About a Boy

My fiancee and I went to a weird one-man show, discussing author's relationship with his mothers and with books. It was beautifully written, and, because he got sick last minute, beautifully read by an old friend of his. We came away with a yearning to go explore used book stores, and it was there that I came across a copy of About a Boy.

It's been about five years since I was last unable to put down a book, but this one did it. About a Boy has been one of my favorite films for nearly twenty years now, but I'd never gotten around to reading the book. What a mistake! The film manages to capture a good chunk of the book's charm, but only covers about half the story, and the omitted bits are the real heart and soul here. The shlock Hollywood ending was always the weakest part of the film, and now I know why.

On a more personal level, I think I always liked About a Boy because I identified with Marcus — a weird, bullied kid who didn't really fit in and didn't know why. But re-experiencing the thing twenty years later, and I now find myself identifying with Will. Weird. Over the story, Marcus learns how to be comfortable in his own shoes, and stand up for himself, and although I didn't know it, those were the things I was trying to learn. Will's arc has him shedding his aloof, devil-may-care armor, letting himself be vulnerable and discovering how to make community when your life doesn't fit into the familiar buckets. Funny I should pick this book up on a whim when that's the sort of thing I'm now trying to work out.

Anyway, delightful book, five out of five, best thing I've read all year.