A delight . . . a glorious, witty and lifeaffirming ragbag of autobiography, cultural commentary and hardwon wisdom. ANDREW TAYLOR, author of The Shadows of LondonPerceptive, wise and illuminating . . . an unmissable farewell. Barry Forshaw, FINANCIAL TIMESThe most hilarious, lifeaffirming book youll read this year. SAGA magazineWit and wisdom that make every page turn . . . what a fine talent the world has lost. STARBURSTThis is the memoir Christopher Fowler always wanted to write about writing.Its the story of how a young bookworm growing up in a house where there was nothing to read but knitting pamphlets and motorcycle manuals became a writer a word monkey and pursued a sort of career in popular fiction. And its a book full of brilliant insights into the pleasures and pitfalls of his profession, dos and donts for wouldbe writers, and astute observations on favourite (and notsofavourite) novelists.But woven into this hugely entertaining and inspiring reflection on a literary life is an altogether darker thread. In Spring 2020, just as the world went into lockdown, Chris was diagnosed with terminal cancer. And yet there is nothing of the misery memoir about Word Monkey. Past and present intermingle as, in prose as light as air, he relates with wry humour and remarkable honesty what he knows will be the final chapter in his story.Deeply moving, insightful and surprisingly funny, this is Christopher Fowlers lifeaffirming account of coming to terms with his own...

Binding: Paperback;464 pages; Publisher: TBS-Penguin Random House Wholesale; Classification: BGLA; Weight: 440 g; Dimensions: 200 x 130 x 30

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