 1-5 of 15 (next | show all)
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Five months before he died, Terry Pratchett wrote five letters, sealed them in enveloped and locked them in the safe in his office to be opened after his death.
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"'People think that stories are shaped by people. In fact, it's the other way around.' Terry Pratchett, creator of the phenomenally bestselling Discworld series, knight of the realm, and holder of more honorary doctorates than he knew what to do with, was known and loved around the world for his wildly popular books, his brilliant satirical humour and for the humanity of his campaign work. But that's only part of the picture. At the time of his death in 2015, he was working on his finest story yet - his own. The story of a boy who was told by his headteacher aged six that he would never amount to anything, and spent the rest of his life proving him wrong. Who walked out on his A levels to become a journalist, encountering some very dead bodies and the idea for his first novel before he reached twenty. Who celebrated his knighthood by smelting himself a sword, and who, on being awarded the prestigious Carnegie Medal, switched it during the prizegiving for a chocolate replica and proceeded to eat it in front of an audience of horrified librarians. Tragically, Terry ran out of time to complete the memoir he so desperately wanted to write. But now, in the only authorised biography of one of our best known and best loved writers, his manager and friend Rob Wilkins picks up where Terry left off, and with the help of friends, family and Terry's own unpublished work, tells the full story of an extraordinary life"--Publisher's description.

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Official biography of Terry Pratchett in All Things Discworldian - The Guild of Pratchett Fans

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