- Paperback: 192 pages
- Publisher: Penguin; New Ed edition (7 Oct 2004)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0141011149
- ISBN-13: 978-0141011141
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.6 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
-
Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
102,314 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #34 in Books > Biography > Essays, Journals & Letters > 20th Century
Where There's a Will
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle .
Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Did you know you can trade in your old books for an Amazon.co.uk Gift Card to spend on the things you want? Plus, get an extra £5 Gift Certificate when you trade in books worth £10 or more before June 30, 2012. Visit the Books Trade-In Store for more details. |
Product details |
More About the Authors
Discover books, learn about writers, and more.
Product Description
Product Description
Following the bestselling SUMMER OF A DORMOUSE, Sir John Mortimer - playwright, novelist, octogenarian and erstwhile QC - offers up more wickedly funny lessons in living and growing old disgracefully. What would we like to leave to our descendants? Not a third-rate painting or our PEPS, according to Sir John, but a love of Shakespeare, a taste for alcohol, the ability to defeat boredom, the importance of never locking the lavatory door, and so on. Owing something to Montaigne's essays, something to Wilde's aphorisms and something to Yeats' poem for his daughter, Where There's a Will offers plenty of sparkling and surprising advice from one who has seen it all.
About the Author
Sir John Mortimer is a playwright, novelist and former practising barrister. During the war he worked with the Crown Film Unit and published a number of novels, before turning to theatre. He has written many film scripts, and plays for both radio and television, including A Voyage Round My Father, the Rumpole plays, which won him the British Academy Writer of the Year Award, and the adaptation of Evelyn Waugh's Brideshead Revisited. Many of his Rumpole stories are published in Penguin, as are two volumes of his acclaimed autobiography, Clinging to the Wreckage and Murderers and Other Friends, and the bestselling Summer of a Dormouse. His novels include Summer's Lease, Paradise Postponed, Titmuss Regained and The Sound of Trumpets.
Sir John lives with his wife and their youngest daughter in what was once his father's house in the Chilterns. He received a knighthood for his services to the arts in the 1998 Queen's Birthday Honours list.
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This collection of reminiscences and wisdom, from wit and polymath John Mortimer never fails to delight. Far from being your typical 'grumpy old man' he demonstrates impeccable common sense, and frequently a very modern attitude, saying exactly what we would have liked to have said about such topics as the idiocy of politicians and political correctness. This book is peppered with poetic commentary and good advice.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
John Mortimer is someone who has truly lived life. He has seen (as described in ever more witty and delightful stories that pepper the book) as much as there is to see, and from his breadth of experiences over times, places, and persons, we receive the distilled wisdom of almost 90 years of a great mind on this planet. Priceless.
31 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
Summary: open doors, open minds, open hearts - buy it now.
From the opening with the sound of his father's laughter echoing in his children (and the opening of the toilet door in Nice's Hotel Negresco), we trip lightly along - or so we think.
Beware the reader who thinks to dip in and out, for this book is full of hooks and barbs - bites and bullets.
Whilst Mortimer reserves, but hardly holds in reserve, his rapier for those who knew better and who should have done better for others, there is also much to soak up the blood and to absorb the reader. From Atheism, beliefs and creeds to Utopia, Wilde and Yeats, by way of Thatcher and the pursuit of happiness, we (or at least this reader did) gain an introduction if perhaps not quite an insight to Sir John Mortimer and something of his great wisdom and humour and the love gained and given.
I enjoyed this book hugely and have tried not to annoy my wife, too much, by referring to and quoting from it. But I liked it and took inspiration - and will share it.
But I will not share it yet - I urge you to buy your own and more for presents.
Now to go back and read the books and topics prompted by such an enjoyable read.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Where There's a Will John Mortimer
Going through the highlights of a long, happy and eventful life, John Mortimer reminds us of the joys not to be missed, outdoor sex, champagne early in the morning, thoughts on... Read more
Published on 27 May 2009 by Mrs. Ce Osborne
Delightful and Poignant
Towards the end of a long and rewarding life John Mortimer leaves us a will and testament not of material belongings but of wisdom and values that will be of much greater use. Read more
Published on 30 Jun 2008 by GeeJayBee
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
