A Pocketful of Happiness
Richard E. Grant
Born in Swaziland in 1957, Richard E. Grant moved to the UK to pursue his acting career, and has been a fixture on our screens since his breakout role in Withnail and I in 1987. When his beloved wife Joan died in 2021 after almost forty years together, she set him a challenge: to find a pocketful of happiness in every day. more
352 pages, Hardcover
First published Simon & Schuster Ltd.
4.37
Rating
3393
Ratings
482
Reviews
Richard E. Grant
58 books 71 followers
Richard Esterhuysen Grant.Community reviews
Speechless. Poignant. Spellbinding. Could not put down. Richard E. more
I went to "An Evening with Richard E Grant", in which Grant talked for over an hour about the book's content, answered audience questions for another hour, and sold and signed copies of the book afterwards. This is a review of his performance of the book. It's is a remarkable mix of humour and tragedy, sprinkled with name-dropping, and delivered with insight and charm. I knew he had an "interesting" life and was reputed to be an excellent raconteur and writer (The Wah-Wah Diaries: The Making of a Film), but he exceeded those expectations. Grant is an actor who found fame in "Withnail and I" and recently won best-supporting actor awards for "Can You Ever Forgive Me. more
All I want is a love like he and his wife had 💜So beautiful, melancholic and sad. more
4. 5 StarsI first saw the actor Richard E. Grant in a movie called "Warlock" back in 1989 and was instantly smitten. More recently, I saw him portray the character of Bob Crachit in Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" starring Patrick Stewart as Scrooge. In both these roles Richard was tall, dark and handsome, yet evoked a certain sadness, further endearing him to me. more
This brilliant actor who I enjoyed in The Scarlett Pimpernel, the animated Doctor Who (sadly never got a chance in the flesh which is a missed opportunity IMHO) and one of my favorite shows Hotel Secrets comes with a heartbreaking autobiography about the loss of the love of his life. It is a book that certainly shows the love and torch he carried for his wife Joan. It is not a book for those who can keep dry eyes, it is a book one puts away in order to have a go with the content of the tissue box. Thank you Richard E Grant for sharing your pain and yet give us the occasional loud laugh in writing. May I offer my condolences on your loss and compliments on an exceptional piece of written words. more
I can only begin to imagine the emotional strength it must take to write, publish and promote a book within a year of the death of your life partner. And Richard E Grant’s love and admiration for his wife, Joan Washington, shines though every paragraph. The details of Joan’s diagnosis with lung cancer, the various tests and treatments she undergoes, how she and her family come to terms with her terminal prognosis, and her death are all described with an honesty that I know many readers will appreciate. It is great to hear that they were so well-supported by the NHS and by their friends so that Joan could die at home. However, if you’re looking for any biographical depth to this book you’ll be a little disappointed. more
Richard E Grant's memoir With Nails was an excellent read & I was really pleased to see that he had released another collection of his diaries. A Pocketful of Happiness is made up from diary entries leading up to the death of his beloved wife, as well as looking back to when they first met in the 1980s, his Oscar nomination, meeting his life long idol Barbra Streisand and so much more. Grant's memoir flows beautifully & covers the highs & lows of his life in a truthful & straightforward way. more
Was able to read this for work, was shocked to have to wipe away tears reading at my desk, so moving and amazingly written. My heart feels impacted for a lifetime by this book - I’ll have to revisit when I’m strong enough to go through the emotional parts more thoroughly. more
I entered into this book under the notion it would be solely focussed on Grant’s experience of losing his wife. Understandably so, given the memoir’s title is the parting advice upon her death, in addition to Grant’s press tours where he continually touted this as a memoir on Joan’s terminal cancer. I therefore found this read somewhat jarring. Grant jumps from vulnerable journal entries on Joan’s palliative care to recounting his glory days of ‘Withnail and I’, his 2019 Oscar nomination, glitzy party mentions and celebrity name drops. While his wife features in these chapters as a byproduct of their marital entwinement, Grant has made himself the star of the show in these scenes in true thespian style. more
moving, tender and heartbreaking. by far one of the best memoirs i have ever read. . more
An absurdly bizzare read and listen. In the Audiobook version Grant takes on the voices and accents of absolutely everyone he is talking as. This ranges from the celebrities that engulf the annecdotes in this book (shamelessly namedropped as friends consistently) or the australian doctor diagnosing his late wife with terminal cancer. Although this could be a tribute to his late wife who was an accent coach, and as such his way of showing her effect on him, it is very strange for a prose dealing with such real and heavy matter and sometimes borders on comical at points where it is definitely not supposed to beWhilst you do feel sympathy and empathy for Grant and his experience, the author seems obsessed and entranced by the world of celebrity and class in a way which seems tone deaf to the scenario that he is describing. It is hard to come away from this without feeling like you have learnt as much about Grant's celebrity lifestyle and friends, and Grant and his wife's worth to these celebrities which he is een to stress, as you have about the love story that supposedly works as this book's spine. more
What a wonderful book. I’ve laughed and I’ve cried by just hearing the love and pain that Richard E Grant conveys and the way he tells his book. You can’t help but feel the love between Richard and Joan and is a love story you wish to have. Cannot recommend enough. You can’t help but hold on to every word and realise “Time makes fools of us all. more
*** Do not read if you have someone very ill in your life just now but for me despite losing many family members and friends in death, two this year, it’s such a wonderful book. Basically Richard’s diary entries about his true love of his wife and daughter and all they went through on a daily basis during his wife Joan Washington’s fight with the big C word. It’s such a beautiful love story between two people and even though you only know them through their acting or in Joan ‘s case her voice coaching you actually feel so drawn into the story that you get to ‘know’ them. Joan was born in Aberdeen, Scotland which shows in her determination to try to keep on going as Scottish are well known for their stubborn look on life and their ‘fight to the end’ on life as a whole. I’ve seen this in family members and friends as we do not like to wear our feelings on our sleeves so to speak and keep a lot hidden from family for fear of worrying them yet we can offload to complete strangers. more
I am so glad I experienced this particular book in the audio form, so that I can hear Richard read his own lines, full of sincere emotions about both most recent events and older times. He laughs, he gasps, doesn't hold back. This really is his story, and he really is one of the most honest, charming, well mannered and well meaning people. The love he has for his wife is so admiring, it's so heartwarming. Thank you Richard for sharing your story, and share your happiness on every step of the way, as you have been years ago, as you are now. more
I have read Richard E Grant before so I knew he’d write some amusing anecdotes and tell some great stories, but I was unprepared for how deeply this, written after the death of his wife Joan, would move me. What a beautiful relationship they had, and how honestly he conveys the pain following her diagnosis. Incredibly sad and so, so relatable. I particularly connected with the passages where he feels hurt by her outbursts, but understands where that pain and anger comes from, so he just has to bear it. Beautiful. more
This book has been such an anticipated read. I saw Richard. E. Grant talk at my local theatre last week , so I knew what the book was about , plus hearing him on desert island discs. I loved his easy writing style , I could hear his voice when I was reading it . more
Richard E Grant seems like a very warm, kind gem of a human and absolutely someone you would want at your dinner table. A Pocketful of Happiness is based on diary extracts, which makes it a very quick read. I enjoyed some of his gossipy insights into showbusiness, but the best bits were also the most poignant, about documenting the mad journey of grieving when someone you love (and whose love has defined your life and even your very identity) is dying. Very well done. more
An incredibly emotional and moving read, have tissues at the ready. It's clear from his warm and tender words that REG and his late-wife Joan, had a beautiful relationship and that he absolutely adored her - Twas an honour to read about such a special kind of love ❤️. more
Reflections and lessons learned:“In sickness and in health had suddenly been reversed… in health and then in sickness… that’s what we now were” Part autobiography, part analysis of the preparation for grief and loss, but all with heart wrapped around everything. I picked this up excitedly after a library reservation coming in, but knew that I couldn’t shoehorn it in on the usual parts of life, and instead needed to give it the time to properly listen to the pain - essentially the dismantling of a man’s love/life. Having had good friends go through a large part of this in the last twelve months, I needed to listen to perhaps try and answer some of the questions that I couldn’t yet ask of them. But is it that simple. Definitely not… . more
Must be something wrong with me. reading all these positive reviews. I didn't like this book at all. It seemed to me to not so much a tribute to his wife but rather a resume of his own achievements and his connection to so many famous people, constant name dropping. I gave up when Joan died, didn't think I could cope with any more self promotion . more
Do not read this book. You have to listen to it. Richard E Grant tells his story with love, compassion and true heart break. Taking us through his wife, Joan’s, cancer journey he reminisces of better times. Add to this tantalising glimpses into the acting world, and the ultimate tribute to Joan in his pinpoint accurate accents, this book is glorious to listen to in a way that reading it will never do it justice. more
The book is very upsetting and well written. The name dropping and his too-muchness with everything that the Guardian reviewer mentioned is very true. Why is Joan's son Tom from her first marriage not mentioned anywhere. I googled this matter but couldn't find any recent information about him. more
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How dare REG make me feel this much. We can all only dream of a love so deep and so all consuming, yet we all understand the frustrations and anger and helplessness he has experienced. 5 stars. . more
Read Around the World: Swaziland"Once you've stepped off the running machine, it's suddenly clear where you're actually standing and who is standing with and beside you. And who ISN'T. " Richard E. GrantThank you Mr. Grant for this gorgeous book, this intimate look into the wonderful life that was your marriage to Joan Washington [and by the end, I was so very sorry that I never had an opportunity to meet such a fantastic person] and the extremely intimate look into her illness and death. more
Dear Mr. Grant,Thank you for writing honestly and lovingly about your wife and caring for her when she was dying from lung cancer. As I listened to you read your book (which is surely better than just reading it. ), I realized that there are universals that caretakers experience—universals that I had not realized before. Which made me wholeheartedly agree with you: we do need to talk about death more. more
Unbearably sad, beautifully written, and something of a guide for anyone supporting someone who is terminally ill. Written with great honesty and love. I listened to Richard E Grant read this on audiobook - a brave act and an even more memorable experience. more
I listened to this on audio book and hearing Richard reading it was so moving. A memoir, a beautiful tribute to his wife Joan, a lesson in being a carer and grief. Wonderful. more