One For My Baby

by Tony Parsons

Paperback, 2002

Status

Available

Collection

Literary Fiction

Genres

Publication

HarperCollins Publishers Ltd (2002), Edition: New Ed, 336 pages

Description

New novel about men, love and relationships by the author of the Book of the Year, Man and Boy. Alfie Budd found the perfect woman with whom to spend the rest of his life, and then lost her. He doesn't believe you get a second chance at love. Returning to the England he left behind during the brief, idyllic time of his marriage, Alfie finds the rest of his world collapsing around him. He takes comfort in a string of pointless, transient affairs with his students at Churchill's Language School, and he tries to learn Tai Chi from an old Chinese man, 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 like has a difficult child who is infatuated with a TV wrestler known as The Slab? Like his runaway bestseller, Man and Boy, Tony Parsons's new novel is full of laughter and tears, biting social comment and overwhelming emotion.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member LynnB

This is the story of Alfie Budd, whose wife (Rose) died early in their marriage. Alfie is now back in England (from Hong Kong) dealing with his parents' separation and his grandmother's illness, as well as his own overwhelming sense of loss and unwavering belief that he has had his one and only

chance at true love.

Alfie teaches English as a second language, and gets involved with several of his students. He also becomes friends with George Chang (a Tai Chi practitioner) and George's family. Ultimately, he finds love with the school janitor, a single mother who needs Alfie's help to prepare for her A levels in English.

This is light read, and it's easy to develop real empathy for Alfie and his disjointed family. I hated the ending.

SPOILER ALERT

Alfie may be back on track with his new love (Jackie) and renewed determination to be a writer, but what about Jackie? Did she finish the university courses that meant so much to her? That's left unsaid. At the end, it was only Alfie's story and quest that the author paid any attention to.

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LibraryThing member Bookmarque

Kind of disconnected feeling about this character. He seems to just coast through life, completely unsure of himself and the people around him. He mourns for his now dead wife. He has placed her upon the highest pedestal. In his memory, she has lost every flaw. She is perfect. His friends try to

break him out of it, but he can’t let go. Eventually he finds out that his wife had affairs and generally had a poor opinion of him. That snaps him out of it. He doesn’t end up with Jackie, but begins to accept her for who she is. At first, he is very put off by her hick ways and crass manners. But she has a fine mind and knows who she is and is true to that. Alfie on the other hand, has no idea who he is and therefore has no ideals or set personality other than as a social drifter of sorts.

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LibraryThing member edwinbcn

There are too many story lines in this book, that appear and go below the surface in strange ways and are too loosely connected. With that, there are also too many characters, which therefore do not come to life: they are largely card board characters and stereo-types; in other cases (Rose) the

author seems to have tinkered and the character is unrealistic. Actually, the whole book seems insincere; it isn't heartfelt, it doesn't feel real.

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