{"product_id":"9781408841013","title":"Pondlife: A Swimmer's Journal","description":"The  ponds of Hampstead Heath are small oases; fragments of wild nature  nestled in the heart of north-west London. For the best part of his life  Al Alvarez – poet, critic, novelist, rock-climber and poker player –  has swum in them almost daily. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAn athlete in his youth, Alvarez,  now in his eighties, chronicles what it is to grow old with humour and  fierce honesty – from his relentlessly nagging ankle which makes daily  life a struggle, to infuriating bureaucratic battles with the council to  keep his disabled person's Blue Badge, the devastating effects of a  stroke, and the salvation he finds in the three Ss – Swimming, Sex and  Sleep.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs Alvarez swims in the ponds he considers how it feels  when you begin to miss that person you used to be – to miss yourself.  Swimming is his own private form of protest against the onslaught of  time; proof to others, and himself, that he's not yet beaten. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBy turns funny, poetic and indignant, \u003ci\u003ePondlife\u003c\/i\u003e  is a meditation on love, the importance of life's small pleasures and,  above all, a lesson in not going gently in to that good night.","brand":"Bloomsbury USA","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47152937402608,"sku":"9781408841013","price":23.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781408841013_p0.jpg?v=1763719024","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781408841013","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}