Rating: 
Summary: Hysterically funny; heartbreakingly poignant
Review: I loved this book. It's a masterful telling of a young man's first love in his first year of college. On the surface, it's a well-worn story -- average Joe falls head over heels for the greatest beauty in his class, while ignoring the averagely cute girl who has a crush on him. But the telling of the story is so wonderful, the characters are so well-drawn, and behave in suprising unexpected ways that the story seems entirely fresh. Brian Jackson is a working-class kid, who lost his father as a young teenager, a loss he still isn't over. The one thing he shared with his father is a love for college-team quiz shows. At university, Brian has a chance to take part in a university team, and his skills at the game impress the beautiful Alice who is also a member of the team. Many times while reading this, I laughed out loud. One scene (around page 190) in which a professor rips part Brian's rather lame paper on Othello is hysterical.(Basically Brian's only insight into the play was that it was sad the poor old chap had to experience racism.) I may be an American, who's not fully sure what A levels and O levels are, but every funny line in the book had me in stitches. The great, inaccessible beauty -- Alice -- is an intriguing fully developed character, far from any sort of stereotype. There is also a heart-rending storyline about the faltering relationship Brian has with his high school mates once he leaves them behind to head off for college. The novel has great insights into the dynamics of infatuations, male friendships, and son and mother relationships. Anyone who enjoys Nick Hornby, Tom Perrotta, or Edward Docx shoud grab this one. I look forward to any future books David Nicholls may write. I plan to tell everyone I know about this one.
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: 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!
Rating:
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.
Rating:
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!
Rating:
Summary: Fabulous!
Review: Reads like a full book version of the Jeopardy and Reality TV chapters in Rikki Lee Travolta's book My Fractured Life. Nicholls has a droll and captivating wit. He displays a keen knowledge of the tv industry and isn't afraid to use that knowledge to make fun of it. Fans of My Fractured Life will surely enjoy this one. Absolutely Fabulous!
Rating:
Summary: A style similar to David Sedaris
Review: Thank God People magazine decided to review this book! Otherwise I would have never discovered this gem of a read. Basically it is a story of a guy named Brian whom reigns from a working class background with working class friends. He manages to excel academically and is the only one in his family or friends who gets the opportunity to attend university.
Brian is excited and apprehensive of this new chapter of his life. His lifelong dream has been to play the infamous "University Challenge". Instead of seizing opportunities of university life he continously strives to make the dream of making a televised appearance of "University Challenge" a reality. Along that path he falls in love with fellow Challenge teamate Alice. Although she finds him amusing, you know from the beginning that such intense feelings are not mutual. Brian is also torn between economic classes. He wants to fit in with the upper society classmates in college, yet does not want to snub his blue collar friends.
What could be interpreted as mundane, ordinary plots and charactors, manages to blossom into such an entertaining read. The writer David Nicholls manages to deliver such vivid details and description. Quite simply, he is a gifted and highly entertaining storyteller. Perhaps I have a personal bias as I attended college in 1985 just like the main charactor. The anetdotes and descriptions brought back numerous memories.
I am a huge fan of David Sedaris. Although the content and topics vary immensely, I identify similar writing styles. I feel that writer David Nicholls manages to deliver the same succinct execution of humor, irony and love towards the flawed charactors which they write about.
Rating:
Summary: Coming Of Age Story...
Review: This Coming of Age story held my interest with its humor and its character development. I found myself chuckling every few lines as I read. I felt empathy for the main character in his struggles to find himself in a more sophisticated milieu than he had been used to. The university background allowed the development of other interesting characters who interact with him in various situations. The writing is clever and to the point.
Rating:
Summary: A heartbreaking work of staggering genius
Review: What a refreshing surprise it was to accidentally come across this wonderful book. It's laugh-out-loud funny in places, but also has a wonderful undercurrent tinged with sadness. Truly a deep and moving book with some of the most insightful observations this side of the "big pond." Nicholls is bound to become a hot topic in this country as this book makes its way into more and more reader's hands. Also recommended: McCrae's BARK OF THE DOGWOOD
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