The Face Pressed Against a Window cover art

The Face Pressed Against a Window

A Memoir

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The Face Pressed Against a Window

By: Tim Waterstone
Narrated by: Tim Waterstone
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About this listen

Candid and moving, The Face Pressed Against a Window charts the life of one of our most celebrated business leaders.

Tim Waterstone is one of Britain's most successful businessmen, having built the Waterstones empire that started with one small bookshop in 1982. In this charming and evocative memoir, he recalls the childhood experiences that led him to become an entrepreneur and outlines the business philosophy that allowed Waterstones to dominate the book-selling business throughout the country.

Tim explores his formative years in a small town in rural England at the end of the Second World War, and the troubled relationship he had with his father, before moving on to the epiphany he had while studying at Cambridge, which set him on the road to Waterstones and gave birth to the creative strategy that made him a high street name.

©2019 Tim Waterstone (P)2019 W. F. Howes Ltd Business Cultural & Regional Professionals & Academics

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Firstly, Mr. Waterstone did a great job reading this. The book started with him describing his youth. I found it quaint and interesting. The second part of the book was about his business efforts and Waterstones. It was interesting to get his views, and also interesting to read ex Waterstones employees reviews online. I liked this book. The two short stories at the end of the book were a good closing section. I would recommend this book. Overall, i enjoyed it, kept an open mind on Mr. Waterstone, and still appreciate his stores. Long may good bookstores last.

Very decent listen

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It's so lovely to hear the story of Tim Waterstone, I've listened to his novels A Passage of Lives [1996] In for a Penny, In for a Pound [2010] and loved them, so I was thrilled to see this was on Audible, and he read it himself.
What comes through - over and above - some rather challenging things in his and his siblings' lives, is his humility. I have noticed that my favourite people have a humility, which can be seen as transparency or not taking a self-aggrandising attitude in anything. Somehow, this dear man showed a resilience that generally comes with security. And as we go through his life with him, and the people who were there, just when he needed the input, I can only see God's channelling. That is my take on it, because of the way he was led in his life. And his humility shows itself in the way he narrates his own words, where he can be amused at the things done or said against him, so that he lives in an ungrudge-bearing way. If only we could all be so light of heart and gently led by instinct and his own drive, the way this dear man was. I'm going to send a Kindle version of the book to my 30 yrold grandaughter who also worked in Waterstones, once.

This is Lovely and so Unexpected

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This is the fascinating, exciting and moving story of a glittering jewel of a little boy, who from the moment he opened his mouth seemed to give far, far better than he got - how from childhood onward, he grabbed hold of the hand he'd been dealt with bravery, generosity of thought, imagination and brilliance, to fill his life - and the world - with goodness. How such a person could have sprung from such sickeningly disturbed and appallingly limited parents is a miracle. As his story unfolds, read so engagingly and warmly by Mr. Waterstone himself, one gleans that even as a small child, he seemed to possess the extraordinary maturity, emotional awareness and heart to understand and forgive, and to move forward devoid of bitterness. Throughout his life he embraces challenge after challenge, making the most of every moment, and as the story of Waterstones Bookshop opens out, one can almost hear a wave of film music! What a man – what a life – what an experience to sit across from him, so to speak, and hear his story, so beautifully written and artfully paced. Thank you, Mr. Waterstone.

An enthralling story, beautifully read.

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