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One for My Baby

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One for My Baby

By: Tony Parsons
Narrated by: Gerard Doyle
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Alfie Budd married the love of his life—and then he lost her. He doesn’t believe that you get a second shot at true happiness. Returning to the London he left behind during the brief, idyllic time of his marriage, Alfie finds his world collapsing around him—his parents’ marriage, his beloved grandmother’s health, and his own ambition to be a writer. He takes comfort in a string of causal affairs while he tries to learn Tai Chi from an old Chinese man he meets in the park, George Chang.

Will Alfie ever find a family life as strong as the Changs? Can he give up meaningless sex for a meaningful relationship? And how do you play it when the woman you really like has a child who is infatuated with a TV wrestler called The Slab?

In this story of love, sex, tragedy, family and redemption, one man searches for the courage to love again.

©2001 Tony Parsons (P)2002 Recorded Books Contemporary Contemporary Romance Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Romance China
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Wonderful warm story about love, death and living. Consumed in a couple of sittings. Love this author.

Warm funny and heartwarming

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The book was touched with deep family values in an ever changing society. Love the relationship Alfie had with his much loved Nan. Highlighted the need for mutual understanding and respect for others.

What a heartening story. Life, love and loss.

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I wasn’t sure when I started listening that this story was my cup of tea but I’ve laughed, giggled, been a little surprised and shed a tear. So warm and truthful with open emotion. Definitely my cup of tea !

What an amazing heartfelt story

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In One More for My Baby, Tony Parsons crafts a story centered on Alfie, a deeply flawed protagonist who is consumed by the memory of his deceased wife. Alfie idolizes her to the point of viewing every other woman as inferior, a dangerous mindset that colors his relationships with the people around him. This obsession becomes the justification for his mistreatment of a series of students at the college where he teaches, highlighting his abuse of power. Alfie’s inability to see past his idealized version of his late wife traps him in a cycle of toxic behavior.

The plot thickens when Alfie meets a cleaner at the college, a woman he immediately begins to “advise” on how she should live her life. His unsolicited guidance comes across as condescending, revealing a man who projects his personal frustrations onto others. Alfie’s hypocrisy is further amplified by his constant criticism of his father, whom he chastises for similar behaviors—offering life advice without practicing what he preaches. This contradiction lays bare Alfie's inability to see the parallels between his actions and the very behavior he condemns in his father.

Parsons' writing presents a complex character study that touches on themes of grief, power dynamics, and self-deception. Alfie's character is frustrating, yet deeply human, as he grapples with his unresolved emotions and misguided attempts to regain control of his life. However, the novel can be difficult to connect with, given Alfie's treatment of women and his lack of accountability.

Ultimately, One More for My Baby is a thought-provoking read that explores how unchecked grief and obsession can distort one’s view of others and oneself. While Alfie’s character is far from likable, his internal struggles offer a compelling, if uncomfortable, lens into the ways people justify their worst impulses.

Alfie idolizes a dead women so can be terrible to the living.

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