Synopsis
Will Freeman, a 30-something Londoner, is vaguely in search of a wife, but is simultaneously turned off by the responsibilities that a real life might entail. He befriends young Marcus, son of a single mother with problems, and finds himself being drawn against his will into a tumultuous set of circumstances. Finally he is able, after all, to engage with life in a normal way. A New York Times Notable Book for 1998.
| Details | | Publication Date: | 1999-05-01 |
| Size | | Length: | 320 pages | | Height: | 8.0 in | | Width: | 5.3 in | | Thickness: | 1.0 in | | Weight: | 8.8 oz |
Publisher's Note
Inventing a son got Will into a single parents support group, but rather than a fabulous new sex life, he found someone else's very real son--a 12-year-old with a lot to teach about being a grown up. From the acclaimed author of "High Fidelity" comes this national bestseller that "GQ" calls "Clever and winning".
Industry Reviews
"[T]he end result is a novel that draws complexity and humour...from a scenario which, on the face of it, could so easily be deeply uninteresting. It takes a writer with real talent to make this work, and Hornby has it--in buckets."
Literary Review - David Milner (04/19/1998)
"In the menu of contemporary fiction, Nick Hornby's 'About a Boy' is the green salad: There's not much to chew on. That is not to say that this follow-up to the hugely popular 'High Fidelity' is not entertaining. Mr. Hornby's trademark wit, breezy writing and his characters' wry internal dialogues keep the reader cheerfully flipping pages. But once it ends, this TV sitcom-like tale of a 37-year-old Londoner who poses as a single father in order to improve his love life doesn't haunt the reader with images or observations on human nature the way the best novels do. It just evaporates from memory."
Wall Street Journal - Elizabeth Bukowski (05/07/1998)
"[T]his has the right mix of hilarity and irrepressible characters to attract a wide audience: an upbeat, unqualified success."
Bernstein
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