Will Freeman is independently wealthy, scurrilous rouge who does nothing with his life, and loves it. He sees himself as an island, and believes if he cares about no one, then the better off he is.
Despite his selfish life, Will accidentally comes across a boy who attaches himself to Will through lack of having a suitable father figure. Marcus is an odd ball, a loner, the boy most likely to be bullied or ignored in school, and with a suicidal mother, needs all the help he can get. Hoisting himself on Will bizarrely turns out to be the best thing that happens to both of them.
It is unusual for me, an avid reader, to prefer a movie to a book. But this is just the case with About a Boy. I’m not a Hugh Grant fan but in the movie you can succumb to his charm. But in the book it’s hard to even begin to like such a self absorbed, rich, lazy and sleazy man who preys on single mothers, because they are “grateful for a shag.”
Nick Hornby often writes books about men who are pathetic and whine a lot. This particular book is set in 1993, something I would have preferred not to have known, as it puts everything in past tense. Mind you it does give you hope that men have changed somewhat since then, but I doubt it. If you enjoyed reading High Fidelity, then this is a book for you. But if you are used to Bridget Jones’ Diary and its kind, you will find Will a bit hard to become attached to.
This is a feel good book, but you have to preserve to make this so – as it is not until the end that you realise that it is a feel good story and a touching tale about a man who despite being an adult, needs a little boy to help him grow up.
Penguin