Terence David John Pratchett

Terry Pratchett

A treasury of essays and other nonfiction writings by the best-selling creator of the Discworld series ranges from musings on mushrooms and speculations about Gandalf's love life to the delights of banana daiquiris and the importance of Alzheimer's research. 20,000 first printing.

Collected Nonfiction

A Slip of the Keyboard

Terry Pratchett in his own words With a foreword by Neil Gaiman Terry Pratchett earned a place in the hearts of readers the world over with his bestselling Discworld series - but in recent years he became equally well-known as an outspoken campaigner for causes including Alzheimer's research and animal rights. A Slip of the Keyboard brings together the best of Pratchett's non fiction writing on his life, on his work, and on the weirdness of the world: from Granny Pratchett to Gandalf's love life; from banana daiquiris to books that inspired him; from getting started as a writer to the injustices that he fought to end. With his trademark humour, humanity and unforgettable way with words, this collection offers an insight behind the scenes of Discworld into a much loved and much missed figure - man and boy, bibliophile and computer geek, champion of hats, orang-utans and the right to a good death.

POINT ME TO HEAVEN WHEN THE FINAL CHAPTER COMES

High Fidelity

I’m all for assisted death. Of course there are people who are against it, but they come up with the wrong reasons, such as “God doesn’t like it” and so on. Personally, I really don’t think God is all that bothered, but I would like to think that my god would be more concerned about unnecessary suffering. Who knows.

I’M SLIPPING AWAY A BIT AT A TIME … AND ALL I CAN DO IS WATCH IT HAPPEN

It occurred to me that at one point it was like I had two diseases—one was Alzheimer’s and the other was knowing I had Alzheimer’s.

Noreascon Four: WorldCon programme book, 2004

For what it’s worth, I always preferred Batman. Most local kids did. If you ate up your broccoli and drank your milk you could theoretically be Batman when you grew up, whereas in order to be Superman you had to be born on another planet.

In any case, genre is just a flavouring. It’s not the whole meal. Don’t get confused by the scenery.

From Meditations on Middle-earth, ed. Karen Haber, November 2001

Do I still think, as I did then, that Tolkien was the greatest writer in the world? In the strict sense, no. You can think that at thirteen. If you still think it at fifty-three, something has gone wrong with your life. But sometimes things all come together at the right time in the right place—book, author, style, subject, and reader. The moment was magic.

Most crime novels are full of policemen, crimes, and criminals, and most cakes contain pretty much the same sort of ingredients. It’s the cookery that counts. Cook it right, with imagination and flair and a good pinch of luck, and you have that rare and valuable thing—a genre book that’s risen above the genre. And Harry Potter is beautifully cooked.

I also came across the word neoteny, which means “remaining young.” It’s something which we as humans have developed into a survival trait.

As a suddenly thirsting reader I escaped first of all to what was then called Outer Space. I read a lot of science fiction, which as I have said is only a twentieth-century subset of fantasy. And a lot of it was, in strict literary terms, rubbish. But this was good rubbish. It was like an exercise bicycle for the mind—it doesn’t take you anywhere, but it certainly tones up the muscles.

There’s a feeling that I think is only possible to get when you are a child and discover books: it’s a kind of fizz—you want to read everything that’s in print before it evaporates before your eyes.

Sorceress? Just a better class of witch. Enchantress? Just a witch with good legs. The fantasy world, in fact, is overdue for a visit from the Equal Opportunities people because, in the fantasy world, magic done by women is usually of poor quality, third-rate, negative stuff, while the wizards are usually cerebral, clever, powerful, and wise.

Strangely enough, that’s also the case in this world. You don’t have to believe in magic to notice that.

NOTES FROM A SUCCESSFUL FANTASY AUTHOR: KEEP IT REAL

I can’t stress that last point enough. Fantasy works best when you take it seriously (it can also become a lot funnier, but that’s another story). Taking it seriously means that there must be rules. If anything can happen, then there is no real suspense.

… well, when I was young, I wrote a letter to J. R. R. Tolkien, just as he was becoming extravagantly famous.

I just said I’d enjoyed the book very much. And he said thank you. For a moment, it achieved the most basic and treasured of human communications: you are real, and therefore so am I.

And so I’ve been learning as I go, and I find it now rather embarrassing that people beginning the Discworld series start with The Colour of Magic and The Light Fantastic, which I don’t think are some of the best books to start with. This is the author saying this, folks. Do not start at the beginning with Discworld.

But horizontal wealth means not letting your increased income dictate your tastes. You like books and now you have money? Buy more books!

Where do the ideas come from? I do not know. But one of the things I did learn from my science fiction reading was that there were other things you could read besides science fiction.

People are magnificent research, almost the best there is.

Foreword to Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable Millennium Edition, 1999

Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable is the first book to turn to when questions arise and the final desperate volume when the lesser reference books have failed. No bookshelf, no WORLD is complete without it. It’s as simple as that.

Contribution for The Word, London’s Festival of Literature, 2000

… from the Latin susurrus, “whisper” or “rustling,” which is exactly what it sounds like. It’s a hushed noise. But it hints of plots and secrets and people turning to one another in surprise. It’s the noise, in fact, made just after the sword is withdrawn from the stone and just before the cheering starts.

With a foreword by Neil Gaiman Terry Pratchett has earned a place in the hearts of readers the world over with his bestselling Discworld series - but in recent years he has become equally well-known and respected as an outspoken campaigner for causes including Alzheimer's research and animal rights. A Slip of the Keyboard brings together for the first time the finest examples of Pratchett's non fiction writing, both serious and surreal: from musings on mushrooms to what it means to be a writer (and why banana daiquiris are so important); from memories of Granny Pratchett to speculation about Gandalf's love life, and passionate defences of the causes dear to him. With all the humour and humanity that have made his novels so enduringly popular, this collection brings Pratchett out from behind the scenes of the Discworld to speak for himself - man and boy, bibliophile and computer geek, champion of hats, orang-utans and Dignity in Dying.

Collected Non-fiction

neil gaiman: "terry pratchett is not one to go gentle into any night, good or otherwise. he will rage, as he leaves, against so many things: stupidity, injustice, human foolishness and shortsightedness, not just the dying of the light, although that's here too. and, hand in hand with the anger, like an angel and demon walking hand in hand into the sunset, there is love: for human beings, in all our fallibility; for treasured objects; for stories; and ultimately and in all things, love for human dignity."

reader, i wept

Rose Stanley

I've long thought that Terry Pratchett is (I mean, was, sob) this century's Voltaire and this collection of his non-fiction writings (articles, lectures, speeches and so on) confirms it. 

Clever, phenomenally well-read, witty, funny, and, as far as I can tell, permanently gently, or not-so-gently simmering/seething at the injustices of the world (in this house we stan an angry SJW, especially one who also has a way with words), Pratchett has (I mean, had - sob sob) such a gift for observing and reporting on the world around him. There are insights here into his childhood, family, and various careers in addition to the fantasy novels that put him on the map and although I found the pieces on assisted dying hard to read, it was definitely worth it.

The only thing I dislike about this book is the reminder that I never got to meet Pratchett and now it's too late (sob sob sob).

Julia A.

Alex

Terry Pratchett in his own words With a foreword by Neil Gaiman Terry Pratchett earned a place in the hearts of readers the world over with his bestselling Discworld series – but in recent years he became equally well-known as an outspoken campaigner for causes including Alzheimer’s research and animal rights. A Slip of the Keyboard brings together the best of Pratchett’s non fiction writing on his life, on his work, and on the weirdness of the world: from Granny Pratchett to Gandalf’s love life; from banana daiquiris to books that inspired him; from getting started as a writer to the injustices that he fought to end. With his trademark humour, humanity and unforgettable way with words, this collection offers an insight behind the scenes of Discworld into a much loved and much missed figure – man and boy, bibliophile and computer geek, champion of hats, orang-utans and the right to a good death.

A Slip of the Keyboard Collected Nonfiction

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