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Amazon.co.uk Review
In One for My Baby Hong-Kong-based language teacher Alfie Budd is about to ingest several gallons of the stuff. Returning to London to nurse a broken heart, he finds a world he barely recognises. Terry Wogan plays REM on Radio Two, there are Tai Chi classes on Highbury Fields and the England of Alfie's youth seems a distant dream. Alfie's father is now sporting disco gear and pitifully clinging onto his relationship with a Czech au pair half his age. Alfie's mother, meanwhile, cares a great deal about her rose bushes and not at all about getting her husband back.

Dazed by these changes, Alfie drifts--on a cloud of Tsingtao beer and Sinatra-fuelled reverie--into a new teaching job and into a string of pointless affairs with his students. But a man can only drift for so long before he starts to sink--and Alfie must learn some bitter lessons before he can regain the happiness he once knew in Hong Kong.

Tony Parsons' second novel deserves to match the phenomenal success of his first, Man and Boy--although there are reasons why it might not. One for My Baby lacks the cutesy appeal of single fathers bringing up sons and some readers may find it--with its double portion of deaths and mid-life depressions--a more demanding read altogether. The book deals with tough realities, with people who have ceased to love themselves and each other, with snobbery and prejudice and the acute loneliness of city life. But the tale is redeemed, ultimately, because humour and warmth pervade even its darkest corners. The laughable antics of Alfie's father are balanced beautifully by George Chang, Alfie's serene and dignified Tai Chi instructor. And while our hero's journey is an arduous one, we are invited to laugh with and at him and never to pity him. Mr Parsons deserves praise for creating a book that is not merely different to his first but also bigger, tougher and cleverer. --Matthew Baylis --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Synopsis
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.

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Man and Wife by Tony Parsons  (38)  £4.99

Man and Boy by Tony Parsons  (225)  £5.59

The Family Way by Tony Parsons  (39)  £4.99

All There Is by Tony Parsons  (2)  £11.40

My Favourite Wife by Tony Parsons  (8)  £9.99

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50 Reviews 5 star:  (19) 4 star:  (9) 3 star:  (5) 2 star:  (7) 1 star:  (10)           Average Customer Review (50 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews   13 of 15 people found the following review helpful: Hard to put down, 12 Aug 2001 By  matthew31_2000@yahoo.co.uk (Gateshead, UK.) - See all my reviews This review is from: One for My Baby (Hardcover) I read Tony Parson's previous novel "Man and Boy" last year and was waiting with expectation for his next book. I wasn't disappointed. It's not a great work of literary fiction but it is a book in which you can relate to the characters and imagine yourself in their position, making exactly the same mistakes. Tony Parson's strength is his ability to recognise and describe the workings and emotions of a thirtysomething man. It's about Alfie Bud, a man in his thirties who has lost his wife and his sense of direction in life and love. It's funny, sad and addictive all at the same time. Do the human thing and buy it.  Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)   6 of 7 people found the following review helpful: Utter drivel, 3 Oct 2002 By  Gareth Clark (London) - See all my reviews    I read Man and Boy, and thought it was just about passable. Nothing new or interesting, just passable, so it was with trepidation and a sense of impending ennui that I opened One for my Baby. I shouldn't have bothered, as this book confirms that Tony Parsons is a poor man's Nick Hornby who himself seems to content to write formulaic claptrap these days. That Parsons seeks to emulate Hornby, but fail to even achieve that level says everything about this tedious book. Is it me, or so these type of books follow some sort of "Mills and Boon for blokes" formula? 30-something man who lives in North London (normally Highgate or Holloway), having mid life crisis which is compounded by several key 'life' events such as the meeting of an ideal woman, or various women; the death of a parent; ludicrously stereotyped friends and the central character's reaction to all of the above etc etc. Unfortunately the net result is that by the time you have finished it (normally less than a day or two) it is almost impossible to differentiate from any of the many similar 'novels' on offer today. I would compare One for my Baby to a Ford Sierra: initially very popular and sold in numbers but instantly forgettable and one may certainly ask 'What on earth did I buy that for?' a year or two down the line.  Comment | Permalink | Was this review helpful to you? (Report this)   6 of 7 people found the following review helpful: Fantastically touching, relevant and human., 17 May 2002 By A Customer Tony Parson's second novel, I feel, surpassed his first. This book was a fantastic read and I often sneaked off from work to get a few pages in. I read this book staight after reading Nick Hornby's 'How To Be Good', and whilst I enjoyed Hornby's novel I was struck by the contrast between the two. Both were touching, thought provoking and, in places tender, however, whilst Hornby's book was ultimately depressing for me, the warmth of Parson's characters provided a glimmer of hope. A tremendous victory for the less-celebrated writer. Maybe Tony Parson's books will soon be being made into Hollywood blockbusters too.  Comment |