About A Boy

by Nick Hornby

I got through this book in just a couple days by reading it on long bus rides. It's a perfect summer read - fun, hilarious, a happy ending - what more could you want while chilling at the poolside?

Will's a 36 year old man whose days are filled with hair appointments, shopping, TV watching, hanging out with friends...he's never had a job, since he lives off royalties of a song his father wrote years before. He realizes that if he can only meet hot, single moms, he'd be in heaven, since their children tend to keep other men at bay. Will invents a child and joins SPAT, a support and socializing group for single parents, to put his plan into action.

Marcus is a 12 year old boy who's new to town, is mercilessly picked on at school, and, to top it off, his mother tried to kill herself. He decides that a bigger family is better than just 2, so that he'll have someone to help if his mom tries to commit suicide again. Enter Will. Marcus soons give up notions of Will and his mom ever getting married, but starts a friendship with Will that's extremely funny for the reader to watch grow.

Like I said, this is a light read that made me laugh out loud on the bus more than once (which drew some stares from the other riders, haha). It was made into a movie about 5 years ago, with Hugh Grant, and though I have yet to see it, I think I'd like to, to see if it lives up to the fun I had reading the book.