Man and Boy: A Novel - Softcover

Parsons, Tony

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0743225082 ISBN 13: 9780743225083

Publisher: Touchstone, 2001

Synopsis

HE HAD TO FACE THE TOUGHEST JOB OF HIS LIFE. AND HE NEVER ONCE THOUGHT HE'D BE ON HIS OWN. Harry had it all: a beautiful wife, an adorable four-year-old son, and a high-paying media job. But on the eve of his thirtieth birthday, with one irresponsible act, he threw it all away. Suddenly he finds himself an unemployed single father trying to figure out how to wash his son's hair the way Mommy did and whether green spaghetti is proper breakfast food. This brilliantly engaging novel will tug at your heart as Harry learns to become a father to his son and a son to his aging father, takes stabs at finding new love, and makes the hardest decision of his life.

About this title

Review:

"Some situations to avoid when preparing for your all-important, finally-I-am-fully-grown thirtieth birthday.
Having a one-night stand with a colleague from work.
The rash purchase of luxury items you can't afford.
Being left by your wife.
Losing your job.
Suddenly becoming a single parent.

If you are coming up to 30, whatever you do, don't do any of that.
It will fuck up your whole day.

So begins Man and Boy, Tony Parson's foray into fiction. Or non-fiction. Rumoured to be a roman à clef, the well-known journalist and broadcaster writes the story of a successful TV executive who brings up his child alone after a failed marriage--much like Parson's own life.

Harry Silver, the book's anti-hero, has it all: a beautiful wife, an angelic son and a high-paying job. His life is just about perfect, until one night he casually sleeps with a slim redheaded coworker who has "that kind of fine Irish skin that is so pale it looks as though it has never seen the sun". After the fateful night, his life falls apart. He loses his job and his wife in rapid succession, and finds himself a single, unemployed parent. It is an excellent education for a man who up until now has been immature and irresponsible, and Parsons has some strong points to make about the puerility of far too many contemporary males: "Being a man is like being chained to the village idiot." At times he piles on the disasters and plot-twists a little too thickly, but the ending is wildly romantic, redemptive and optimistic. In other words, Harry grows up. -- Christopher Hart

Review:

Robin Vidimos Denver Post Tony Parsons's first novel, Man and Boy, hits like a series of quick jabs to the heart....A novel that is one in a million. Sherryl Connelly New York Daily News Every generation has hungered for a heartfelt novel in which a father discovers what it is to be a mother. Man and Boy [is] a witty, often sweet novel that adeptly sorts immature men from true fathers. Kyle Smith People Utterly irresistible. USA Today Set your other books aside for a day or two and read straight through Man and Boy.

About this edition

• Publisher: Touchstone
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0743225082
• ISBN 13: 9780743225083
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 368