Customer Reviews

A Voyage Round John Mortimer: A Biography of the Creator of Rumpole of the Bailey

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Excellent account of a great writer and his life, trials and tribulations. John Mortimer is one of my favourite writers. I've enjoyed his "Rumpole of the Bailey" sagas most of my adult life. This book has allowed me the opportunity to get a grip on why and how he wrote all those many splendid episodes. He is no P.G. Wodehouse (my favourite writer), but he will do until another one comes along!

Interesting to find his real life---While I love Rumpole, John Mortimer's life seems fraught with indiscretions--of which we dwell on too much.

I guess I wanted him to be more like Rumpole.

I read with great interest Graham Lords" "unauthorized" biography, and was looking forward to the "authorized"one..I found it very disappointing..The author treats our beloved Rumpole creator like a doddering old fool..to put it bluntly..John should lay her out in lavender so to speak for such an unflattering book, I think Lord was much kinder and portrayed John very well, his good and bad side..We did not need to read page after page and the plots of Penny Mortimers books, which I have never read, I found myself skipping these lengthy accounts...It cant be all sweetness and love in the Mortimer extended family of many children and grandchildren..anyone who has raised a large family can tell you immediatey this is completely a fairytale story..Jealousy, spats, word, quarrels, no family is without them..and they do get downright nasty at times..but human nature being what it is why should the Mortimer family be treated any differantly? Cheers to John Mortimer for producing so many wonderful Ruplole books..a great man but hardly even at age 86 with one foot in the grave as the author constantly suggests..!!