Talking to Addison - Hardcover

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Jenny Colgan became a stand-up comedienne in order to perfect her material for this book. She is currently working on her third novel.

Rezensionen

There is no doubt that confessional chronicles narrated by aspiring British hipsters have become popular with American readers. Here, Colgan follows up Amanda's Wedding, her first contribution to this new class of humorous fiction, with the tale of a young, would-be florist smitten by the computer geek with whom she and two friends share a flat. Holly's late-night encounters with reticent programmer Addison and his agoraphobic cyber-girlfriend, Claudia, are rife with the absurdities and social ineptitude that modern communication engenders. Meanwhile, the cast of characters assembled for this satirical romp would give Thackeray a run for his money: there's Josh, perched precariously on the sexual-identity fence; Chali, a wannabe rock singer goldbricking in her uncle's flower shop; and poor, overlooked Finn, whose good intentions are almost always misunderstood. At once unpredictable and endearing, this book should find its way into the hands of those ready for a chuckle at the expense of contemporary life. Nancy McNicol, Hartford P.L., CT
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Riding goofy, self-deprecating Bridget Jones's coattails in this second novel by the British author of Amanda's Wedding is a clumsy 28-year-old florist named Holly Livingstone, who desperately needs a sympathetic London flatmate. While most women always pick the wrong men, Holly assures us that she picks the wrong places to live. Since she makes barely more than the minimum wage when most of her fellow college grads are concerned with mortgages Holly's apartment prospects are limited to dubious arrangements such as the "Turkish Lesbian Women's Collective" until Josh, a former college classmate of indeterminate sexual orientation, takes pity on her. Josh lives in a rundown old house in Pimlico with posh, business-studies Kate and a rarely seen or heard from computer nerd named Addison Farthing. Once Holly gets one look at Addison, however (by barging into his room, which is equipped like the Star Trek Enterprise), she begins spinning fantasies of perpetual geek bliss. What it lacks in plot, Colgan's spirited, eye-rolling romp tries hard to make up for in characterization of Holly's idiosyncratic flatmates Josh and Kate, her working-class florist acquaintances (including one tough chick who beats her up), various unpromising young men who will never go for her (but sometimes do) and ungainly, unsociable Addison himself. Colgan keeps the dialogue skipping along with tongue-in-cheek, exclamatory asides such as "Poo!" and "Had I let a four-year-old do the shopping?" In the end, it's Holly who has to carry this serviceably silly novel. She is snake-tongued, unambitious, rude a lot of the time, but she'd be almost likable if she didn't sound so familiar. Though the field is dangerously close to being glutted, American readers may fall for this desperate-to-be-liked, lowest-common-denominator girlfriend.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.