The Best a Man Can Get

Michael Adams is living a double life. Under the pretense of work, while actually doing very little work, he shares a flat with three other men so that he can take time off from his family. The book plays upon parenthood's less proud moments but, let's face it, haven't all parents wished for some time off at some point? Although far-fetched, the story works, thanks to O'Farrell's amazing insight and perfectly timed shots of humour. Michael is not likeable, but many readers be able to identify with him - I could see some of the worst parts of me in him and it's quite liberating to be able to laugh about them. Yes, I was enraged at times, but mainly because he's getting away with it! The book begs the question "What if I could do it too?" and I don't even want to think about the honest answers to that one!

The long tunnel you enter when having one or more small children enter your life -- those bipolar first 1-5 years -- are shocking for a lot of people. And specifically if you are a guy in your 30s with kids, you can likely relate to the author's view of the experience. Simple and hilarious insights into both husband-wife relations and some of the realizations you ultimately have as a new parent. The book is laugh-out-loud funny in many parts and is also a super-quick 300pp read. You'll likely just want to finish in one or two sittings -- its that good. Very Hornsby-ish too ... you can picture John Cusack as the lead in the movie if they ever made it.

But... this is one. Featuring English humour at its most incisive and similar to, but even better than, Nick Hornby's "High Fidelity", "The Best a Man Can Get" surrounds a clever storyline with more superb "one liners" than any other book I've read. Well written, and genuinely reflective on the dichotomies facing men when their lives become totally disrupted by childbirth, it's addictive and above all "funny". How good?... well my wife, children & I watched with great amusement as our (male, one loving wife, two loving children) friend completely disrupted a day and a half of our recent holiday as he raced through it, accompanied by regular and wholly disconcerting hoots of laughter. Once finished, I picked it up and read it straight through in similar time accompanied by similarly uncontrolled outbursts. It's totally "non-PC" and very "English" but it's honest, brilliantly witty and, in the end, charmingly tender. If you're male, if you shared a flat when you were younger and if you've had children, you will definitely relate to it - if not, well... treat it as an instruction manual on how men in that situation really think.

I enjoyed the book so much that I felt lost when I finished reading it. As a mother of two young children, I could understand what the characters were experiencing. I laughed out loud as I read the book. My husband only reads things with lots of pictures. He knew I was enjoying this wonderful book. I would stop and explain what was happening and even read small parts of the book to him (it's a start). It was so wonderfully written!

John O'Farrell has loudly and comically proclaimed all of the secret guilty thoughts that we have had as new parents. As my husband and I read the book together, we had to try not to wake our baby with our laughing. We could definitely identify with Michael and Catherine, and laughed at ourselves as we thought about those early months of parenthood. All of our friends with small children will be getting this book for birthdays and Christmas!