Terry Pratchett: A Life With Footnotes: The Official Biography

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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. 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.

The creator of the phenomenally bestselling Discworld series, Terry Pratchett was known and loved around the world for his hugely popular books, his smart satirical humour and the humanity of his campaign work. But that's only part of the picture. 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.’” 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. Where is the option to give this book 10 out of 5? Because, damn, it can't be overstated how good this book is.

Living a life alongside one of the world’s greatest authors, then reliving every moment for his biography, has been an incredible journey. Terry was one of the most talented, complex, intellectually stimulating people I’ve ever had the privilege of meeting – a true genius.”

Rob Wilkins says: ‘Living a life alongside one of the world’s greatest authors, then reliving every moment for his biography, has been an incredible journey. Terry was one of the most talented, complex, intellectually stimulating people I’ve ever had the privilege of meeting - a true genius. 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.’

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Now, the book Terry sadly couldn't finish has been written by Rob Wilkins, his former assistant, friend and now head of the Pratchett literary estate. Drawing on his own extensive memories, along with those of the author's family, friends and colleagues, Rob unveils the full picture of Terry's life - from childhood to his astonishing writing career, and how he met and coped with what he called the 'Embuggerance' of Alzheimer's disease. 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. Everyone who is a Discworld fan has their favourite character. I have too many to mention but I'd like to mention The Luggage because that is the point (in the very first Discworld "The Colour of Magic") that I fell in love with all things Pratchett.

We were robbed of a genius who had so many more stories to tell us. But as long as his name is spoken he will never truly die. This is the greatest biography I've ever read and I feel so privileged to have been given insight into his incredible life I’ve read almost all of his books (no, I still haven’t been able to read the last Discworld book — and after reading about how it was written, in the last months of Terry being Terry, I don’t think I’ll ever be ready to do that). I can quote him for hours and hours at length. I’ve seen every screen adaptation of his works. And yet I still didn’t know much about the person my literary hero was until I read this book. This biography was written by someone who knew him personally, and I must say it was by far the best biography I've ever read. Writen by his assistant and friend, Rob Wilkins, we are taken on an inspiring, hilarious and emotional journey throughout Terry's entire life. People knowing Pratchett and his works also know that Wilkins has been working for and living with the Pratchetts for years, before the diagnosis even. They had a kind of symbiosis going and it shows in this book.If you are not a fan of the Discworld then you may not appreciate all the references made to the books but even as an autobiography of one of the UK's best selling and prolific authors, this is an extremely well written, thoughtful and very personal look at Terry Pratchett's remarkable life and work.