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Description edit
Nick Hornby's second bestselling novel is about sex, manliness and fatherhood. Will is thirty-six, comfortable and child-free. And he's discovered a brilliant new way of meeting women - through single-parent groups. Marcus is twelve and a little bitnerdish: he's got the kind of mother who made... read more
Ridiculously Simplified Synopsis edit
Characters/People edit
- Will Freeman: A 36-year-old bachelor. He's sub-zero cool, and believes that 'he is an island.' When he realizes that he can get a girlfriend more easily when they are divorced, he goes to extraordinary measures to do so.
- Marcus: An eccentric, introverted, bullied 12 year-old
- Fiona: Suicidal single mother of Marcus. A music therapist
- Suzie: Will's interest from SPAT and Fiona's friend. She also has a daughter named Megan
- Rachel: Will's love interest. An illustrator of children's books. Ali's mom.
- Ellie: Marcus's wise-talking, rebellious friend. Bad-ass 15 year old girl. Marcus' best friend (after Will, I suppose) and first crush. Kurt Cobain fan.
- Ali: Rachel's twelve year old son.
- Clive: Marcus' Father.
- Mrs. Morrison: The Headmaster at Marcus' school.
- Angie: A single mother who dates Will. It's through her that Will discovers the advantages of dating single mothers.
- Zoe: Ellie's friend
- Katrina: Ellie's mum
- Ned: Will's fake two year old son.
- Lee Hartley: The bully who picks on Marcus at school.
- Megan: Suzie's toddler daughter.
- Roger: Marcus' mother's ex-boyfriend.
- Kurt Cobain: Lead singer of Nirvana. Ellie feels a great connection to him.
- Lindsey: Marcus' dad's girlfriend.
- Robert: Married to Christine they are Will's friends before the couple decided to get married after which Will thought that they were bores.
- Jessica: Will's ex. They still hang out sometimes, but she always tries to point out what he's missing.
- Imogen: John and Christine's new baby girl
Quotes edit
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“People quite often thought Marcus was being funny when he wasn't. He couldn't understand it.”
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“He hated all that. You were a thief just because of how old you were ... He wouldn't go in shops that had that sign in the window. He wouldn't give them his money.”
Marcus -
“This thing about looking for someone less different... It only really worked, he realized, if you were convinced that being you wasn't so bad in the first place.”
Will
- Popular Highlights from Kindle Customers
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This thing about looking for someone less different…It only really worked, he realized, if you were convinced that being you wasn’t so bad in the first place.
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You had to live in your own bubble. You couldn’t force your way into someone else’s, because then it wouldn’t be a bubble any more.
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had simply transferred the chaos of their daily life from one place to another.
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And in the end I realized there would always be something, and that those somethings would be enough.”
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he realized that people who meant it were much more likely to kill themselves than people who didn’t:
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“I tried not to think about that. It happened and I wished it hadn’t, but it’s just life, isn’t it?”
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Maybe children democratized beautiful single women.
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It was kind of ironic that this strange and lonely child could somehow make all these connections, and yet remain so unconnected himself.
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He was one of life’s visitors; he didn’t want to be visited.
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You didn’t have to have a life of your own anymore; you could just peek over the fence at other people’s lives, as lived in newspapers and EastEnders and films and exquisitely sad jazz or tough rap songs.
Highlighted by 5 Kindle customers
First Sentence edit
"So, have you split up now?"
Table of Contents edit
There are thirty-six chapters in this book.
Series & Lists edit
This book is in Based on the Book. (community list)
Authors & Contributors edit
- Nick Hornby (Author)
Other Contributors:
- Alan Cumming (Reader) - for Harper Collins
- David Case (Narrator) - for Books on Tape
- João Lima (Translator)
- Neusa Dias (Cover Artist)
- Rui M. Almeida
First Edition edit
Original Language: English
Publisher: Riverhead
Country: USA
Publication Date: May 11, 1998
ISBN: 1573220876
Page Count: 307
Publisher: Riverhead
Country: USA
Publication Date: May 11, 1998
ISBN: 1573220876
Page Count: 307
Classification edit
- Library of Congress: PR6058.O689 A64 1998
- Dewey: 823.914 21
Subjects edit
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Links to Supplemental Material edit
Movie Connections edit
- About a Boy (IMDb): 2002
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