About a Boy - Nick Hornby

About a Boy is an entirely pleasant book, upon which an entirely pleasant movie was based. Coming on the heels of a similar success with High Fidelity, it firmly established the genre of male confessional lit as Nick Hornby's stock in trade.

I am not knocking that. There is loads of chick lit which falls into that category, so why shouldn't we get a look into the male psyche? At least from the perspective of one British male former teacher, anyway.

About a Boy tells the story of Will, an independently wealthy and rather shallow man, with too much time on his hands. Through a series of circumstances and initial misunderstandings, he comes to the realization that pretending he is a single father will open opportunities for him to meet loads of (hopefully desperate, beautiful, and horny) single mothers.

And then he meets Marcus, an odd twelve-year-old, who is charmingly unaware of how uncool he is, but is such an obvious target for bullies. He and his hippie mother complicate Will's comfortable existence, and their sensibilities, which are so blatantly different from his own, frustrate him beyond measure.

And then, of course, he finds himself drawn, most unwillingly, into their lives.

About a Boy is a perfect book for your summer reading list. It's charming and witty, chock full of the pop culture references that I love, and it is ultimately hopeful without once resorting to sappiness or cliche.

I would, though, be very interested to hear what men think of this book. Has Hornby succeeded in capturing the male psyche?