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Summary: Read This Book
Review: A Question of Attraction is a rare thing: a novel that entertains intelligently and humorously. As the novel begins, Brian Jackson, the eighteen year old narrator of this charming novel is about to set off for university in England during the mid-1980s, leaving his widowed mother, friends and working class background. Brian yearns to have knowledge, to learn, to have witty conversation, to meet that certain special gorgeous supremely intelligent someone. He gets to college and spends a bit more time than he would like recovering from hangovers and pining away after Alice, the perhaps unattainable girl of his dreams. He finally gets to fulfill a life-long dream: he will represent his university on University Challenge, a quiz type game show. This novel is funny, witty, heartwarming and endearing (but not sappy, not by a longshot). It's great fun to read. David Nichols is sort of like a British Tom Perrotta--he makes writing a funny and thoughtful novel look effortless. Enjoy.
Rating: 
Summary: throughly enjoyable
Review: A QUESTION OF ATTRACTION is the story of Brian, a somewhat ungainly youth going to university in England in the bleak mid-80s. Brian hopes redefine himself at school and eagerly (in appealingly 1st person) tells us all the thing he'd like to say to people in intellectual arguments ("define your terms")The plot revolves around Brian's efforts to appear on the popular UNIVERSITY CHALLENGE quiz show and to have his beautiful teammate ALice fall in love with him. Alice, a sort of rich socialist, is somewhat idealized but still very appealing, and she leades Brian on through almost the books entire length. Meanwhile, Brian is coping with beer-making roommates, dealing with the friends and family he left behind, having no money, and his classes. This book isn't an all-out romp, it movingly gets at that time in one's life when self-consciousness is replaced by maturity. My one complaint is that the resolution to BRian's romantic problems can be seen a mile away....this is a very British novel but there's enough here to appeal to American readers as well. Highly recommended .
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Summary: Bitter sweet coming of age tale.
Review: David Nicholls has made me cry. And laugh. I bought this book because of a review that said Nicholls was a writer on the UK Channel 4 show, Cold Feet , which had some of the sharpest scripts on TV. Nicholls has grown, his first novel captures the period from high school to college, where teenagers find themselves in a whole new world which is both exciting and unnerving.
The story is very basic but the way he has captured the attitude to life, love, friends and family of a teenage boy is spot on. The real skill here though lies in the comedy. There are some very humorous situations that are laugh out loud funny but the book is also rich in subtle and extremely hilarious observations. This really took me back to my college days and captured the experience perfectly.
If you are looking for a book that makes you laugh and (if you are old like me) reminisce, this novel delivers the perfect combination.
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Summary: A Question of Complexion
Review: I am amazed that nobody has got around to rating this fabulous novel before me as the only reason to put it down is either to catch one's breath from laughing out loud or like eating a particularly delectable desert, to extend one's reading pleasure. It is such an easy read but at the same time full of provocative and thoughtful dialogue and situations. The technique involved in writing a novel that continuously makes one laugh is no mean achievement and this book certainly did it for me. The characters are all too believable, people we know or have known and maybe would rather not know. The story of his introduction into university life is told in the first person by young Brian who suffers from chronic acne, drinks too much alcohol, lives off junk food and cannot but help complicating his social relations. Brian comes over so real that one feels like picking up the phone to offer him advice as one reads along. The situation pieces are also, all too probably and this includes the end where I would personally have preferred a contrived climax that left me on a high and not feeling quite so uncomfortable. It appears that this book was originally titled Starter for Ten; (This is the title of the book I purchased in the UK) this title as well as the existing one do not flatter this captivating novel in my opinion and are the only few words of text in the book that do not shine with brilliant creativity. These are my only negative criticisms of this book that was great fun to read and I now eagerly await other David Nicholls novels.
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Summary: I'm only on page 27 and I haven't stopped laughing....
Review: I LOVE this book! It's incredibly witty, charming, insightful and very well written. I look forward to reading anything and everything else by David Nicholls.
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Summary: What it's like to be a "boy"
Review: I was impressed with my first read by David Nicholls. Usually, I tend to stay with "chick lit" or novels with female characters because I can relate better but I am so glad that I chose to try something different. A Question of Attraction is about the coming of age for a kid in England named Brian Jackson. He has just graduated high school and will study "Eng Lit" at University. Brian, a self proclaimed geek likes games shows (think Jeopardy) dressing in his late father's clothes, drinking and listening to Cate Bush. Brian is smitten (think stalker) with the beautiful Alice whom he meets at school. Brian attempts to impress her with dinner, poems, dancing but something always happens to make his good intentions backfire. These make VERY GOOD laugh*out*loud moments! I thought for sure that girls had it rough growing up, but I might actually have to think twice about that statement. My heart breaks for Brian who is trying to find out who he is. From the top of his 'oozie red boil infested face' to the bottom of his wet muddy shoes (think stalker again). I would like to believe that Brian grows up (and out of his acne) to be a wonderful, intelligent person with a promise of a great life.
Rating:
Summary: What it's like to be a "boy"
Review: I was impressed with my first read by David Nicholls. Usually, I tend to stay with "chick lit" or novels with female characters because I can relate better but I am so glad that I chose to try something different. A Question of Attraction is about the coming of age for a kid in England named Brian Jackson. He has just graduated high school and will study "Eng Lit" at University. Brian, a self proclaimed geek likes games shows (think Jeopardy) dressing in his late father's clothes, drinking and listening to Cate Bush. Brian is smitten (think stalker) with the beautiful Alice whom he meets at school. Brian attempts to impress her with dinner, poems, dancing but something always happens to make his good intentions backfire. These make VERY GOOD laugh*out*loud moments! I thought for sure that girls had it rough growing up, but I might actually have to think twice about that statement. My heart breaks for Brian who is trying to find out who he is. From the top of his 'oozie red boil infested face' to the bottom of his wet muddy shoes (think stalker again). I would like to believe that Brian grows up (and out of his acne) to be a wonderful, intelligent person with a promise of a great life.
Rating:
Summary: I'll be recommending this one!
Review: If you take a quick look at the reviews for this novel to date, you will notice that there is not a bad one in the bunch. This wonderful, hilarious, poignant novel is a joy to read, pure and simple. The year is 1985, and our awkward, lovable hero Brian finds himself trying to adjust to his first semester at university. The trials and tribulations of Brian's life and loves make for some of the funniest prose I've read for a long time. The author nails the mid eighties time period, along with those painful years of young adulthood. You'll be thankful you're not eighteen again, but you'll be smiling all the way through. I loved every page of it!
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Summary: All young people worry, it's a part of growing up
Review: It's 1986 and Margaret Thatcher's economic policies are in full swing: three million are unemployed in Britain, and people are more divided by class than ever. Set against this background is the embattled protagonist of A Question of Attraction, the working class Brit. Brian Jackson, who is eighteen years old and anxiously searching for love and acceptance while absolutely dying to be "middle-class." After obtaining a scholarship he leaves the humble South End, and sets off for a prestigious "posh" university, saying goodbye his widowed mother, his raucous friends, Spencer and Tone, and working class background. Brian yearns to have knowledge, to learn about the finer things in life, and to have witty conversations with some gorgeously, supremely intelligent girl. Once at college he auditions for a spot on a quiz show called University Challenge, then falls madly in love with Alice, an upper middle class, "rich socialist" girl, who initially spurns his affections. College life isn't what Brian expects - he has trouble fitting in, his grades drop, and he spends more time drinking in the local pub and recovering from hangovers than any thing else. When Spencer arrives unannounced on the doorstep of Brian's dormitory, the sparks begin to fly, as the irascible Spender causes no end of problems for Brian's new "civilized" life.
Brian, a self confessed Socialist, thinks he's the most profoundly and hopelessly stupid person in the whole world. With his love of great literature, his quick mind, his obsession with Kate Bush, and his constant fixation with junk food, Brian is like a new type of modern, anti-hero, a boy who has just a little extra time standing on the metaphorical conversational curb, looking left and right "because it's clear that he can't keep stumbling blindly through traffic." Great chunks of his life have slipped by in this manner. The long school holidays, and the long hot summers have all evaporated away in a hazy torpor of hangovers and pointless ambles around Woolworth's. Life is just "headache inducing afternoon naps, drunken bickering, name-calling, take-away food, fitful sleep, and hangovers again."
The novel pretty much centers around Tom's time wasting and denials along with his ruminations on literature and life. When he's not drinking with Spencer he's fawning over Alice. His inferiority complex comes to the forefront in one hilarious chapter when Alice invites him to her parents' cottage for the New Year. After numerous slip-ups - including being appalled at Alice's parents' domestic nudity - he is ostracized from their lives and is forced to back to his Mother's home.
Nicholls' background is in film and television writing, and it shows. This novel has all the ingredients for a movie - witty, erudite, and intelligent, while also having something to say about growing up in the predictable class culture of university life in England. Nicholls has an expert ear for sparkling dialogue, and combines this with a sure gift for witticism and acidly sharp humor - fans of British comedy are going to love this book. All the characters are absorbing, and the narrative startles with its riotous twists and rebellious turns as Brian searches for maturity. Full of smart, intelligent word play and ironic jokes, the novel is packed with Brian's hilarious, and sometimes satiric, observations on love, family, education, sex, and especially class. Ambitious with a tightly focused structure A Question of Attraction is immensely filmable and beautifully told - it is an unqualified delight to read. Mike Leonard August 04.
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Summary: Lousy title..FABULOUS book!
Review: Other reviewers have synopsized this gem of a book already, so won't repeat here. Nicholls' humor ranges from wry to ribald, with a perfect ear for dialog (or dialogue, for the Brits). Here's this kid, away from home for the first time, in over his head at college, and every move he makes seems to be the wrong one. That awkward, bumbling period in life when we think everyone is watching us...only to find out later that nobody really gave us a second thought. Who can forget that agony? Loved every page of this excellent first novel, although we Americans may miss some of the insider Brit references (i.e. who on earth is Travis Bickle?) The truly hilarious transcends the culture gap though....I dare you not to choke on your sandwich when you get to the "misunderstanding" between our hero Brian and his lady love's parents!
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