Pondlife by Al Alvarez
From the author of The Savage God, a unique memoir of growing old, and a lesson in not going gently into that good night The ponds of Hampstead Heath are small oases; fragments of wild nature nestled in the heart of north-west London. For the best part of his life Al Alvarez – poet, critic, novelist, rock-climber and poker player – has swum in them almost daily. An athlete in his youth, Alvarez chronicles what it is to grow old with humour and fierce honesty – from his relentlessly nagging ankle which makes daily life a struggle, to infuriating bureaucratic battles with the council to keep his disabled person’s Blue Badge, the devastating effects of a stroke, and the salvation he finds in the three Ss – Swimming, Sex and Sleep. As Alvarez swims in the ponds he considers how it feels when you begin to miss that person you used to be – to miss yourself. Swimming is his own private form of protest against the onslaught of time; proof to others, and himself, that he’s not yet beaten. By turns funny, poetic and indignant, Pondlife is a meditation on love, the importance of life’s small pleasures and, above all, a lesson in not going gently in to that good night. _____________________ 'A beautiful unfolding of a story, told in deceptively simple prose but with a great power to move' Sunday Times 'The adrenalin still flows in lively extracts' The Times 'A marvellous book... it has no business to be as invigorating and absorbing – its success is against the odds' Observer
The adrenalin still flows in lively extracts from 11 years of journals * The Times *
A beautiful unfolding of a story, told in deceptively simple prose but with a great power to move * Sunday Times *
A marvellous bookEven the title Pondlife is spot-on: unlaboured, light and right. But it has no business to be as invigorating and absorbing – its success is against the odds * Observer *
Al Alvarez is a writer’s writer whose brilliant insight has illuminated everything from suicide to his love of poker ... A miniature classic of a man’s defiant assertion against ageing * Metro *
A beautiful unfolding of a story, told in deceptively simple prose but with a great power to move * Sunday Times *
A marvellous bookEven the title Pondlife is spot-on: unlaboured, light and right. But it has no business to be as invigorating and absorbing – its success is against the odds * Observer *
Al Alvarez is a writer’s writer whose brilliant insight has illuminated everything from suicide to his love of poker ... A miniature classic of a man’s defiant assertion against ageing * Metro *
Al Alvarez was a poet, novelist, literary critic, anthologist, and author of many highly praised non-fiction books on topics ranging from suicide, divorce and dreams – The Savage God, Life After Marriage, Night – to poker and mountaineering – The Biggest Game in Town and Feeding The Rat. His most recent books are Where Did It All Go Right?, The Writer's Voice and Risky Business. He died in 2019.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9781408841020 |
| ISBN 10 | 1408841029 |
| Title | Pondlife |
| Author | Al Alvarez |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Bloomsbury Publishing PLC |
| Year published | 2015-04-09 |
| Number of pages | 288 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |