{"product_id":"pondlife-al-alvarez-9781408841020","title":"Pondlife: A Swimmer's Journal","description":"\u003cp\u003eThe 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. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAn athlete in his youth, Alvarez, now in his eighties, chronicles what it is to grow old with humor 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eAs 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. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBy turns funny, poetic and indignant, \u003ci\u003ePondlife\u003c\/i\u003e 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.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Al Alvarez\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1408841029\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781408841020\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Bloomsbury Paperbacks\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 06\/16\/2015\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 288\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.40lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 7.80h x 5.00w x 0.70d","brand":"Al Alvarez","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":43925478670591,"sku":"9781408841020","price":17.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/products\/img_8abd2b6d-caf3-4a34-9a4f-cb5c993afddd.jpg?v=1681077509","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/pondlife-al-alvarez-9781408841020","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}