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Book Review Title Girlfriend
44 Fiction-Net Rating Buy It - Buy This Book Cover Story Is she
'the one' or is she just girlfriend 44? A
hilarious account of the plight of the
single male. Since he
was ten years old, Harry has had one
ambition - to find the perfect girl for
him. Forty-three women and twenty years
later he is no nearer his goal. He doesn't
ask for much - just a beautiful
intellectual who doesn't mind his constant
infidelity. Harry's
roommate, Gerrard, once found true
love-but he didn't realise it until the
day she left him. Only two women have met
Gerrard's exacting criteria and he's not
hopeful that he'll find another. Even if
he does, he's not sure he can trust her
not to grow old eventually. And then
Harry and Gerrard meet Alice. Alice is
not only the perfect woman but also the
only woman in the world Harry and Gerrard
can agree on. Unfortunately, she seems to
like them both. Gerrard wants Alice for
himself but Harry is not about to give up
his plight for love. But can a man who
thinks you can't love someone properly if
they have a big nose grow up fast enough
to win the girl of his dreams? Girlfriend
44
is a funny, frightening look into the
minds and morals (or lack thereof) of
modern men. We Say This
book is a lot like the protagonist, Harry -
not as funny as it thinks it is. Harry, a
thirty-two year old Londoner, has just
said goodbye to his latest girlfriend,
Emily, who is headed off to Antarctica for
a year - with sixty men. Sad only to say
goodbye to the idea of her, Harry quickly
reestablishes his single life of bars,
beer, and the unending search for a shag.
One night, he receives a drunken phone
call from his friend, Farley, saying he is
ending it all for the love of a girl named
Alice. Hearing this from a guy Harry terms
"beyond promiscuous" has Harry and his
flatmate Gerrard perversely daydreaming of
the perfect Alice before they even meet
her. So
begins Girlfriend 44. The rest of the book
chronicles Harry and Gerrard desperately
fighting over Alice, each determined to
win her. Not only does she fit all of
Harry and Gerrard's unrealistic standards
of the perfect girl but Harry might even
be falling in love with her. In their
attempts to get the girl, Harry resorts to
sometimes funny but most often pathetic
humour and Gerrard to begging and
sabotaging Harry's reputation (which is
not too difficult). Alice ultimately
chooses Harry but not before Harry has
potentially botched it by having a
one-night stand with Gerrard's
ex-girlfriend, Paula. Girlfriend
44 offers up plentiful description and
inner monologue about a single guy in his
30's. Once in a while, the author
Mark
Barrowcliffe
even shows some true insight about young
urban life, amidst his 'all men are pigs'
editorialising. But the limited dialogue
and lack of wit make this book read
excruciatingly slow - to the point where
the few good parts are lost among all of
Harry's musings and wonderings and
schemings. Had this book been slimmed by a
hundred pages or so, the pace might've
increased beyond that of a snail's.
Instead, Girlfriend 44 left me
floundering, wondering whether it was
worth the time to see what happened with
Harry and Alice. There
are far better books out there if you want
to read about thirtysomething flawed men
and their attempts at finding and holding
onto true love. Review by: Michelle Johnson Buy It - Buy This Book |
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