Book review : About a boy by Nick Hornby

A while back I was walking in Nakuru town when I saw this book being sold by a hawker. I must admit that what attracted me to the book at first was Hugh Grants face on the cover. For a moment there I thought it was his biography or something. I was pleasantly surprised when I realized it was a book by writer Nick Hornby. His book 'How to be good was reviewed here. So I knew I had to get it.
 
As soon as I read the first few pages I was hooked. The story revolves around Will Freeman who is 36 unmarried play boy who lives a carefree lifestyle. He gets money off the royalties from a song a father had written years ago and doesn't have to work. He decides to join a Single Parents group for single mothers talking about an imaginary son (Ned) to pick up women until he meets young 12yr old nerdy boy named Marcus Brewer.

Will who considers himself a trendy person begins to help Marcus fit in with boys his age. He buys for him Addidas trainers, tells him to stop getting a hair cut from his mum and introduces him to music such as the band Nirvana. While Will acts like a teenager, Marcus is intelligent and acts more mature than a boy his age. Marcus discovers that Will does not have a son and things start becoming interesting at this point.

You gonna have to buy the book to see how it ends!

PS It turns out the book was adapted into a movie with Hugh Grant playing the part of Will (explains his picture on the cover) so if you are a not a fan of novels maybe you can get your hands on the movie.