Hmmm... a funny read. Reminds me of David Sedaris. While humous -- you can't help but laugh -- it stars off with the deep-seeded pain of an overweight boy struggling through puberty. At times I felt emotionally uncomfortably, as though I was hurting for the main character, Peter Paddington. As the book goes on, however, I found that the humour takes over (or perhaps we simply become accustomed to the pain?). While it was a *very* quick read and enjoyable, there were a few elements that did not work. The talking nipples seemed to marginal to the main story line. When they did "appear" I felt that they jarred outside of the fluidity of the narrative. Then there were also a few scenes, -- primarily when Uncle Ed spies Peter lip-singing to Olivia Newton John -- where the setup was unimaginative and the outcome predictable. What do you expect as a resolution for such a novel? I am happy that Francis chose not to end it with a completely transformed, thin and happy, new Peter Paddington. But the last chapter does invoke some of those themes, which readers are meant to conjure up in their own imaginations. (One final scene I did not care for comes with Peter telephoning Daniela's father only to end the conversation in an uncharacteristic emotional outburst.) All said, however, this was an entertaining read from an imaginative writer. I look forward to reading more from this new author.

My beau was leaving Vancouver to go back home to Manchester. He needed a book to read for the plane. I gave him this one, trying to get him to read more Canadian fiction ;-). I told him to drop it off someone in the airport terminal. My stealth way of getting Canadian writers read in the UK. Whoever finds it, I hope they like it.

This book had me in stitches. Its warped, dark sense of humour had me giggling all the way through. Peter Paddington is one of the most lovable characters!

I had never heard of this book or its author. I really enjoyed the book. It was very funny and was a really good way of portraying the battles that we have with our emotions and bodies as we are growing up - especially if you are gay. I appreciated the ending because it didn't go down the 'story fully resolved' route.

The 'nipple' storyline was a little difficult because I found it difficult to pin this down to an overactive imagination or some deeper mental health issues. That's just my opinion. I think you could argue either way - although I tend to lean towards an overactive imagination.

Overall, a good, funny novel that I will recommend to others.

I was given the book by a colleague in my office and have passed the book on to another colleague.