My Legendary Girlfriend [Audiobook] [Hardcover]

Ever been dumped? No? You're lying. Mike Gayle, previously a contributor to FHM and Just Seventeen magazines has dipped his pen in the inkpot of universal experience and written a comic novel underpinned by rejection and the ripples (or tidal waves) it continues to produce for years afterwards. For exactly three years afterwards in the case of Will Kelly, assigned to the "history" drawer on his 23rd birthday by Aggi, (she of the titular moniker) and who is now undergoing his 26th "celebration" alone in his bedsit in Archway, North London.

English teacher, serial smoker and serious list-maker--Will is a Numnul, to quote Gayle; a "New Nineties New Man New Lad", living an existence that screams "Single!". Can you fall in love over the telephone with someone you've never met? Should your best friend sleep with your girlfriend? And just how many presents should a platonic friend send you on your birthday? In real time the novel takes place over a weekend, but in effect it traces a journey that has led to this tumultuous birthday, when Will considers marriage, death, fatherhood and Pot Noodles (but not in that order).

Helen Fielding and Nick Hornby are two names that will understandably haunt Mike Gayle, whose prescriptive hero has been dubbed the "male Bridget Jones", but Gayle's book probably owes more to early Martin Amis, soaked as it is in a fever of male self-pity redolent of The Rachel Papers or Success, though without the literary flourishes or darkness. Ultimately My Legendary Girlfriend is pulp fiction for the Pulp generation, an old-fashioned morality tale dressed up as an enjoyable romp that should appeal to lovers of Men Behaving Badly and anyone who has suffered the ignominy of having a Sting song quoted at them to justify a break-up.--David Vincent --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Included in Greg Eden's (Bertrams) selection of best adult audiobooks for the season, alongside 2 other Gayle titles - Bookseller Sep 29, 2000, p39 'Three audio tie-ins to the works of one of Hodder's most successful young contemporary novelists' 'Comic...fizzy. Here comes the male Bridget Jones' -- Mirror 'Full of belly-laughs and painfully acute observations' -- Independent on Sunday 'Touching and funny' -- Sunday Mirror 'Even if you have read the book get this, sit back with a cup of low fat cocoa and wallow in the fun of being "read" to.' -- Citylights Magazine

'Touching and funny'

'Full of belly-laughs and painfully acute observations'

‘Comic...fizzy. Here comes the male Bridget Jones' --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Meet Will Kelly, an English teacher, film fan, king of sandwich construction and still in love with the One, desperately searching for an-Other One. In his decrepit flat, Will's lifeline is the telephone. There's Alice (who remembers his birthday), Simon (who doesn't), Martina (the one-night stand), Kate (the previous tenant of his rented Archway fleapit) and of course his ex, Aggi - the inimitable Aggi, who is his legendary girlfriend. Or is she? Two men, three women and a donkey called Sandy ...basically it's your classic love hexagon.

A hilarious, original story.
A hilarious, original story for anyone who has ever been dumped, dumped or lived in a dump - with the cross-over and bestselling appeal of BRIDGET JONES, HIGH FIDELITY and THIS LIFE.

Meet Will Kelly. English teacher. Film fan. King of sandwich construction. Still in love with The One, desperately searching for An-Other One. In his decrepit flat, Will’s lifeline is the telephone. There’s Alice (who remembers his birthday), Simon (who doesn’t), Martina (the one-night stand), Kate (the previous tenant of his rented Archway fleapit) and of course Aggi - the inimitable Aggi. His Legendary Girlfriend. Or is she? Two men, three women and a donkey called Sandy...basically it’s your classic love hexagon. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

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