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About a Boy

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About this listen

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable, audiobook edition of About a Boy by Nick Hornby, read by Stephen Mangan.

Nick Hornby's second bestselling novel is about sex, manliness and fatherhood. Will is thirty-six, comfortable and child-free. And he's discovered a brilliant new way of meeting women - through single-parent groups. Marcus is twelve and a little bit nerdish: he's got the kind of mother who made him listen to Joni Mitchell rather than Nirvana. Perhaps they can help each other out a little bit, and both can start to act their age.

 Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Literature & Fiction Comedy

Critic reviews

A very entertaining and endearing read
A stunner of a novel. Utterly read-in-one-day, forget-where-you-are-on-the-tube-gripping
About the awful, hilarious, embarrassing places where children and adults meet, and Hornby has captured it with delightful precision
It takes a writer with real talent to make this work, and Hornby has it - in buckets
All stars
Most relevant
The narrator really brings Will’s wit and pessimism to life. A really lovely story, full of anger and sadness but at its heart it’s about learning to be okay with asking for help from the people who care, and growing up. It’s good for kids and adults both. What a strange and lovely story.

Entertaining to the max

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After watching the film many years ago and loving it. I never knew at the time that it was based on this book. The book always gives more details that the film sometimes can’t due to running time. Anyways I love the book now as much as the film. Great job narrating Stephen Mangan.

Loved it!

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I've been quite ill recently and needed a way to pass the time without needed to look at anything. So audio books have been perfect.

I've seen the film, and very much enjoyed the book. Read brilliantly, I would recommend.

Great!

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loved it.. serious matters dealt with with wit and charm and insight. terrific characters..quirky and very believable .. only criticism would be that perhaps it was about 2 chp longer than necessary
..terrific for these pandemic days. Marcus was so literal great dynamics as a result.

important subject matter but uplifting and witty

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As another reviewer has said, it was seeing the film that grabbed my attention and the book was a joy to listen to. It just rings true. Thanks Nick Hornby for creating this book. Enjoyed Stephen Mangan's reading of it too

About a wonderful audio book

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