Book Review: Terry Pratchett: A Life with Footnotes by Rob Wilkins

About:

Terry Pratchett: A Life with Footnotes by Rob Wilkins is the famous author’s official biography. Mr. Wilkins was Pratchett’s personal assistant and friend for almost two decades.

• 352 pages
• Publisher ‏ : ‎ Doubleday
  
• Language ‏ : ‎ English
• ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0857526634

My rating for Terry Pratchett: A Life with Footnotes – 5
Buy Terry Pratchett: A Life with Footnotes from Amazon.com*
More Books by Rob Wilkins*
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Thoughts:

If I ever have a biography written about me (a fat chance), I’d like it to be like this one. Terry Pratchett: A Life with Footnotes by Rob Wilkins celebrates the life of, well, Terry Pratchett with joy, gusto and charm letting the readers know the author with all his idiosyncrasies, and wit, filled with humorous footnotes as promised by the title.

Both Mr. Pratchett and Mr. Wilkins admit that some of the stories fall into the category of “Too Good To Check” (TGTC), however as a good biographer, the author lets the readers know which ones they are. I tremendously enjoyed this aspect of the book and reminded me of the line “When the legend becomes the fact, print the legend” from John Ford’s classic 1962 western The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance.

As someone working closely with Mr. Pratchett, the author witnessed the tragedy, as well as lightheartedness, of working with a declining beloved person. In the first half of the book, the author relishes the enviable unofficial, or maybe official, role of “keeper of anecdotes”. These heartwarming, and funny stories, told by someone who knew Pratchett most intimately, are interwoven with the fantastic work ethic and output of Discworld books.

Slowly, however, we witness Mr. Pratchett’s decline into dementia which is as difficult as one can imagine, as someone who was a witness to such great sadness. I remember the stories Neil Gaiman told during an evening in Philadelphia, about Mr. Pratchett’s disease, causing him not to see things in front of him, where he would spend a day just looking for a letter on the keyboard.
Sad, indeed, but one can also see the humor.

Whether you are a Pratchett fan or not, this is an immensely enjoyable and intimate book. Told with graciousness, humanity, and humor, this book, I’m sure, would make Mr. Pratchett proud.

Buy Terry Pratchett: A Life with Footnotes from Amazon.com*
More Books by Rob Wilkins*
Books by Terry Pratchett*

Zohar — Man of la Book
Dis­claimer: I got this book for free
*Ama­zon links point to an affil­i­ate account, the money is usually spent on books