{"product_id":"word-monkey-christopher-fowler-9781804992586","title":"Word Monkey","description":"This is the memoir Christopher Fowler always wanted to write about 'writing'. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e It's the story of how a young bookworm growing up in a house where there was nothing to read but knitting pamphlets and motorcycle manuals became a writer - a 'word monkey' - and pursued a sort of career in popular fiction. And it's a book full of brilliant insights into the pleasures and pitfalls of his profession, dos and don'ts for would-be writers, and astute observations on favourite (and not-so-favourite) novelists. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e But woven into this hugely entertaining and inspiring reflection on a literary life is an altogether darker thread. In Spring 2020, just as the world went into lockdown, Chris was diagnosed with terminal cancer. And yet there is nothing of the misery memoir about \u003ci\u003eWord Monkey\u003c\/i\u003e. Past and present intermingle as, in prose as light as air, he relates with wry humour and remarkable honesty what he knows will be the final chapter in his story. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Deeply moving, insightful and surprisingly funny, this is Christopher Fowler's life-affirming account of coming to terms with his own mortality. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e '\u003cb\u003eA remarkable book by a remarkable writer: amazingly entertaining and informative and also, for obvious reasons, one of the most moving.'\u003c\/b\u003e SIMON MASON, author of the \u003ci\u003eDI Wilkins Mysteries\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Wonderful . . . there is no bitterness here, but a hearty celebration of how art defines a life, with dark humour on the right occasions and the deliberate aim to leave a positive message . . . his enthusiasm is infectious and sobering when you are aware that he was dying as he wrote these pages.' \u003c\/b\u003eMaxim Jacubowski, \u003ci\u003eCRIME TIME\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Christopher Fowler\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1804992585\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781804992586\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Penguin Group\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/20\/2025\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 464\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.81lbs","brand":"Christopher Fowler","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46451252265215,"sku":"9781804992586","price":19.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_bb7c0e56-df62-4096-a7c4-c61ec62ad1b5.jpg?v=1735876917","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/word-monkey-christopher-fowler-9781804992586","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}