If you’ve ever wondered what Discworld series author Terry Pratchett is really thinking underneath what people often mistake for a “jolly old elf” exterior, then "A Slip of the Keyboard," a nonfiction collection of essays and speeches spanning his entire career, is a must-read. As his friend and "Good Omens" co-author Neil Gaiman is quick to point out in the book’s foreword, Pratchett is not jolly; he is, in fact, often seething with anger. But it is this anger that drives much of his best writing, whether funny or serious, fiction or nonfiction.
In this collection, you’ll find pieces of varying length covering a wide range of topics, from how Pratchett got his true education at the library, to the importance of a good hat, to guidelines for bookstores hosting author signings, to his experience handling public relations for a nuclear power plant (which, improbably, includes defusing rumors about a pixie haunting the grounds), to his more recent diagnosis of and fight against Alzheimer’s disease. Some of the pieces are laugh-out-loud funny, some are deeply moving, most are a combination of funny and moving, and all are precious illuminations on this much-beloved but perhaps less understood writer.
What I’ve always admired about Pratchett, besides his superb command of language and his masterfully incisive insights on human nature, is the perfect razor-edge on which he balances humor and gravity in the tightly wound plots of his novels. Only with a Terry Pratchett book do I find myself laughing riotously at a ridiculous quip one moment and, in the very next moment, hushing myself in awe at a profound statement about life—often within the same sentence. I’m delighted to discover that his nonfiction writing has the same effect.
This book is chock-full of interesting insights about the author, but among its most telling is Pratchett’s opinion on funny vs. serious: “The problem is that we think the opposite of funny is serious,” he says. “It is not. In fact, as G. K. Chesterton pointed out, the opposite of funny is not funny, and the opposite of serious is not serious.” As anyone who’s read more than a few of Pratchett’s books can attest, the Discworld author is dead serious about the importance of humor. “Humour has its uses,” Pratchett says. “Laughter can get through the keyhole while seriousness is still hammering on the door. New ideas can ride in on the back of a joke; old ideas can be given an added edge.”
I’m sad and angry that Alzheimer’s is forcing Pratchett to watch a bit of himself slip away every day, but all I can do is be thankful for the generous output of magical writing with which this author has already gifted us and hope for much more before the last good-bye. And, as Gaiman concludes, there’s no better catharsis than to pick up one’s pen and write.
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Rodger Whitlock
Excellent! The veil is pulled back and we get to see the genial, wise man behind Discworld.
Reviewed in Canada on November 23, 2014