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Slow Puncture: Living Well With Dementia Paperback – September 28, 2020

by Peter Berry (Author), Deb Bunt (Author)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 69 ratings
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This is an account of a year in the life of Peter Berry, an ordinary man living in a sleepy Suffolk village. Happily married and running a successful business, Peter's life changes when, at the age of fifty, he is given a terminal diagnosis of early onset dementia.

Since that day, he has learned to live with his very own dementia monster. From depression and suicide attempts through to his determination to confront his dementia, Peter has embarked on a series of challenges to show that life isn't over with dementia, it's just a little different. Peter has now raised thousands of pounds for dementia charities, cycling hundreds of miles in his quest to show that life is always worth living.

When Peter meets Deb, recently retired, they embark on regular cycle rides and, as their friendship grows, Deb is able to look at her own life through the lens of Peter's dementia. In Slow Puncture, Peter tells the world what it is really like to live with a terminal condition and Deb learns to enjoy each day more fully. With a foreword by best-selling author Wendy Mitchell, author of Somebody I Used to Know, this is an inspirational look at both living in the present and coping with dementia.

Praise for Slow Puncture:

The way Peter and his wife have come to terms with the dementia that has descended on him is both humbling and uplifting. Millions of people witnessed on television the raw honesty of Peter's pain, as well as the extraordinary positivity he found from deep within his spirit. His story is an inspiration. Hugh Bonneville, film and television actor

Peter has a unique way with words: he makes you appreciate anew the preciousness of the present moment." David Bradford, editor of Cycling Weekly
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  1. Language
    English
  2. Publisher
    Book Guild Publishing Ltd
  3. Publication date
    September 28, 2020
  4. Dimensions
    5.39 x 0.87 x 8.5 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    1913208931
  6. ISBN-13
    978-1913208936
  7. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Book Guild Publishing Ltd (September 28, 2020)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1913208931
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1913208936
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.39 x 0.87 x 8.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 69 ratings

About the authors

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  1. Deb Bunt

    Deb Bunt

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    Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

    I never really had much ambition in life other than to see Arsenal win the league and to be a published writer. I’m delighted to say that I have seen Arsenal crowned champions (more than once) and now my second ambition is about to come to fruition. Until now the only things I have had published have been short stories and numerous articles in The Gooner (an Arsenal fanzine) and so having a book out there is both petrifying and exhilarating.

    Some potentially interesting facts (depending on how interesting other people find my life – obviously I find it a source of endless fascination…) include my 1980’s experience of traveling from Streatham to Kathmandu on a bus (a deliberate, rather than a random decision, obviously!)

    I had my first son in Lewisham and, later having acquired a husband from the corps diplomatique, had the second one in Vienna. As my German only ran to ‘I want coffee and cake without cream, please', I found the birth something of a biological and linguistical struggle. We then moved to New York where I worked at the United Nations. Looking at the world now, I don't think my sojourn there contributed an awful lot to developing world peace and I certainly wasn't cut out to be a diplomat's wife and ties were soon severed with both institutions.

    I then spent some years in South London as a parenting practitioner and now my husband and I are happily retired in rural Suffolk.

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  2. Peter Berry

    Peter Berry

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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
69 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

LStanleyBooks
5.0 out of 5 stars A Unique Point of View
Reviewed in the United States on January 10, 2022
Verified Purchase
The perspective of Alzheimer's that's so clearly pictured in Peter Berry and Deb Bunt's "Slow Puncture" is unlike anything I've read to date. This is the first time I've been able to "listen" to the person with Alzheimer's talk about what's going in inside their mind in real time, and I'm so grateful for Peter's candor.
Through his words, I was able to enter Peter's experience, and I realized I was continually wanting to do something to make it better for him, his wife Teresa and their daughter Kate.
We get different view from Peter's friend and cycling buddy Deb, and we see that, as she spends time with Peter, she grows in ways she could never have imagined she would.
You will be changed by your experience with Peter and Deb. This book has done a brilliant job of compelling you to see that Peter is still Peter; he has obstacles in his dementia, but he is still Peter, and I'm forever grateful to have had this glimpse into his thoughts and observations. Caregivers and researchers alike will greatly benefit from this outstanding book. Great work!
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Linda Brendle
5.0 out of 5 stars I wish I had read this book while I was caring for Mom and Dad.
Reviewed in the United States on November 26, 2021
In this cooperative project about dementia, friendship, and adventure Peter Berry, who received a diagnosis of early onset dementia at the age of fifty, and Deb Bunt, a world traveler who retired to rural Suffolk, share a candid account of what dementia looks like from the inside as well as the outside. Berry fights his dementia monster by reducing him to a cartoonish caricature and by devising biking challenges, accepting speaking engagements, and writing this book. The insights he drops into conversations with Bunt over coffee and cake are insightful and often stunning, but they are almost immediately forgotten – but not by Bunt. He says that having her to chronicle their journeys and adventures is like having a memory outside his head.

Berry’s insights and his approach to life give those of us on the outside a tiny peek at what the world looks like through a mind clouded by dementia, and Deb’s empathetic responses give the rest of us some idea of how to have a respectful and loving relationship with those with dementia. Berry says that he tries to make life about the “I can do’s” rather than the “I can’t do’s.” Bunt says that while others suffer from dementia, he has learned to live with it – with an emphasis on the living part. But just when his coping mechanisms and showmanship lull the reader into thinking dementia is not so bad, he says something like this: You know, in life, most people walk towards the light, but people with this condition are walking away from it. So, here’s my plan, when I have to, I’m going to walk backwards so I will still see the light.

This may have been the easiest five-star rating I’ve ever given. I loved this book and highly recommend it.
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Mary Crescenzo
5.0 out of 5 stars Go on the Road with Peter and Deb in this Profound and Poignant Book
Reviewed in the United States on February 21, 2022
Take this challenging but joyous ride with Peter and Deb in their profound and poignant book filled with a unique story of friendship, wisdom, and defiance of the “monster” (in Peter’s words) of Alzheimer’s. Through conversational tones, Peter and Deb speak in the first person/present in each of their distinct, insightful voices and perspectives, with beautiful counter-point to the journey they have found themselves on together. 

Peter Berry is a philosopher with a deep yet positive perspective, turning what might be seen as tragedy into joy.  Both Peter and Deb mark the roads they travel with powerful, poetic metaphor combined with down-to-earth talk, as we follow along on Peter’s path of cycling and Alzheimer’s.  

In this warm and wonderful story, Peter turns to Deb and says, “The roll of the wheels is the dynamo that generates my day.”  May we all travel our separate roads with the wisdom and intention both author’s carry. Peter is a sage, a storyteller, an inspiration for us all.  Slow Puncture takes us to a place where the signposts say, Listen. The title says it all.  Although the inevitable may be approaching, just keep going as best you can.
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JC
5.0 out of 5 stars An inspiring story of a man finding a way to live a full life despite the diagnosis of dementia
Reviewed in the United States on September 5, 2021
I thoroughly enjoyed Slow Puncture, a moving and funny account of one man's journey as he navigates his life with dementia.
It was heartwarming to read about the deepening of a friendship that grew out of a mutual love of cycling. Deb sheds light onto Peter's ever increasingly challenging world at the same time as bringing humour and expressing his determination to beat the disease and live life to the fullest.
An enjoyable and inspiring read. Highly recommended.
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VictoriaSC
4.0 out of 5 stars Both truthful and positive
Reviewed in the United States on April 9, 2021
Slow Puncture by Peter Berry and Deb Bunt offers a glimpse into the world of someone living with dementia, in particular early onset dementia. Right away this work takes the reader deep into the experiences of author Peter Berry as he comes to terms with his diagnosis and his friend Deb Bunt as she is introduced to dementia through Peter’s diagnosis. Slow Puncture follows Peter’s life from the time of his diagnosis to the following years as many of his skills and freedoms slowly decline and are taken away as the neurons in his brain decline.

The shining light throughout the book is Peter’s unwavering positivity and determination to live as healthy and as full a life as he can. He is the hero of this story, albeit a reluctant one, and his wit and charm will both astound and encourage the reader in their own life difficulties. Peter will touch the reader’s heart and offer hope. Woven in between the events in the book are life lessons and pearls of wisdom. I appreciate how the authors combine the reality of living with dementia with the reality of living with the determination to make each day the best it can be. Whether the reader is intimately familiar with dementia or has not a clue what it is, Slow Puncture has something for everyone.
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Top reviews from other countries

P. Royall
5.0 out of 5 stars A wonderful story of friendship, cycling and fighting off monsters.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 16, 2020
Verified Purchase
Where to start? I lost a dear friend of mine to Alzheimer's disease last autumn, I'd watched her over a number of years turning from a wickedly funny, extremely intelligent lady, through forgetting things, repeating herself as this disease claimed more and more of her mind. I missed her, even before she passed. A few days after she passed, I decided to channel my grief into a cycling challenge for Alzheimer's Research UK called "Cycling Down Dementia". A group of cyclists around the UK were going to try and ride as much as possible during the winter months to raise money to help fight this awful disease; two of the people involved were Deb Bunt and Peter Berry. You see, there was a point to this paragraph.

What was instantly noticeable was the friendship and comradery between Deb and Peter, how funny they both were. When I heard there was a book coming out, I preordered it as soon as I could. I realised that although I knew someone who'd had dementia, I still didn't feel like I understood much about it at all.

The book is superb, it gives a real window into the friendship of Deb and Peter. Peter has a wonderful turn of phrase and Deb has a lovely way of putting it onto paper. A real page-turner, I sat and read it from cover to cover, which is something I very rarely do with any book. I feel like I understand more about how Peter must feel, as well as those close to him. It avoids too much sentimentality and is instead funny and charming. I feel better for having read it, and it will stay with me for some time.
One person found this helpful
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Angie Buxton-King
5.0 out of 5 stars keeping active improves quality of life
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 2, 2023
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A really good example of how exercise and a positive mindset can have a massive impact on health.
Also an important message is that out of adversity can come help and knowledge for so many others on the same path.
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Peter Watters
5.0 out of 5 stars An emotional journey through an ever-changing landscape
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 19, 2020
Verified Purchase
Slow Puncture is a wonderfully written account of a life-changing year for two people from different backgrounds. It is poignant, funny, thought-provoking but never maudlin and gives the reader a small window into how dementia affects the individual and the wider family but also how its ripples can slowly spread to make positive changes for others. It is a testament to the human spirit and will leave you wiser and more aware of the need to live in the moment before those moments are lost forever. Invest your time and money in this book, you will not regret it.
One person found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars An honest account of living with dementia
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on October 8, 2020
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Those of us who know Peter know that he is an amazingly fit man and an incredible, experienced cyclist. He is also funny, intelligent and a great communicator. Dementia has not stolen this from him and has in fact allowed him to share it with a wider audience. Thank you so much Peter for allowing us to have an insight into the world of someone living with dementia. I think we can all learn a lot from this book and well done of course to Debs for telling his story with honesty and sensitivity . A great read.
2 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars This book will give you insights into living with Dementia in a way that no medical text book can
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 25, 2021
Verified Purchase
Beautifully written; humorous sensitive and thought provoking - extremely inspirational and wonderful
o see how the friendship between the author Deb and Peter complements and brings out the best in both of them - and its a one of a kind and unique friendship.
Everyone will have someone they know or love who is affected by Dementia - you won't regret reading this book!
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