Pratchett fans will no doubt be thrilled to learn more about his early days as a journalist and his groundbreaking work in the world of comic fantasy, as well as his later struggles with Alzheimer's disease and his tireless advocacy for assisted dying. But even readers who are less familiar with Pratchett's oeuvre will find much to appreciate in this book, which offers a touching and nuanced portrait of a man who made a profound impact on the world around him. Why is he so underestimated? The world he created was brilliantly absurd – elephants all the way down – and strangely convincing. I remember arriving by car in Palermo, in Sicily, one day and one of my children saying “we’re on holiday in Ankh-Morpork”. Unlike any other fantasy world, Discworld constantly responds to our own. You’ve only got to look at the titles of the books ( Reaper Man, The Fifth Elephant) – parodies of films. Discworld is the laboratory where Pratchett carried out thought experiments on everything from social class and transport policy to the nature of time and death. Discworld, like Middle-earth, is immersive in a way that tempts people to dress up, draw street maps, tabulate its rules and pretend they live there

I'll admit that I wept when I heard Terry Pratchett had died. I didn't know him. I'd never met him. I had little knowledge of his wellbeing since the announcement that he had a rare form of Alzheimer's had been announced. But I had read almost everything he wrote and I loved him for it. So I wept because I knew there'd be no more. A moving and acutely observed account . . . Pratchett's magical mind, and dementia, by the man who knew him best. The Sunday Times Then, I grinned at how then British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, served Terry tea and biscuits in the Cabinet Office after he had submitted a petition on behalf of the Alzheimer’s Research Trust for more funding for research into dementia. Having known and worked alongside Terry as his personal assistant and business manager for over two decades, Rob is in the unique position of being able to offer both a personal and professional insight into the beloved writer’s public and private lives, as well as highlighting the origins and evolution of Terry’s extraordinarily successful creations.

It paints the picture of a writer who loved what he did. Adored it, was bewildered by it sometimes, often doubted it and his own success, but never once took it for granted. A writer who worked incredibly hard and got his just desserts, until sadly his imagination was so diminished by a cruel disease that ultimately killed him.

Terry Pratchett was a true library lover and wrote, “it seemed to be that just being inside a library was nearly enough, as if everything in the books would permeate your skin by some kind of osmosis.” As a lad, he hung out at Beaconsfield Library and “found himself incorporated into the library workforce as a Saturday boy.” He worked at r Terry's life was much like anyone else's, with humble beginnings that drifted into anecdotal rich midlife that didn't so much as crash as it sort of free-wheeled with a few minor stalls. There are no startling revelations or cryptic clues as to how to become as successful as he was. Ordinarily, Terry was a man who worked incredibly hard and whinged sometimes and the holy grail of how to be a writer is simply to write. The responsibility of documenting his life when I lived so much of it with him has been such an emotive experience. A Life With Footnotes is a book that I hope would have made Terry proud,” said Wilkins. It was touching to read of Terry’s friendships, and how he was affected by the death of Douglas Adams, whose books were important to him. “In 1983, when a reviewer in Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine declared The Colour of Magic the funniest thing he had ever read, Terry’s response was, ‘He couldn’t have read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, then.’” PDF / EPUB File Name: Terry_Pratchett_A_Life_With_Footnotes_-_Rob_Wilkins.pdf, Terry_Pratchett_A_Life_With_Footnotes_-_Rob_Wilkins.epubLively and affectionate, this is not a critical biography, but nor is it sycophantic. It shows Pratchett as brilliant and generous, but also cantakerous, with a ruthless sense of the ridiculous. i News Here’s the former press officer of the Central Electricity Generating Board, South Western Region, with his name in lights – Terry Pratchett at the peak of his powers. And yes, it's the signed edition of a limited number. It also received special binding and the following additions: a postcard with a TP doodle and one of the most famous quote from the Discworld series, a doodle by Rob Wilkins, TP's gilded sigil (the honeybee) and more. This isn't a new novel. This isn't some crazy story of wild adventures. This is a chance to learn more about Sir Terry; about his books, about his writing processes, and about facing a looming darkness. Yes parts of it are sad, but it's also heartwarming and funny and thoroughly interesting throughout.