About a Boy

July 21st, 2006

About a BoyWill Lightman is a Peter Pan for the 1990s. At 36, the terminally hip North Londoner is unmarried, hyper-concerned with his coolness quotient, and blithely living off his father’s novelty-song royalties. What interferes with Will’s career arc, of course, is reality—in the shape of a 12-year-old boy.

Praise for About a Boy

“An utterly charming, picaresque tale of an older guy, a young kid, and the funky, dysfunctional real-life ties that bind—and unbind.”
—Vogue

“Humorous fiction with a real heart…Hornby is a writer who dares to be witty, intelligent and emotionally generous all at once. He combines a skilled, intuitive appreciation for the rigors of comic structure with highly original insights about the way the enchantments of popular culture insinuate themselves into middle-class notions of romance.”
—The New York Times Book Review

“A pleasurable book…both subtle and provocative but put together with a skill that makes it seem simpler than it is. It is, in fact, easier to read than it is to forget.”
—The Los Angeles Times Book Review

“A follow-up to High Fidelity…About a Boy is an acerbic, emotionally richer yet no less funny tale…shrewdly hilarious.”
—Entertainment Weekly

“The conversations between Will and Marcus are hilariously loopy.”
—The Boston Globe

“Hornby’s trademark wit, breezy writing and his characters’ wry internal dialogues keep the reader cheerfully flipping pages.”
—The Wall Street Journal

“An amusing male-bonding theme…stylish, well-observed.”
—People

“Writing with real ‘soul.’”
—Harper’s Bazaar

Entry Filed under: Books