Funny Girl: Now The Major TV Series Funny Woman Starring Gemma Arterton - Softcover

Hornby, Nick

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0241965225 ISBN 13: 9780241965221

Publisher: Penguin, 2015

Synopsis

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER from the author of ABOUT A BOY

'Simply unputdownable' Guardian

'Hilarious' Daily Telegraph

'Highly entertaining' Sunday Times

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Make them laugh, and they're yours forever . . .

Barbara Parker is Miss Blackpool of 1964, but she doesn't want to be a beauty queen. She only wants to make people laugh. So she leaves her hometown behind, takes herself off to London, and lands a life-changing audition for a new BBC comedy series. Overnight she becomes Sophie Straw: charming, gorgeous, destined to win the nation's hearts.

Funny Girl is the story of a smash-hit TV show and the people behind the scenes: the writers, Tony and Bill, friends since national service and comedy obsessives; producer Dennis, Oxbridge educated, clever, mild and not-so-secretly devoted to his star actress Sophie; and dashing male lead Clive, who firmly believes he's destined for better things. The show's success continues rocketing and the cast and crew are having the time of their lives. But when the script begins to get a bit too close to home, and life starts imitating art, they all face a choice. How long can they keep going before it's time to change the channel?

Funny Girl offers a captivating portrait of youthful exuberance and freedom at a time when Britain itself was experiencing one of its most enduring creative bursts. Hornby fans will love this book, as will readers of David Nicholls, Mark Haddon and William Boyd.

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'Warm, funny, touching . . . winningly perceptive about human relationships and changing social trends' Daily Telegraph

'Like all Hornby's best work, it is both hugely enjoyable and deceptively artful' Spectator

'A beguiling, thoroughly enjoyable read' Sunday Times

'Hugely enjoyable' Sunday Mirror

'Resolutely, winningly light-hearted' Observer

'Hornby's sunniest novel' Metro

About this title

Review:

Highly entertaining . . . a beguiling, thoroughly enjoyable read (Sunday Times)

Simply unputdownable (Guardian)

Warm, funny, touching . . . winningly perceptive about human relationships and changing social trends (Daily Telegraph)

Like all Hornby's best work, it is both hugely enjoyable and deceptively artful (Spectator)

Everything Hornby writes is addictively readable and clever, but with Funny Girl he has surpassed himself (Red)

Hornby's sunniest novel (Metro)

So simple, so easy to read and yet so sensitive and profound at the same time. This is a world that feels real and one you don't want to leave (Independent on Sunday)

Nick Hornby is pretty much always poignant and hilarious (Huffington Post)

Fans won't be disappointed by this new story... endearing, humorous and touching, full of spot-on period detail, all brought to vivid life by a cast of very human characters. Hugely enjoyable (Sunday Mirror)

Resolutely, winningly light-hearted (Observer)

From the Back Cover:

'Warm, funny, touching . . . winningly perceptive about human relationships and changing social trends' Daily Telegraph

Five minutes after being crowned Miss Blackpool 1964, Barbara Parker has ditched the tiara and is off to London to make her fortune. A chance encounter, a shrewd change of name and one audition later sees Sophie Straw with her own BBC comedy series - and there the trouble starts.

Sophie works with a team of producers, writers and actors all vying to make this funny girl even funnier, and the nation loves her. This is the swinging Sixties: freedom and creativity are booming in London.

But everything is changing and nothing lasts forever. Sophie and her colleagues are in the limelight but how long can they stay on top? And when is it time to change the channel?

'Like all Hornby's best work, it is both hugely enjoyable and deceptively artful' Spectator

'Everything Hornby writes is addictively readable and clever, but with Funny Girl he has surpassed himself' Red

'A beguiling, thoroughly enjoyable read' Sunday Times

'Hornby's sunniest novel' Metro

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 0241965225
• ISBN 13: 9780241965221
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352