Book Reviews #8

Tony Parsons - Man and Wife

When I got this I didn't think I'd read it before, I've read the book that comes before (Man and Boy) but the synopsis for this didn't sound as though I knew it...then I started to read it and kept thinking to myself 'I'm sure I've read this', but I don't think I had, because the end wasn't quite what I expected, I think maybe it's just that it's too much like its predecessor...that said it's an enjoyable enough read. It didn't set my world alight and I could have easily put it aside at any point and not been too concerned that I was missing out on what the characters were getting up to, I didn't care enough about them. The reason I didn't give up on it is because recently I've been leaving too many books unfinished, not necessarily because they're too hard but sometimes because I just can't be bothered, so I finished it and can tell you all about it;

This book picks up where the 1st ended, Harry is now remarried and the young son (Pat) lives with his mother and her new partner. Harry is a TV producer in London and so we are treated to entertaining but probably stereotypical scenes from that whole lifestyle, boozey lunches, studio audiences, blonde leggy PAs, coke snorting stars - you get the idea. The book tracks Harry as the comedic star of the 1 show his company produces crashes and burns and Harry's life seems to follow a parallel course. Having wrecked one marriage by trying out the supposedly greener grass (and getting caught) he finds the possibility of walking away from a 2nd wife not too hard. The story gains depth with the discovery of his widowed mother (his dad was killed off in the 1st book by lung cancer) having breast cancer, this part of the story is dealt with sympathetically and to me was the only time I felt compassion for Harry, the rest of the time I found him to be a self-centred and selfish bore.
I wont tell you how it ends, if you're interested you can read it, if you're not interested then you wont care!