A review by alexlaurelhoffman
About a Boy by Nick Hornby

4.0

I couldn't put this book down right from the word go! Nick Hornby deals with serious philosophical subjects - depression, love, growing up and Ben the meaning of life - but not for one moment is his writing heavy or draining. He takes a cleverly funny approach to all these subjects through an eccentric twelve-year-old boy and a narcissistic thirty-six-year-old man - the most unlikely pair of friends - and shows the great bonds that form between people in the most unlikely ways when people care for others. Will tries to stay isolated in a little bubble of artificial happiness as he has no problems there and nobody else's problems can enter. Once he lets other people into his bubble, he is scared, he feels worried about other people, he has problems, and yet his life has so much more substance.

This is a quick, funny, thought-provoking and thoroughly enjoyable read and I would recommend it to anyone who's ever wondered what "the point" is, even if this book doesn't exactly provide you with a straight answer.