- Paperback: 272 pages
- Publisher: Broadway; Reprint edition (Jun 11 2002)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0767907140
- ISBN-13: 978-0767907149
- Product Dimensions: 20.4 x 13.3 x 1.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 195 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,371,325 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
Product Details |
Product Description
From Amazon
Some men are born fathers, while others have fatherhood thrust upon them. The protagonist of John O'Farrell's The Best a Man Can Get belongs indisputably in the latter category. When his first daughter is born, Michael Adams imagines her as the warden of a prison that will permanently deprive him of his youth and freedom. Terrified by his new responsibilities, he regularly escapes to a bachelor pad across the Thames, pretending to be at work. Another child arrives--and with still another on the way, it is only a matter of time before Michael's wife discovers his double life. At that point, he must make a choice between his family and his hedonistic haven.
By turns hilarious and touching, O'Farrell's book delves deeply into the anxieties of modern parenting. Yet the novel is not without empathy for the 21st-century father. After all, it's easy to imagine the lure of a child-proof hideaway, insulated from sleepless nights and dirty diapers. At the same time, Adams often wonders whether "just being tucked up warm and cosy" is really "the best a man can get." With its charming prose and truant protagonist, this first novel is sure to win over even the most reluctant parent. --Greg Bensinger --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Publishers Weekly
Are the wife and kids getting you down, taking up too much of your leisure time, disturbing your beauty rest? Pretend you're single, rent an apartment and sleep there instead. O'Farrell's (Things Can Only Get Better) has great fun with his monstrous premise in this sharp-witted slapstick set in London. Jingle writer Mike Adams, 32, is a perplexed father of two, shocked to learn that his wife, Catherine, is pregnant again. Knowing he may never realize his dream of being a rock musician, Mike justifies his double life renting an apartment in Balham with college student Jim, porn addict Simon and shy Paul by stressing that his long separations from Catherine solidify their marriage by keeping Mike sane. Catherine believes Mike is really renting a music studio and pulling all-nighters to compose his commercial jingles. Holes develop in Mike's story as he retreats further into his beer-soaked pseudo-bachelorhood, stops payments on the family home in Kentish Town and is tempted by nymphet Kate. Clever psychological riffs Mike feels he is becoming a father figure to Jim, Simon and Paul abound between chaotic parenting and apartment scenes as Mike fears he is emulating his own father, who walked out when Mike was just five. Denial turns to despair when Catherine bursts Mike's bubble, saying she is unhappy that he works so much, leaving her alone to raise the children. As the dark shadows of divorce, financial ruin and creative failure stalk Mike, O'Farrell succeeds in creating a hit single for the Nick Hornby crowd. (June)
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Tag this product(What's this?)Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items. |
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most helpful customer reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Best a Reader Can Get,
By Anthony Mallon (Bedfordshire, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Best a Man Can Get: A Novel (Paperback)
From start to finish I felt "involved".I worked in Clapham at the time I read the book which helped. It's probably the best laugh I have ever had out of a book.I'd love to see it made into a film. If done right, with the right characters, it could run rings around Bridget Jones. The phone box incident and the "gay denial" were classic!!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Few books make you laugh out loud...,
By nicjaytee (London) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Best a Man Can Get: A Novel (Paperback)
But... this is one. Featuring English humour at its most incisive and similar to, but even better than, Nick Hornby's "High Fidelity", "The Best a Man Can Get" surrounds a clever storyline with more superb "one liners" than any other book I've read. Well written, and genuinely reflective on the dichotomies facing men when their lives become totally disrupted by childbirth, it's addictive and above all "funny". How good?... well my wife, children & I watched with great amusement as our (male, one loving wife, two loving children) friend completely disrupted a day and a half of our recent holiday as he raced through it, accompanied by regular and wholly disconcerting hoots of laughter. Once finished, I picked it up and read it straight through in similar time accompanied by similarly uncontrolled outbursts. It's totally "non-PC" and very "English" but it's honest, brilliantly witty and, in the end, charmingly tender. If you're male, if you shared a flat when you were younger and if you've had children, you will definitely relate to it - if not, well... treat it as an instruction manual on how men in that situation really think.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Another Undiscovered Gem From Britain,
By
This review is from: The Best a Man Can Get: A Novel (Paperback)
Like Nick Hornby and Tony Parsons, John O'Farrell can be added to the list of hilarious British authors who make the idea of children and fatherhood painfully real and side splittingly funny. Michael Adams has managed to balance his jingle writing career and his wife and two very young kids in a rather unique way; He leads two lives. In one, he's a devoted father put upon by his demands at work which force him to be away from home for a few days at a time.Away from home he shares a flat with three distinct bachelors who have no idea he's married, let alone has kids.All this plays out in a witty, funny first person narrative that sounds like a role tailor made for Hugh Grant, Colin Firth or Greg Wise.If you liked Nick Hornby's "About A Boy", or Tony Parsons "Man & Boy" you'd probably enjoy this as well.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
Want to see more reviews on this item?
|
Most recent customer reviews |
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
