About a Boy by Nick HornbyMy rating: 2 of 5 stars
I was definitely thinking 'male Bridget Jones' for about half the book. The rich, spoiled 30-something Londoners. The singleton's alienation from friends with children. The constant obsession with crushes and hooking up. The problem with Christmas.
Hornby does a decent alternating viewpoint and the language and tone are well juggled between Will's and Marcus's perspectives. There's some character growth, some growing out rather than growing up, some discovery (the importance of friendships....
It's a bit heavy on the overprotective mothers, and on the agonizing over Kurt Cobain, favored symbol of tortured adolescence. Obviously dating the book a bit.
What there isn't is any therapy (wouldn't a kid whose mother had attempted suicide get some counseling?). Or, really, any compelling reason to sympathize with Will, who seems to be an emotionless prick whose main interest is indulging his own whims.
We're supposed to believe that his connection with Marcus changes all that, but I'm not so sure.
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