Publisher's Synopsis
A memoir from the author of 'The Year of Reading Dangerously' about the culture we love as we grow up, why we love it, and why we leave some of it behind. This is a book about writing, looking, listening and occasionally living dangerously too. Each chapter in Andy's touching and funny book begins with the image of a balloon, in a film or a piece of writing or a painting or a song. Each one meant something to Andy at some point in his life - Winnie-the-Pooh when he was a child, 'Withnail and I' as a young man, the work of Ian McEwan from the ages of 20 to 46 - and each essay will ask the question, explicitly or implicitly, when is the moment to let go of the balloon? When do we give up? Should we keep rising to see if we can reach the delicious honey at the top of the tree, despite the thinning air and the angry bees? Or do we need to ask someone to shoot us down before we drift out of reach?
