A great read. Fab writer. Made all the more appealing by the references to parts of London I know well.

Specially for the unconvention 2005... coming to a table near you!

From Amazon.co.uk
Will Lightman is a Peter Pan for the 1990s. At 36, the terminally hip North Londoner is unmarried, hyper-concerned with his coolness quotient and blithely living off his father's novelty song royalties. Will sees himself as entirely lacking in hidden depths--and he's proud of it! The only trouble is, his friends are succumbing to responsibilities and children and he's increasingly left out in the cold. How can someone brilliantly equipped for meaningless relationships ensure that he'll continue to meet beautiful Julie Christie-like women and ensure that they'll throw him over before things get too profound? A brief encounter with a single mother sets Will off on his new career, that of "serial nice guy." As far as he's concerned--and remember, concern isn't his strong suit--he's the perfect catch for the young mother on the go. After an interlude of sexual bliss, she'll realise that her child isn't ready for a man in their life and Will can ride off into the Highgate sunset, where more damsels apparently await. The only catch is that the best way to meet these women is at single-parent get-togethers. In one of Nick Hornby's many hilarious (and embarrassing) scenes, Will falls into some serious misrepresentation at SPAT ("Single Parents-- Alone Together"), passing himself off as a bereft single dad: "There was, he thought, an emotional truth here somewhere, and he could see now that his role-playing had a previously unsuspected artistic element to it. He was acting, yes, but in the noblest, most profound sense of the word."

What interferes with Will's career arc, of course, is reality--in the shape of a 12-year-old boy who is in many ways his polar opposite. For Marcus, cool isn't even a possibility, let alone an issue. For starters, he's a victim at his new school. Things at home are pretty awful, too, since his musical-therapist mother seems increasingly in need of therapy herself. All Marcus can do is cobble together information with a mixture of incomprehension, innocence, self-blame and unfettered clear sight. As fans of Fever Pitch and High Fidelity already know, Hornby's insight into laddishness magically combines the serious and the hilarious. About a Boy continues his singular examination of masculine wish-fulfilment and fear. This time, though, the author lets women and children onto the playing field, forcing his feckless hero to leap over an entirely new--and entirely welcome--set of emotional hurdles. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

I picked this up today at the Unconvention. I shall journal when I have read it.


I saw the film and this was based mainly on Hugh Grant as Will. I think the book is written equally about Will and Marcus. Nick Hornby really gets inside what it is like to be a 12 year old who doesn't fit in with his peer group and how he feels to be the child of a single parent. Will's character is written with humour and sympathy. The portrayal of Ellie is hilarious. Nick Hornby is definitely on the side of the underdog.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book and look forward to reading my next Nick Hornby.

RELEASE NOTES:

Picked this up at the local Bookcrossing meeting today - my first actually. :) Looking forward to this as I really enjoyed the movie.

Great fun! Enjoyed it very much. :)

RELEASE NOTES:

I'll leave this somewhere in the waitig area, probably on the fridge. :)