PONDLIFE: A SWIMMERS JOURNAL (PB)

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. An athlete in his youth, Alvarez chronicles what it is to grow old with humour and fierce honesty. By turns funny, poetic and indignant, Pondlife is a meditation on love, and the importance of life's small pleasures.