Promotional Information

No 1 bestselling author of MY LEGENDARY GIRLFRIEND returns with this wickedly observed second novel about modern relationships: does Mr Irresponsible have what it takes to become Mr Commitment?

About the Author

Previously an Agony Uncle, Mike Gayle is a freelance journalist who has contributed to a variety of magazines including FHM, Sunday Times Style and Cosmopolitan. He is hugely promotable, appeared at the Hodder roadshow and at the Edinburgh festival and is writing articles for press and magazines.

Reviews

Praise for MR COMMITMENT 'Something near to mid-period Woody Allen...a delicate blend of realism and whimsy...funny and clever...refreshing to find a male writer working in this genre' Guardian 'Told in an easy, chatty style..the lighter moments in Mr Commitment say more about what's wrong with the modern twentysomething male than any amount of earnest introspection ever could' Express 'Uputdownable...coloured with cool, rueful wit' She 'Would you swap your fridge full of beer and an eclectic record collection for trips to Ikea and a series of dull dinner parties? Would you hell!' Pick of the Week, Marie Claire 'Gayle's book has the ability to touch the parts other books fail to reach...the funny bits will make you laugh out loud while the beautiful moments will make you remember all those you've loved before...Unmissable' B-Magazine 'Incredibly successful...it's so rare to find a man writing easy-reading books about relationships' The Oxford Times 'A soulful romance and wry comedy that stops comfortably short of the sentimental' Birmingham Evening Mail 'Something near to mid-period Woody Allen...a delicate blend of realism and whimsy...funny and clever...refreshing to find a male writer working in this genre' -- Guardian on MR COMMITMENT 'Uputdownable...coloured with cool, rueful wit' -- She 'Told in an easy, chatty style..the lighter moments in Mr Commitment say more about what's wrong with the modern twentysomething male than any amount of earnest introspection ever could' -- Express 'Comic...fizzy. Here comes the male Bridget Jones' -- Mirror on MY LEGENDARY GIRLFRIEND 'Full of belly-laughs and painfully acute observations' -- Independent on Sunday on MY LEGENDARY GIRLFRIEND

Gayle, a popular advice columnist whose first novel, My Legendary Girlfriend, sold well in his native Britain but has not been published in the United States, is the author of this latest Bridget Jones clone, this time featuring a male protagonist. It's a slow starter, and the main characters are a bit too witty and glossy to care about. Working as a temp by day and a stand-up comic by night, Ben Duffy is a grubby sort of guy with a good heart. He doesn't feel ready to get married at 28 but finds himself engaged to his dream womanÄa successful advertising executive who likes to shop at IKEA and have dinner parties. They fight and split up, but when she discovers that she is pregnant, the young couple grows up quickly, reconciles, and lives happily ever after. It's not a new story, and there is no interesting twist to make it different from all the others. The author's touch is light and sophisticated, and, unlike many contemporary comic novels, this work has very little sex. Although the romantic-comedy dialog is fun in a Tom Hanks-Meg Ryan sort of way, the British colloquialisms and humor will limit the appeal of Gayle's second novel to American readers.ÄJoyce Smothers, Monmouth Cty. Lib., Manalapan, NJ Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.