Time For Lights Out

A new book about old age by the much-loved author of The Snowman and Ethel & ErnestIn his customary pose as the grumpiest of grumpy old men, Raymond Briggs contemplates old age and death... and doesn't like them much. Illustrated with Briggs's inimitable pencil drawings, Time for Lights Out is a collection of short pieces, some funny, some melancholy, some remembering his wife who died young, others about the joy of grandchildren, of walking the dog... He looks back at his schooldays and his time as an evacuee during the war, and remembers his parents and the house in which he grew up. But most, like this one, are about his home in Sussex-Looking round this house,What will they say,The future ghosts?There must have beenSome barmy old bloke here,Long-haired, artsy-fartsy type,Did pictures for kiddy booksOr some such tripe.You should have seen the stuffHe stuck up in that attic!Snowman this and snowman that,Tons and tons of tat.

“A mesmerising jumble of jokes, drawings and elderly gripes ... All human life - and death - is here in this lucky dip of memories and fears, irritations and idle thoughts... [ Time For Lights Out ] has black humour galore ...and, as always, Briggs's drawings have a touch of magic about them , conjuring human beings and their foibles out of a few precious lines.”

A mesmerising jumble of jokes, drawings and elderly gripes… All human life – and death – is here in this lucky dip of memories and fears, irritations and idle thoughts… [Time For Lights Out] has black humour galore…and, as always, Briggs’s drawings have a touch of magic about them, conjuring human beings and their foibles out of a few precious lines. -- Craig Brown Mail on Sunday
[Time for Lights Out is] direct and personal…on the tragi-comedy of growing old. [Briggs] looks on ageing with a beady but sympathetic eye…and mordant humour all the way through… there are plenty of excellent jokes in this book. -- Nicholas Tucker The Times
Many congratulations to The Oldie's Raymond Briggs on his elegiac new book, Time for Lights Out. The great author and illustrator takes a funny, sombre, bittersweet approach to old age, with fond thoughts of his grandchildren, parents, childhood and his partner Liz. The book is illustrated with his characteristic understanding of real life... Bliss. The Oldie
A beloved genius of storytelling and illustration. -- Rachel Cooke Observer, Graphic Novel of the Month

Raymond Briggs was born in London in 1934. He is the author of the hugely successful children's books Father Christmas and The Snowman. These books have been translated into many languages and adapted into films, plays and TV cartoons. His other books include Fungus the Bogeyman, Ug, When the Wind Blows, Ethel & Ernest, a biography of his parents, and his latest, Time for Lights Out, a contemplation on old age, told through words and pictures.

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