Penguins Stopped Play

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Funny and heartwarming, this is a dying mans tribute to a sport, and more importantly a team, that he loved. Greater than the sum of its parts and the closest a book has ever brought me to crying. One of the best sports books ever written. In a 2005 episode of Have I Got News For You, featuring Alexander Armstrong as host and Fi Glover and Ian McMillan as guest panellists, a message stating "In Memory of Harry Thompson, the first producer of Have I Got News For You (1960–2005)" was displayed. Thompson's book does roam wider. When Berkmann left to start a splinter club, Thompson carried on captaining Captain Scott, so he has several more years of club memories to milk. And the world tour carries him away from the village greens of England to take in Singapore, Buenos Aires and Antarctica. Sketching each stop with deft relish, Thompson almost launches another genre - the picaresque comic memoir of sporting incompetence.

Thompson, Harry (1991). Tintin: Hergé and his Creation. London: Hodder & Stoughton. ISBN 978-0-340-52393-3.As well as writing for television, Thompson wrote biographies of Hergé (1991), Private Eye editor Richard Ingrams (1994) (of which The Independent said, "The problem is that Thompson simply worships Ingrams, and his biography melts steadily into hagiography... [an] overlong panegyric") [10] and Peter Cook (1997). His novel This Thing of Darkness, a historical fiction about Charles Darwin and Robert FitzRoy, the captain of the Beagle, was longlisted for the Booker Prize in 2005. Thompson described Fitzroy, rather than Darwin, as the book's hero: It was sad to read what happened to the author of the book as he seemed very full of life and never took no for an answer or shied away from a challenge. a b O'Keeffe, Alice (13 November 2005). " 'I don't know how I'm going to get through the next day, let alone the rest of my life' ". The Observer . Retrieved 17 September 2012.

Harry Thompson also produced non-comedy documentaries for BBC Radio. He made several programmes with writer/presenter Terence Pettigrew, starting with anniversary tributes to Hollywood icons James Dean ( You're Tearing Me Apart) and Montgomery Clift ( I Had The Misery Thursday). Pettigrew and Thompson subsequently worked together on a second series of documentaries, including on national service ( Caught in the Draft), and also about the evacuation of children from major British cities during the Second World War ( Nobody Cried When The Trains Pulled Out). Both programmes were presented by Michael Aspel. [ citation needed] a b Bennun, David (5 September 2008). "Censorship? How I mourn for Monkey Dust". The Guardian . Retrieved 18 September 2012. I'd more likely recommend the unabridged book as this book doesn't fully make sense and you don't get to know so much about the characters in it. Gaisford, Sue (27 October 1994). "Leader of a tiny, respectable gang: 'Richard Ingrams Lord of the Gnomes' – Harry Thompson". The Independent. Archived from the original on 9 May 2022 . Retrieved 17 September 2012. This book has the ability to make you look very silly as you stifle a smirk on the bus so that people will not think you are mad - while reading on another joke makes you try and stifle the urge to laugh out loud causing snot to shoot from one's nose, making you look extemely silly!Treneman, Ann (24 November 1997). "Not as sweet as she looks". The Independent. Archived from the original on 9 May 2022 . Retrieved 18 September 2012. If you're not sure if you'll enjoy this book, consider the following extract from the opening chapter: At its heart, it is the true story of someone who epitomised a certain sort of person that this country produced in the 19th century. There was a fantasy of chivalric empire, run by Britons who were gentlemen and played the game. Of course the reality was that our empire was no better than any other. We were busy conniving in the extermination of tribes, robbing natives of their land and we sent droves of brilliant young men, brought up with the chivalric fantasy, to enforce what was in many cases a visibly corrupt system [...] But Fitzroy's morality was iron. He said no. And it destroyed him. [11] This book was thus a race against the ultimate deadline. Thompson opted to say very little about his predicament, showing admirable stoicism - Captain Scott with a hint of Captain Oates - but questionable literary judgment. It made it harder for his tale to shake off Berkmann's shadow. Forgotten the title or the author of a book? Our BookSleuth is specially designed for you. Visit BookSleuth