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A Slip of the Keyboard
A Slip of the Keyboard: Collected Nonfiction | Terry Pratchett
A collection of essays and other non fiction from Terry Pratchett, spanning the whole of his writing career from his early years to the present day. Terry Pratchett has earned a place in the hearts of readers the world over with his bestselling Discworld series -- but in recent years he has become equally well-known and respected as an outspoken campaigner for causes including Alzheimer's research and animal rights. A Slip of the Keyboard brings together for the first time the finest examples of Pratchett's non fiction writing, both serious and surreal: from musings on mushrooms to what it means to be a writer (and why banana daiquiris are so important); from memories of Granny Pratchett to speculation about Gandalf's love life, and passionate defences of the causes dear to him. With all the humour and humanity that have made his novels so enduringly popular, this collection brings Pratchett out from behind the scenes of the Discworld to speak for himself -- man and boy, bibliophile and computer geek, champion of hats, orangutans and Dignity in Dying. Snuff was the bestselling adult hardcover novel of 2011. A Blink of the Screen, Terry's short fiction collection, was also one of the bestselling hardcovers of 2012.
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willaful
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“Escapism isn't good or bad of itself. What is important is what you are escaping from and where you are escaping to.“

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julesG
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Hello friends! Open discussion is in the FOLLOWING POST marked as a spoiler. Find the #ASlipOfTheKeyboard post & tap "show me" on the spoiler tag to join in the discussion. Join in whenever you can! Today. Tomorrow. Next month! The post will always be up so just tag each other & we'll jump in to discuss with you. Feel free to chat about anything!

#Discworld #SirTerryPratchett #TerryPratchett #PratchettPosse #ReadAlong #BuddyRead #EpicBuddyread

34 likes1 comment
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julesG
This post contains spoilers
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Welcome to the #OokBOokClub open discussion for #ASlipOfTheKeyboard feel free to discuss anything! Don't forget to tag each other in the comments so your friends can see your reply. Have fun!

#Discworld #SirTerryPratchett #TerryPratchett #PratchettPosse #ReadAlong #BuddyRead #EpicBuddyread

BookmarkTavern I want to print out the essay The Roots of Fantasy and wallpaper my closet door with it. ❤️ 2y
julesG @ozma.of.oz Only your closet door? 2y
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BookmarkTavern LOL True. I bookmarked so many lines all over the book, but especially in that essay and Let There be Dragons. I loved seeing that the things that I love about fantasy and writing are some things that he loved too. 2y
BookmarkTavern But the last few essays where he talks about his diagnosis and health were really hard to listen too. It was a weird kind of grief where I‘m mourning someone I‘ve never met, but still feel I know. 2y
julesG @ozma.of.oz You're right, the last essays were hard to read. You've summed up that feeling I had nicely. We mourn a person we've never met, but feel a connection to nonetheless. 1y
13 likes6 comments
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BookmarkTavern
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Pickpick

Nonfiction essays & letters from many points over a remarkable career.

This was a charming & moving collection. From letters to newspapers to speeches for colleges, we see every evidence of Pratchett‘s humor & wit, & his appreciation for humanity. But we also get to see what inspired him & how he developed his craft. Some parts got a little repetitive, but this was a joy to listen to, while also making me feel the grief all over again. 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌑

BookmarkTavern From The NHS Is Seriously Injured through the end, Pratchett discusses in depth his battle with Alzheimer‘s and his support for physician assisted suicide 2y
KathyWheeler Besides Good Omens, this is the only Pratchett book I‘ve ever read. I want to read more but have no clue where to start. 2y
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BookmarkTavern @KathyWheeler Oh you are in for such a treat! I like to share this flow chart with anybody interested in exploring more Pratchett! ❤️ https://goddamnshinyrock.tumblr.com/post/189907734735/goddamnshinyrock-every-tim... 2y
KathyWheeler @ozma.of.oz Thank you! 2y
Aimeesue "Fine, but on your own head be it." Hahahahahahaha! Agreed! ? 2y
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khooliha

Another thing I mulled over as I read the book was the link consistently drawn between reading and moving on to reading nonfiction. I read a good bit, but don't often touch nonfiction. I just don't think it's as direct a path as described. (Of course, my day job is scientist and maybe that skews the results?)
#OokBOokClub

julesG It might be that scientists read a lot of NF on a daily basis. 2y
6 likes1 comment
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khooliha
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Pickpick

Don't know if organizing this collection differently would mask the repetition? I liked this collection fine, but didn't love it.
#OokBOokClub

julesG You've finished already!!! I mislaid my copy. 🙈🙈🙈 2y
khooliha @julesG Oh no! I hope you find it. (I have a workshop I'm helping run coming up and I got nervous about getting my required reading done - I'm currently reading my book club book Way Too Early.) 2y
julesG I'll dig it up, I'm sure. 2y
julesG Good luck with the workshop! 2y
khooliha @julesG Thank you! 2y
7 likes5 comments
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khooliha

Love to find out Sir Terry was a DVD guy!
#OokBOokClub

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khooliha

Seeing Pratchett takes a side swipe at theme parks: ☹️
#OokBOokClub

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julesG
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#OokBOokClub-ers, our #SirTerryPratchett adventure continues TODAY with #ASlipOfTheKeyboard!

Looking forward to our discussion next month!

Happy reading!

#Discworld #TerryPratchett #PratchettPosse #ReadAlong #BuddyRead #EpicBuddyread

44 likes1 comment
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LitsyEvents
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repost for @julesG:

#OokBOokClub

Just a friendly reminder that next month we'll be reading #ASlipOfTheKeyboard! Dig out your books, put in your library holds, or place your orders! The next Discworld adventure continues on April 8th! Woohoo!

If anyone wants to be tagged/untagged for future posts please let me know! Happy to oblige!

original post:
https://www.litsy.com/web/post/2560139

willaful I'd like to join. 2y
julesG Thanks! 2y
julesG @willaful Will add you to the list. 2y
31 likes3 comments
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julesG
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#OokBOokClub

Just a friendly reminder that next month we'll be reading #ASlipOfTheKeyboard! Dig out your books, put in your library holds, or place your orders! The next Discworld adventure continues on April 8th! Woohoo!

If anyone wants to be tagged/untagged for future posts please let me know! Happy to oblige!

#Discworld #SirTerryPratchett #TerryPratchett #PratchettPosse #ReadAlong #BuddyRead #EpicBuddyread

Tea_and_Starstuff I'm interested in joining - would you mind tagging me in the future? 2y
BookmarkTavern Woo! 💖 2y
julesG @Tea_and_Starstuff Sure, no problem. 2y
Tea_and_Starstuff Thanks so much, I'm excited! I love Pratchett and have never read his nonfiction. Heard great things, excited to have a reason to read. 2y
39 likes5 comments
review
Robotswithpersonality
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Pickpick

By the end of the first entry after the intro, I'm laughing and hugging the book: clever, mostly joyous, a bit grumpy. Impossible to tell if I would have received this book differently if I'd read it while Terry was still alive. Neil Gaiman's intro is barely five pages and I was crying by the middle. Perhaps unsurprisingly, the passages on his diagnosis and living with Alzheimer's and campaigning for assisted death in Britain also made me cry.

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Robotswithpersonality
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Concise, almost charmingly British put down. I LOVE.

"...realized the Race for Space had been a mad bout of international willie-waving." ?

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Robotswithpersonality
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Resonates well with last non-fiction read about the news ...
"Anyway, this is journalism, which doesn't have to be true for ever. It just has to be true until tomorrow morning." ?

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Robotswithpersonality
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"...at its best science fiction is about us and our Faustian bargain with our big brains, which dragged us out of the trees but may yet drag us into the volcano." ??
??????

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Robotswithpersonality
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Reading a book that includes an inspirational and sassy passage or two about the other book I'm reading. 🤷🏼‍♂️😵‍💫

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Robotswithpersonality
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Oh, Terry. 😅

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Robotswithpersonality
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"So this is a report of a tour that never was in some place that doesn't exist. But it all happened, somewhere. I've just moved things around a bit to protect the innocent, which in this case means me." ??

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Robotswithpersonality
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Anybody else love it when their 'currently reading' display on Storygraph serendipitously has a complimentary colour way moment? Rocking the black, white, red and gold today....😎

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Robotswithpersonality
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Today's 'scratched my brain just right' passage. No surprise - I have a weakness for onomatopoeia - and Pratchett. ☺️

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catsuit_mango
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Sitting in front of a keyboard and a screen is work. Thousands of offices operate on this very principle.

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TK-421
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“Contrary to popular belief, fantasy is not about making things up. The world is stuffed full of things. It is almost impossible to invent any more. No, the role of fantasy as defined by G. K. Chesterton is to take what is normal and #everyday and usual and unregarded, and turn it around and show it to the audience from a different direction, so that they look at it once again with new eyes.” #QuotsyJun21

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TK-421
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“Sitting in front of a keyboard and a screen is work. Thousands of offices operate on this very principle.” #office #QuotsyJun21

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Verity
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Latest bedside book!

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TK-421
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“Contrary to popular belief, fantasy is not about making things up. The world is stuffed full of things. It is almost impossible to invent any more. No, the role of fantasy as defined by G. K. Chesterton is to take what is #normal and everyday and usual and unregarded, and turn it around and show it to the audience from a different direction, so that they look at it once again with new eyes.” #QuotsyMay20

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TK-421
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“Right at the bottom, at the tip of the root, is the fear of the dark and the cold, but once you've given darkness a name you have a measure of #control. Or at least you think you have, which is nearly as important.” #QuotsyMar20

56 likes1 stack add
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madamereadsalot1
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#experience #quotsymay19 @TK-421

#terrypratchett quote, not necessarily from tagged book

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jb72
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Pickpick

This is a definite pick. Pratchett is very passionate about his diagnosis and writing. 5 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

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TK-421
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I couldn‘t choose just one #book quote so here‘s a few by Terry Pratchett! #QuotsyMar19

SharonAlger This is very true. 6y
wordzie 😁❤ 6y
69 likes2 comments
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TK-421
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“I grew up expecting to see the first man land on the moon. It never occurred to me that I‘d see the last one. We thought there‘d be a moon #base.” #QuotsyJan19

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TK-421
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“J.R.R. Tolkien has become a sort of #mountain, appearing in all subsequent fantasy in the way that Mt. Fuji appears so often in Japanese prints. Sometimes it‘s big and up close. Sometimes it‘s a shape on the horizon. Sometimes it‘s not there at all, which means that the artist either has made a deliberate decision against the mountain, which is interesting in itself, or is in fact standing on Mt. Fuji.” #QuotsyDec18

TK-421 Note: I'm not sure if this quote is from the tagged book 6y
JazzFeathers Well, this is quite interesting and quite true. 6y
56 likes3 comments
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TK-421
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“Not long ago I was invited to a librarians‘ event by a lady who cheerfully told me, 'We like to think of ourselves as ‘information providers.' I was appalled by this want of ambition; I made my excuses and didn‘t go. After all, if you have a choice, why not call yourselves 'Shining Acolytes of the Sacred Flame of Literacy in a Dark and Encroaching Universe'? I admit this is hard to put on a button, so why not abbreviate it to 'librarians'?"

Zelma 😂 that is great. I want that printed on a shirt. 6y
59 likes2 comments
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TheBookKeeper
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"Stories of imagination tend to upset those without one. "
Terry Pratchett

#terrypratchett #fantasy

BookwormAHN Good quote 💜 6y
TheBookKeeper @BookwormAHN thank you😊 6y
MayJasper Is that ship The Blue Peter? 6y
70 likes3 comments
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TK-421
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Pickpick

This was a great choice for alleviating my #bookhangover! Made me laugh, and made me think. It was fascinating to get some glimpses into Sir Terry's life: his writing process & work history; book signings; speeches, etc. His thoughts about Alzheimers were heartbreaking. By the end, one can't help but share his rage at a system that makes medically assisted death illegal. Definitely a PICK for me, but I can see why some people would rate it SO-SO.

TK-421 This was my #LitsyAtoZ2018 choice for the letter P. (edited) 7y
95 likes5 stack adds1 comment
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TK-421
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Another for #revenge, which reminded me of yet another Terry Pratchett quote about revenge (from Monstrous Regiment): "Revenge is a wheel, and it turns backwards." #QuotsyApril18 #QuotsyCatchup

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TK-421
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Finally Friday! Reading & revision were my plans for tonight, but hockey distracted me 🤷‍♀️ Although I didn't get any writing/revision done yet tonight, did read a few more chapters of the tagged book. I think it was a great choice as a #bufferbook to chase away my #epicreread #bookhangover. #ItsFriday 💃#HappinessIsResistance #CampNanowrimo

Soubhiville Who‘s your team? There‘s been a lot of shouting here when the Devils play. 7y
TK-421 @Soubhiville I'm a Leafs fan, but I'm cheering on the Jets, too because 🇨🇦! (edited) 7y
87 likes2 comments
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TK-421
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#MiniBookHaul from my trip to #McNallyRobinson yesterday, along with a DIY penguin project 🐧

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Booksbymybed
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Happy Birthday Sir Terry❤️

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Aims42
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That last sentence is so true, definitely rings true with me 😂

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Aims42
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I love when your best friend knows what's on your Christmas List without having to ask 😍 Can't read to read this!!

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NinjaBookBox
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Just found this while sorting my office space and stuck it up right in the middle to remind me why this business is so exciting! The book tagged is obviously not the one the quote comes from but it is excellent & worth reading!

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katcustard
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Exia
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Exia
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2/2

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Exia
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1/2

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Exia
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Exia
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Exia
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Pratchett on Christie.