Review: Terry Pratchett - A Life with footnotes - Rob Wilkins ****

By Brian Clegg

When someone gave me a copy of this book I was rather doubtful. Not because the chances are it’s only going to be of interest to Pratchett fans, because that why I was given it in the first place. I have more Pratchett novels on my bookshelves than those by any other author – and most of them are hardbacks, suggesting I couldn’t wait for the paperback, a sure sign of fandom. However, I find it easy to separate the creator and their creation. Just because I enjoy a particular book, or piece of music, or artwork – or even foodstuff – doesn’t mean I have any real interest in the person who created it. They are quite distinct entities.

The starting point, then, has to be whether the subject’s life story is interesting as a standalone thing. And I think it’s fair to say that in Terry Pratchett’s case, that it was quite interesting. Not in any outstanding way – his wasn’t an extraordinary life by any means – but there is no doubt that some of the aspects of his personality that come through in his writing also came through in the quirks of the way he went about life in general, especially in his social life and jobs before he became a full-time writer.

As a piece of writing, the biography does have some flaws. It’s far too long. I got about half way through the more than 400 pages and started flagging, finishing it off much more slowly than the first half, because I had to force myself to go back for more, rather than returning to it eagerly. Rob Wilkins, who was Pratchett’s assistant for a good number of years knew him well, had access to Pratchett’s fragmentary autobiography and was probably uniquely well placed to put together this book. He writes well, though when he attempts humour it feels like he is trying too hard and can be a little wince-making. But the positives weren’t enough to make the length enjoyable.

The other issue with the second half, other than it took me so long to get there, was that with success, inevitably, Pratchett’s life becomes more detached from everyday experience than in his struggling years, and as such was harder to relate to. 

I’m giving the book four stars because I think Wilkins does a good job, and in parts it is genuinely interesting – but it hasn’t persuaded me of the benefit to a fan like me of reading a biography of the author. What I’ll always treasure is Pratchett’s novels. I’m quite happy to leave an author’s life to the individual and their family.

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Now Appearing is the blog of science writer Brian Clegg (www.brianclegg.net), author of Inflight Science, Before the Big Bang and The God Effect.