Comment

Aug 30, 2015susanchyn rated this title 3 out of 5 stars
I read High Fidelity when it first came out and it forever changed the way I look at London and Londoners. About a Boy is a chip off the old block, which is good and bad. Good, in that there are lots quirky, funny-sad-weird characters. Good, in that the great Hornbyesque humor is there. [The Kurt Cobain finale!] Good, because it is packed with music and musicians. The bad is that it felt derivative. To be sure, there are some dark forces operating in this novel, which is new. And some insights on men and boys. But the plot never really crackles, and the (lite) characters, though funny and very human, lack the gravitas the plot deserves.