The son of a mechanic and a secretary, Pratchett was born in 1948 in the Chilterns (a chalk landscape that haunts his books), in a house with no electricity or running water.

What matters are the uncomfortable woollen socks his hero Sam Vimes wears, uncomplainingly, because his wife Sibyl knitted them. What matters, in Pratchett’s world, is what he called “headology” – the commonsensical psychology behind the petty acts of cruelty and kindness that comprise most human behaviour. It’s not even the jokes that matter, though few writers since Wodehouse have stuffed a page with so many. His Discworld novels may have taken place on a flat planet held aloft by four elephants and a turtle, but that’s not what matters in them. The joy of this biography by Rob Wilkins, Pratchett’s personal assistant from around 2000 onwards, is that it spins magic from mundanity in precisely the way Pratchett himself did. “An impressively comprehensive, engagingly written biography.Like most authors, Terry Pratchett had a dull life. helpfully marries his subject matter, propelling us through decade after decade of a heavily writing-centric life while illuminating Pratchett’s complexities and contradictions without any drag in the tempo.” - Locus Magazine

Burrow’s buoyant, pun-peppered, and aptly footnote-flecked style. But the book is also funny and conversational in tone, and an excellent tribute to a beloved author.” - Booklist Burrows spoke to friends and family, and this biography has moments of sadness, especially when discussing Pratchett’s fight with Alzheimer’s. 'In this encompassing biography of the prolific fantasy and science-fiction author, writer and comedian Burrows details both the writing accomplishments and the personal life of Sir Terry Pratchett. . . . The Magic Of Terry Pratchett is the result of painstaking archival research alongside interviews with friends and contemporaries who knew the real man under the famous black hat, helping to piece together the full story of one of British literature’s most remarkable and beloved figures for the very first time.

Journalist, comedian and Pratchett fan Marc Burrows delves into the back story of one of UK’s most enduring and beloved authors, from his childhood in the Chiltern Hills, to his time as a journalist, and the journey that would take him-via more than sixty best-selling books-to an OBE, a knighthood and national treasure status. Best known for the Discworld series, his work has been translated into thirty-seven languages, and performed as plays on every continent in the world, including Antarctica. Sir Terry was Britain’s bestselling living author*, and before his death in 2015 had sold more than 85 million copies of his books worldwide. The Magic of Terry Pratchett is the first full biography of Sir Terry Pratchett ever written. An in-depth look into the life and writings of the bestselling author of the Discworld novels, Good Omens, and Nation.

The magic of terry pratchett