Rating: 
Summary: A good way to spend a weekend - but only a weekend...
Review: God bless Nick Hornby. Author of the excellent novel High Fidelity and the equally worthwhile soccer-memoir Fever Pitch (both soon-to-be movies), Londoner Hornby always manages to mix humor with a very keen sense of observation. More to the point, he is very contemporary - something that is becoming a challenge for many authors to accomplish.However, looking at the premise of Hornby's newest novel About A Boy, I cringed. The book jacket talks about fatherhood, single mothers, children - precisely the sort of subjects a young male wants to ignore while immersed in a novel. Fortunately, Hornby has let me down - this is a brilliant read. "About a Boy" stars Will, who has drifted through life on a nifty little trust fund that keeps him comfortable. Never having cared for anything except for what he surrounds himself with (clothes, drugs, music, girls, soccer) he suddenly is depressed by his friends - who now are all becoming parents and/or responsible. Will, through a series of pathetically hilarious circumstances, finds himself becoming a father figure to a young boy. Hornby has clearly modeled his protagonist Will Freeman on himself, resulting in a work that resonates with honesty. Will the U.S. finally get wise to Hornby? Who knows. Still, "About a Boy" is a good way to spend a weekend, but only a weekend. (This review was originally printed in the June 1998 issue of Bikini Magazine in a slightly edited form.)
Rating: 
Summary: Hornby's best becomes a great movie
Review: I'm writing this review two days after seeing the screen adaptation of "About a Boy" on its opening night. As a huge Nick Hornby fan, I was enthralled with the final product of the filmmakers. No "let's move the script to Chicago" debasing of the script, a la the Cusack-centric version of "High Fidelity." As good as the book is, "About a Boy" the movie is even better. It didn't seem possible. But even if you've seen the movie, and are thinking about the book, I suggest you give it a try. Especially if you've never read Hornby before. In fact, if you're 'new to Nick,' here's one man's take on a course of action... 1. [Assumes you've just seen 'About a Boy.'] 2. Read the book. 3. Rent 'Fever Pitch' from Blockbuster. [The book is rather a tough read - unless you're a European football (aka 'soccer') fanatic. It deals with Hornby's lifelong obsession with Arsenal & his struggles to become a writer. But the movie is a sweet little vignette drawn from the book. It makes for a nice viewing by a couple looking for a good Staurday night rental. Just ignore the odd cover box, which has nothing to do with the movie.] 4. Read 'High Fidelity.' [Only see the movie if you've read the book first. Don't let the movie ruin the book for you.] 5. Read 'How to Be Good.'
--------- Here are two neat little differences between 'About a Boy,' the movie and book, that I don't think will ruin the book for you: 'Social Suicide' Song ---------------------
Movie: 'Killing Me Softly'
Book: 'Both Sides Now' An inspired choice by the moviemakers. The only downside being that you'll feel like an idiot when you get caught by your co-workers singing 'Killing Me Softly' later in the week. Marcus' Musical Awakening
-------------------------
Movie: Mystikal
Book: Nirvana The scriptwriter really demonstrated a good pop-culture relevancy touch here with this change.
Rating:
Summary: About About A Boy
Review: Hello,
my name is A.H. this is mentioned to identify me.
I read the book 'about a boy' in class and after a first boring impression I can say it's a good story with a high amount of reality.
The reader gets relly involved by reading. Also Nick Hornby wrote a very funny novel, which makes the story easy to read.
All in all I can advise this book to everybody.
Rating:
Summary: Hilarious
Review: "About A Boy" is a unique tale of a 36-year-old man, Will Freeman, who makes his money off royalties from a Christmas song written by his dad, and therefore sits around and does nothing all day, and a painfully uncool 12-year-old named Marcus. When they meet at a get-together for a single parents' group (Will joined by making up a son, thinking he would meet women) Marcus soon insists on a friendship with Will. While at first Will finds him annoying, throughout the novel a sweet relationship between them grows. This book is hilarious. The first time I read it, I liked it, but I didn't quite get all of the jokes. I firmly believe this is because I wasn't very familiar with the band Nirvana at the time (I was only 6 when Kurt Cobain killed himself, after all). However, over a year or so I became a big Nirvana fan and learned a lot about Cobain and the band, and so when I reread the parts where Marcus believes there is a Manchester United player named Kirk O'Bane, I laughed out loud. After that, I seemed to notice the jokes more and overall enjoyed the novel more. The only reason I didn't give the book 5 stars is because it's obviously not a great literature classic, and that's what I like to give 5 stars to. Otherwise, it's a great, fast read, and if you like it enough, see the movie as well. Hugh Grant is pitch-perfect as Will, and the rest of cast is very good as well.
Rating:
Summary: Two great boys
Review: Once again, Nick Hornby writes a book based on personal experiences, and the result is, once again, very good. Hornby's detached, uncompromised style is a relief. The reading is very light and entertaining. The question that remains is: who is the "boy" in the title? Marcus is a son of separated parents. His father is a far-away jerk. His mother is a suicuidal, depressed hippie (!). He just moved to London, and he is not doing very well in school, and in fact he's not doing very well in life. He has the wrong clothes, the wrong hair, he's a vegetarian, and has no friends. On the other hand, Will Freeman (a little too obvious name) is a 36-year-old who has no job because he is rich enough to afford a pacate life. He has no family, no children, and only shallow friends. His non-life objective is to meet women so he can take them to bed. Marcus and Will meet and they help each other to achieve a better living to both of them, taking their lives and using what's best in them. The portuguese title of this book is "Um grande garoto", which, when put in english, has two meanings: "A great boy" and "A big boy". The portuguese title is the summary of the book. "About a boy" is about two boys: one, a grown-up living the life every kid would want, but he's getting tired of it; the other, a kid living his life with the seriousness and responsibilities of a grown-up, and he's alreay tired of it. Hornby's universe is very pontual, small, but his characters and the relationships between them are very complex, and that's what makes his books so unforgettable. Hornby has re-defined pop-culture, adding to it a new meaning and the face of the nineties. Grade 8.9/10
Rating:
Summary: The Unraveling of a Stoical Man
Review: My friend has told me that there is no such word as "stoical" - I contend that if that is true, there is at least a beautiful and poignent description of my made up word found in Will and Marcus. On the surface it seems like a "coming of age" story concerning a 36-year-old man and a 12-year-old boy, but deep down there seems to be a undercurrent of someone struggling to understand what it means to feel and to live with people in community and to lvoe them through their messy moments and their bright spots as well. It's a well-written and funny book worth the time and joy.
Rating:
Summary: Quick read!
Review: I found Nick Hornby and came to love him while reading High Fidelity. After reading "How to be Good" and thinking it was only ok, I decided to try my luck at this one. I will give Nick this, he is always funny. This book went by very quickly. Will is in his mid-thirties and lives off of his dad's one hit wonder song called, "Santa's Super Sleigh." What else does he do? Not much. He basically does all of the things that we do in our down time (those that have jobs) read, sleep, watch tv, visit with friends, work out, go out to eat, and so on. He didn't find anything wrong with it really, and he understands that women may not always be that attracted to him because of the lack of ambition he carries, whether or not he is a good looking man. He stumbles upon a single mom who feels that she does not have enough to offer him, and realizes that he has struck gold. They (single moms) are this hidden resource that he never knew existed! He doesn't have to spend every waking moment with them (because they have less time) great sex, and he looks like this good guy because he thinks it's hard for them to find men to date that will put up with the fact that they have children! He starts going to these single parent meetings S-P-A-T (Single Parents Alone Together) and tries to gain access to all of the single moms only to find out that it's not all it's cracked up to be. But, what he ends up getting out of it, is something that he never knew existed---a life. He meets Marcus, who is the son of a depressed single mom who cries almost every day. He strikes up a frienship with Marcus, who shows him that maybe it's better to give and receive, instead of just receive. He finds meaning in life when he never knew there was any. A touching book, and at times, laugh out loud funny. I'm looking forward to Hornby's next effort!
Rating:
Summary: About a lot of life, fitting in, and caring
Review: Having been made into a movie that proves Hugh Grant is still a box office draw, Nick Higham's second novel, About A Boy, involves the transformation of a self-centered confirmed bachelor into letter other people into his life, and a boy who struggles to find his own identity, away from his mother's influence, and fit in more in order to survive at a school full of bullies. The book is told from the POVs of two people. One is Will Freeman, a thirty-six year old confirmed bachelor, an island to himself, who lives off royalties from a song his father made long ago, a novelty Christmas song called "Santa's Super Sleigh." He's hip, and he has his day organized into either shopping trips, hanging out with his few friends, watching TV, and trying to score with women but not to commit on a long-term basis. He finds a goldmine of opportunity in dating Angie, a single mother who resembles Julie Christie, and when she breaks it off, he decides there must be more attractive women of that sort. To that end, he joins SPAT (Single Parents-Alone Together), an encounter group of moral support, and even invents a 2-year old son Ned, and ex-wife Paula. Then there's Marcus, a 12-year old boy who doesn't have it so good. He's in London, where students are more trendier. His mother's a vegetarian/health food, hippy-type into Joni Mitchell, and who is totally against mindless conformity. The result is that he's picked on in school, especially as he has the tendency to sing out loud from out of the blue when nervous. He doesn't have any real friends to speak of. His father's in Cambridge with a girlfriend. But worse still, he notices his mother suffering from depression. Will and Marcus meet when Suzie, a SPAT member whom Will has taken a shine to, takes Marcus on an outing in the park. That day becomes a day forever etched in Marcus's mind, as his accidental killing of a duck with a French loaf is overshadowed by his coming home and seeing his mother overdosed on pills. The two bond slowly, and Marcus learns how to become invisible, outwardly wearing trendy clothes, listening to hip music and all, but to be himself inside, i.e. to be in disguise. The nature programme and Groundhog Day video Fiona and Marcus watch, on the fish that doesn't come out of its cave, and how Bill Murray lives the same day over and over, are clever and subtle parallels to Will's life. The book here has Kurt Cobain and Nirvana as the thing that unites Marcus and Ellie, the rebellious and brooding 15-year old who slowly warms up to him, and the book takes place from 1993 to 1994, so one can figure out what bearing an event that took place nearly ten years ago tomorrow (5 April) will have. But the one thing that stood out was a conversation involving the difficult search to find a life partner so "less different" from one. Ellie's mother replies, "Why do you think we're all single?" The conclusion seems to be, as Marcus later decides, that it's safer if everyone were simply just friends, pairing off being a bit of an emotional hazard. With writing that's pointed and witty, Higham makes convincing characters of Will and Marcus, but he does so with Fiona, Marcus's mother, and Ellie, described as Siouxsie Sioux with a Roadrunner hairdo; he also weaves threads of single parents, the difficulty of fitting in at school, and why the concept of marriage and or sig. others may be declining in the late 20th century onwards, and for Will, being able to care about someone and still maintain his own island.
Rating: 
Summary: Nick Hornby, About a Boy
Review: Elena Becker, Lisette Winter We read "About a boy" in our English class. "About a boy", written by Nick Hornby is about the friendship between a 36 years old man called Will Freeman and a boy named Marcus who is 12 years old.
The author describes Will as a hedonistic, well-off person, who exploits people's emotions . He is very interested in pop music, films and beautiful, blond women, especially in those who are single mothers.
In contrast to this character Marcus, the second protagonist in the story is a caring,
old-fashioned and sensitive boy, whose mother is close to suicide. Because of that Marcus was forced to behave like a grown-up. Beside the problems with his depressive mother he is laughed at and ridiculed by his schoolmates who think that Marcus is weird and bully him.
Although first it seems that the two main characters don't fit together, a deep friendship between the both develops which changes Marcus as well as Will in a positive way. While Will to be concerned about other people and to get responsible for his action, Marcus becomes a more modern teenager, who is now accepted by his schoolmates and even has a girl-friend.
Hornby's language is simple to understand and his style of writing is fluent and fresh. He creates his novel more vividly by using a lot of dialogues and inner monologues.
The author uses many stylistic devices like words with double meaning, for example SPAT (=single parents alone together) <-> to spit,(spat). Furthermore you can find ironic elements, especially in the communication between Marcus and Will: "England, the world, the universe." (p.76) and
exaggerations like "You know Michael Jackson, right? He makes million pounds a minute." (p.47).
All in all the book is more recommendable than the film, because although there is no real suspense and not much action, Hornby understands to compensate the plot in an interesting way of writing which makes you read on. The writer doesn't describe his characters superficially but he also deals with psychological aspects.
Rating:
Summary: Friday
Review: In the novel "About a boy" Nick Hornby succeeds in fascinating the reader on each of the 320 pages. It's easy to understand and therefore adapted to my linguistic proficiency as a German.
I enjoyed reading the book and I can recommend the book to everyone who also likes stories without too much action and excitement.
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