Time For Lights Out

Time For Lights Out

Summary

'A beloved genius of storytelling and illustration' Observer

In 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 been
Some barmy old bloke here,
Long-haired, artsy-fartsy type,
Did pictures for kiddy books
Or some such tripe.

You should have seen the stuff
He stuck up in that attic!
Snowman this and snowman that,
Tons and tons of tat.

Reviews

  • A mesmerising jumble of jokes, drawings and elderly gripesAll 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

About the author

Raymond Briggs

Raymond Briggs was born in London in 1934. He was 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, stage shows and animations. His other books include Fungus the Bogeyman, The Bear, 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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