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A review by beclikesowls
Terry Pratchett: A Life With Footnotes: The Official Biography by Rob Wilkins
funny
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
I wasn't sure what to expect going in. Often, when we talk about someone we loved after they're gone it's not really them we're talking about. It's just the ghost of all their finer qualities, a rosy memory that no living being could live up to. When we do that, I think we do them a bit of a disservice. We don't only love the good bits of the people that we love, and the 'good bits' aren't always obvious. People are complex, and personalities aren't pro and con lists that can always be easily divided into flaws and virtues. We loved the whole of them, so we should remember the whole of them.
Not knowing Terry I can't possibly say how accurate it is, but the sense I get from this book is that Rob has taken great care to portray him as he was, an entire human being. Terry has been a favourite author of mine since my auntie's copy of The Colour of Magic found its way into my grubby 11 year-old paws 20+ years ago, so the book was a really interesting insight into someone I respect and admire. Rob frequently uses quotes from friends and family and Terry's own writing. It's nice to have a few different perspectives, and this adds to the sense that great care has been taken with this book.
What shines through most of all is just how much love this was written with. Any biography of Terry Pratchett would fly off the shelves. In less principled hands this could have easily been a saccharine cash-grab about the funny man in the hat, but instead we have something that feels very moving and personal. A beautiful tribute to a great man, yes, but first of all to a friend.
Not knowing Terry I can't possibly say how accurate it is, but the sense I get from this book is that Rob has taken great care to portray him as he was, an entire human being. Terry has been a favourite author of mine since my auntie's copy of The Colour of Magic found its way into my grubby 11 year-old paws 20+ years ago, so the book was a really interesting insight into someone I respect and admire. Rob frequently uses quotes from friends and family and Terry's own writing. It's nice to have a few different perspectives, and this adds to the sense that great care has been taken with this book.
What shines through most of all is just how much love this was written with. Any biography of Terry Pratchett would fly off the shelves. In less principled hands this could have easily been a saccharine cash-grab about the funny man in the hat, but instead we have something that feels very moving and personal. A beautiful tribute to a great man, yes, but first of all to a friend.