From Publishers Weekly
Mortimer, a retired barrister and creator of Rumpole, retains his high good humor in this third charming autobiographical volume (whose title comes from Byron's Journals), even if, as he confesses at the start, he's reached an age when he can no longer put on his socks. ("The situation is, in minor ways, humiliating and comical.") A superb raconteur, the author never forgets that his first duty is to entertain. In a series of short, conversational chapters, which proceed in an artfully haphazard way to cover recent experiences (such as selecting a coat of arms) as well as childhood memories (mainly of his blind father, a judge), he recounts one amusing anecdote after another. These can be racy, as in the priceless transcript of a lurid sex case tried with straight face before the very proper House of Lords. More serious concerns such as prison reform are also in evidence. Mortimer chronicles his involvement in various good causes, from saving London's Royal Court Theatre to finding a suitable statue to top a vacant plinth in Trafalgar Square. A visit to his dying first wife, Penelope, is especially poignant. Travel filmmaking with Franco Zeffirelli in Italy, dealing with panhandlers in New York also receives his humane and humorous attention. By the end, Mortimer makes it clear that, despite his infirmities, he has not lost his zest for life. This is a most civilized and witty book by a most civilized and witty man. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.


From Library Journal
Mortimer has done it again. In this latest memoir, following Clinging to the Wreckage (1987) and Murderers and Other Friends (1996), he gives another engaging account of his prodigious life. A former barrister, he is creator of the ever-popular "Rumpole" fiction series as well as several highly successful stage, radio, and television plays, including the adaptation of Brideshead Revisited. Here he writes tenderly about his childhood years in England during World War I. He vividly describes Tuscany, where he collaborated with Franco Zeffirelli on the screenplay of Tea with Mussolini, and summer afternoons spent sitting on the terrace drinking Chianti and discussing opera, while "the air is loud with grasshoppers, lizards dart across the hot paving stones, the landscape is blurred with heat." Whether he's traveling in Morocco or acting as chairman of the Royal Court Theatre in London, Mortimer spares no expense when it comes to telling a good tale. Highly recommended for all public libraries.- Stephanie Maher, Warwick, RI Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.


From Booklist
Mortimer, a former barrister, a distinguished playwright, and the author of the hugely popular Rumpole series of tales, provides the third installment of his delightful autobiography. Trapped in an increasingly uncooperative body, the 75-year-old author still approaches life and work with an amazingly energetic zeal. Despite an annoying series of physical failings, the spiritually and emotionally youthful Mortimer remains an inveterate traveler and tackles an exhausting array of political and artistic projects, including prison reform, the restoration of the Royal Court Theatre, and a film collaboration with Franco Zeffirelli. Laced with humor and pathos, this breezy, whirlwind account of one jam-packed year serves as one of the final chapters of a full and rich life. Margaret Flanagan
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FROM THE PUBLISHER

"In The Summer of a Dormourse, John Mortimer describes what it is like to be seventy-seven years of age but to feel like an eleven-year-old in his heart. Though he suffers from the afflictions that his father had to contend with - asthma, glaucoma - and added some of his own, he continues to live with boundless energy, passion, and humor. When most people his age are in full retirement, Mortimer is still motoring through life - traveling to Edinburgh with a substitute wife, lunching with prisoners, and dealing with common politicians. Whether in the English countryside, the center of London, the heart of Tuscany, or the streets of Morocco, he embraces life and work with enthusiasm and compassion, revealing himself as one of the most astute and generous figures of his generation."--BOOK JACKET.

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Mortimer, a retired barrister and creator of Rumpole, retains his high good humor in this third charming autobiographical volume (whose title comes from Byron's Journals), even if, as he confesses at the start, he's reached an age when he can no longer put on his socks. ("The situation is, in minor ways, humiliating and comical.") A superb raconteur, the author never forgets that his first duty is to entertain. In a series of short, conversational chapters, which proceed in an artfully haphazard way to cover recent experiences (such as selecting a coat of arms) as well as childhood memories (mainly of his blind father, a judge), he recounts one amusing anecdote after another. These can be racy, as in the priceless transcript of a lurid sex case tried with straight face before the very proper House of Lords. More serious concerns such as prison reform are also in evidence. Mortimer chronicles his involvement in various good causes, from saving London's Royal Court Theatre to finding a suitable statue to top a vacant plinth in Trafalgar Square. A visit to his dying first wife, Penelope, is especially poignant. Travel filmmaking with Franco Zeffirelli in Italy, dealing with panhandlers in New York also receives his humane and humorous attention. By the end, Mortimer makes it clear that, despite his infirmities, he has not lost his zest for life. This is a most civilized and witty book by a most civilized and witty man. (June 4) Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Library Journal