About a Boy
Nick Hornby
 The novel is about Will Freeman, a 36-year-old bachelor, and Marcus, an introverted, bullied 12-year-old who lives alone with his suicidal mother, Fiona. Will, who has never had to work thanks to the royalties from his father's hit Christmas song, "Santa's Super Sleigh," has a lot of spare time, which he spends smoking, watching TV, listening to albums and looking for temporary female companionship. After a pleasant relationship with a single mother, Angie, Will comes up with the idea of attending a single parents group as a new way to pick up women. For this purpose, he invents a two-year-old son called Ned. It is through one of these single parents meetings that he comes to know Marcus. Although their relationship is initially somewhat strained, they finally succeed in striking up a true friendship. Will helps Marcus to fit into the modern world, taking him shopping, buying him shoes and introducing him to the music of Nirvana. Marcus and Will's friendship blooms as the story progresses, even after Marcus and Fiona discover Will's lie about having a child. Marcus is "adopted" by Ellie McRae, a tough, moody 15-year-old girl, who is constantly in trouble at school because she insists on wearing a Kurt Cobain jumper. He also spends some time with his dad Clive, who visits Marcus and Fiona for Christmas together with his new girlfriend Lindsey and her mother. Meanwhile Will starts going out with a single mother named Rachel, whose son Alistair is about the same age as Marcus. In the end, Marcus comes out of his shell and learns to stand up for himself. Will, meanwhile, finally grows up and ends up wanting to marry Rachel. Therefore, both Will and Marcus have started to live appropriately for their age groups. The action is set in 1993 and 1994 in London. The title is a reference to the song "About a Girl" by Nirvana, a band that is featured in the book, and Patti Smith's tribute to Kurt Cobain, "About a Boy".