Will lives in his own world, where sex, substance abuse, and magazine questionnaires fill his day and relationships are squeezed in between. He owns a nice apartment, fast car, videos, CD's and his only source of income are the royalties he gets from his father's novelty Christmas song. The last thing he wants is a serious relationship which can only lead to children, making him sacrifice the lifestyle he cherishes so.

So, it comes as a bit of a surprise when Will finds himself attracted to a single mother. After a brief relationship with this woman, he comes to the conclusion that other single mothers might be equally as exciting. He invents an imaginary two-year old named "Ned" and shows up at SPAT: Single Parents-Alone Together.

Enter Marcus.

Marcus lives with a vegetarian single mother who's sorely behind the times and has had one too many bad relationships. The most extreme pop culture icons he's ever known about are Joni Mitchel and Bob Marely. His shoes and haircut are all wrong and he has a tenancy to belt out songs when nervous. All of this makes him a target of bullies, rejected by his peers and humiliated by teachers. To top that off, his mother is also suffering from depression, which makes his life miserable on both fronts.

The two characters meet when Marcus' mother sends him to a SPAT picnic with her friend, where Will is also in attendance.

A particular high point that makes you instantly respect Nick Hornby as a writer is his ability to connect one of the more crucial events of that time to the characters, and in doing so further the plot along. I refer namely to the death of Kurt Cobain. Since a part of Marcus' social awakening comes from discovering Kurt Cobain and Nirvana, it's no big surprise when the event causes so much trouble in his life. Especially when the girl he's been falling for turns out to be an obsessed fan who believed (like about eighty million other people) that he was singing to her.

Just about anyone of us whose ever had to move to a new city, start at a new school, and had the whole experience suck the center right out of the Tootsie Pop can readily identify with Marcus. Especially those of us with clueless parents, who either don't realize or refuse to understand just how nasty schools have gotten lately. You're on your own with no one who knows you, in a new building so complex it puts most secret government facilities to shame. Bullies are relenetless and even they're only as bad as the teachers who tell you to "ignore it" or "just stay out of their way". (It disturbs me even now how apathetic teachers can be, especially in the wake of tragedies like Columbine)

Lets face it. School in any nation sucks, especially if you're the new kid. Marcus gets my total sympathy from page one.

Will is the guy I wanted to be. Marcus was the kid I grew up as until I finally hit puberty and started telling my mother where to get off and how to get there.

There are some truly touching scenes without being overly sappy. The humor was both intelligent and compelling, making me an unofficial fan of Nick Hornby.

It's a good read. All in all one of the best pieces I've read in the last five years.

The first thing a reader might think, is that Will must be some kind of sick pervert. And I'll admit, pretending to be a single parent just to get single mothers in bed is a depth to which most unmanned submarines have rarely sank.

But over the course of the story, Will comes off less as a pervert and more of an immature child who believes in all honesty that he can fly if he flaps his wings hard enough. Dealing with the feelings of others can be difficult, especially when you're used to the single life and Will is simply a tourist in a land he's never been to before. And on a personal note, Will's lifestyle is the kind of thing that makes my mouth water everytime I hear about it. But I digress.

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Created Feb 23, 2006 at 2:20pm • Submit your own review...