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Starting Over
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Product Description
Review
Praise for Tony Parsons: 'A funny, sad love story' Spectator 'Tony Parsons is the master of the bittersweet love story' Red 'Parsons has created a much bigger and more compelling book. It's a major achievement' Mirror 'Funny, serious, tender and honest!Tony Parsons is writing about the genuine dilemmas of modern life' Sunday Express 'He takes as his specialist subject contemporary emotional issues which almost every other male writer has ignored' Guardian 'Memorable and poignant -- nobody squeezes more genuine emotion from a scene than Tony Parsons' Spectator
Product Description
This is the story of how we grow old – how we give up the dreams of youth for something better – and how many chances we have to get it right.
George Bailey has been given the gift we all dream of – the chance to live his life again.
After suffering a heart attack at the age of 42, George is given the heart of a 19-year-old – and suddenly everything changes…
He is a friend to his teenage son and daughter – and not a stern Home Secretary, monitoring their every move.
He makes love to his wife all night long - instead of from midnight until about five past. And suddenly he wants to change the world, just as soon as he shakes off his hangover.
But George Bailey discovers that being young again is not all it is cracked up to be – and what he actually wants more than anything in the universe is to have his old life back.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
George Bailey - policeman, junk eater, cigarette smoker, man with a heart condition - not a good concoction. He's heading to an early grave at 47. The reality hits when he suffers a heart attack at work. A bitter sweet second chance at his life changes him when he is given the heart of a 19 year old boy via a donor transplant, and he thinks he is taking on the traits of this young boy.
To his wife Lara, he is another teenager to look after. To his kids, Rufus and Ruby, he becomes a friend rather than the parent he used to be. To his police mates, he is still George, but needs to be monitored like one of the kids on the block.
George soon comes to realise that his family and his old life are everything to him and all he needs. But he has to start from the beginning to win the hearts of his family again.
I have enjoyed all of Tony Parsons books, and this is another great true to life story. He has dealt with the real issues from the view of a modern male - a mid-life crisis and a desire to be young again - in a poignant and believable way.
To his wife Lara, he is another teenager to look after. To his kids, Rufus and Ruby, he becomes a friend rather than the parent he used to be. To his police mates, he is still George, but needs to be monitored like one of the kids on the block.
George soon comes to realise that his family and his old life are everything to him and all he needs. But he has to start from the beginning to win the hearts of his family again.
I have enjoyed all of Tony Parsons books, and this is another great true to life story. He has dealt with the real issues from the view of a modern male - a mid-life crisis and a desire to be young again - in a poignant and believable way.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I'm a huge fan of Parsons' earlier books, Man and Boy, Man and Wife, One For My Baby, Stories We Could Tell etc. And found this fairly dissapointing compared to the afore mentioned. The plot development stalls towards the middle of the book, and a lot of 'story' is crammed in at the end. However as always with Tony Parsons, the characters are funny, believeble and interesting.
An enjoyable, lazy weekend read.
An enjoyable, lazy weekend read.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I've read all Tony Parsons' books, and enjoyed his earlier novels much more than the later ones. I'm not sure if that's because my taste's changed, or if it's because his writing has. This book reminded me in some way of How to be Good by Nick Hornby - I'm not entirely sure why. (It also has a ring of films like Big and Freaky Friday!) I enjoyed How to Be Good more than I enjoyed Starting Over, but that's not to say it wasn't a pleasant enough read. I liked the characters, who I thought were well developed, particularly the long-suffering Lara, and it was easy to read. The subject matter is interesting, and I suppose he was trying to tackle a serious topic in a light hearted way - the transplant story is really secondary to the "journey" that George goes on, and a catalyst for change. I read this book in a day, and found it an easy, unchallenging read. I can't imagine it will stick in my mind for long, or that I'll rush to lend it to anyone else in the way I did with Parsons' earlier books, but it kept me amused for a bit.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Needs a little more . . .
The main character George Bailey bad diet, no exercise and secret smoker (although not so secret!). After facing a `hard faced' criminal in a potentially life threatening show down... Read more
Published 6 months ago by Young1
Not greatly entertaining
When I bought this book, I was expecting a much better story, some seriously heavy, of the supernatural kind. Instead nothing of the sort! Read more
Published 17 months ago by Juliana Apopei
A light, quick read.
This book is about George, who has a heart transplant and his life totally changes. He's a policeman who worries about getting distant from his children, and is quite strict with... Read more
Published 19 months ago by miss_spookiness
Unhip but OK
Smoothly written and without pretension. Downsides are the main premise of receiving a heart donor's personality along with the actual organ (to the point of recognising a... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Cakeman
Utterly and mind-numbingly pointless
Possibly tne most aimless and boring book I have ever read. Waited desperatley for something to happen... but finally... the urge to fall into... an exhausted sleep... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Thalia
Starting Over, Tony Parsons
I really enjoyed this book by Tony Parsons. It was easy to read and the kind of book you don't want to put down. Read more
Published 22 months ago by J. Goddard
A story of the heart
I have always loved Mr. Parsons' books, although this time I'm not sure... A heart-squeezing story though, where the heart, if you excuse the pun, is all that matters, physically... Read more
Published 23 months ago by I LOVE BOOKS
Clunky, predictable and lacking depth
This was my first (and no doubt only!) Tony Parson's novel. Reading the critical reviews of 'Man and boy' reflects much of my opinion of this work, although I suspect only the... Read more
Published on 11 Dec 2009 by John M
Hmmm.....
My first Tony Parsons novel, and from what the other reviewers say, perhaps not the best to start with. Read more
Published on 9 Oct 2009 by R. Faulkner
another superb book by tony parsons
i have read all of tony parsons books and thouroughly enjoyed them all. this one, like all his others, tells a simple story. what makes his books so special is his characters. Read more
Published on 30 Sep 2009 by R. Newman
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