Along with statements such as “You're fired”, “I'm sorry to tell you that you have cancer” and “I'm leaving you”, statements containing the word or concept of failure, such as “You've failed your school exam/driving test/job interview”, probably rank clearly among the bleak negatives, or low points, in our lives. Small wonder that the subject of failure is not at the top of most people's favourites for dinner conversation, bedtime reading or even academic study. But I suggest that failure in one guise or another is pervasive, inescapable and has a great deal to teach us. On a personal level failure is usually success's ugly twin. Indeed, “unsuccessful” is synonymous with “failed”. This book is not only about personal failure but this is one of its starting-points.

I hope this book comes across as authentically diagetic (from Plato's diagesis, the author speaking in his own voice), so let me give you a personal illustration. By some measures and in some people's eyes I am very successful. I am an early-retired university professor (indeed, the only person from my original wider family to have even gone to university) and I enjoy a fair amount of respect in my discipline and profession. I have written many books. I am loved, have good friends, family and two beloved sons. I own my own house and car and have enough money to live on. I have travelled fairly widely. I am in reasonably good health and have quite a bit of leisure time.