Review
Beatles and 60s pop trivia-obsessed journalist Matt Lewis accepts an offer to leave his northern provincial paper to work on a national in London where he and his family adjust to life in Crouch End with varying degrees of success. Soon Matt is drawn into uncharted waters - staying out late, neglecting his family and flirting with infidelity.a funny, moving novel about life, love, adultery and acceptance.

Product Description
Matt Lewis, almost 40, is a Beatles-obsessed journalist on a provincial northern newspaper, about to discover the meaning of change. Having accepted a job offer from a national paper in London, he and his family find themselves adjusting to life in Crouch End with varying degrees of success.

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I've always loved heights. Read the first page

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Customer Reviews

10 Reviews

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4 star:		(3)
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4.1 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)

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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Like the columns, only deeper, 14 Sep 2001

By A Customer

Phil Hogan's columns of family life for the Observer are routinely described as 'knockabout', though they're far more intelligent and subtle than that word would suggest. His first novel, however, is a long way from knockabout - except in the sense that its hero is knocked about by the pressures of hitting middle age. Yes, it's a novel of midlife crisis, but Hogan's writing is sharp and witty enough to avoid the pitfalls of clich�. And, crucially, there is a depth and beauty to Hitting The Groove that distinguishes it from the journalism. Funny, poignant, believable and, at times, even quite racy: five stars because it does what it does perfectly.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A great new paperback writer, 21 Aug 2001

By A Customer

You don't have to be married or like The Beatles to read this, but it helps. It's an assured study of adultery that manages to be funny while taking the subject seriously. It rocks along so sweetly as an entity that it seems wrong to pick highlights, but there are many. For me the book revolves around a sentence which starts at the bottom of page 120 ('the due course of things...'). Touched a nerve, that one. Of course the gym changing room scene is brilliant, boldly tackling the issue Men's Health never mentions.

But mostly I just love the way spot-on use of italics and phrases I wish I'd thought of are dropped all over the place, such as 'Alice Cooper eyes' for a woman who has been crying. And Stephen King has yet to come up with two words which carry the full horror of 'golfy comradeship' in Hogan's hands. Not sure which I like best, that or 'not wanted on voyage'. I can see me adopting that one verbally.

Hitting the Groove was very much wanted on my voyage to Spain. The cover with the shades looked cool on the sunbed, but it wasn't there long because I finished it on the second day, which shows how much I enjoyed reading it.

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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A really excellent read, 7 Aug 2001

By A Customer

I only bought this book on the strength of the cover, not having ever read Phil Hogan's weeklynewpaper column in The Observer, but I'm glad I did! I enjoyed it immensely. Matt, the main character, manages to be engaging adn sympathetic despite his flaws. It's clever, funny, poignant and most of all, a darned good read! Phil Hogan is definitely up there with Nick Hornby and that O'Farrell man, who I also really like. I'm already looking forward to the next one.

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant
Phil Hogan has long been my favourite columnist, even from here in distant Canada. I ordered it thinking it was going to be purely a comic novel. Read more

Published on 2 Jul 2002

3.0 out of 5 stars Hit and Miss
After writing a witty and observant column in the Observer a novel must have semed like a good idea. Read more

Published on 15 Feb 2002

5.0 out of 5 stars fantastic and funny
I thought this book was wonderful. It offered the female reader a valuable insight into what circumstances and situations might make a happily married man stray. Read more

Published on 3 Sep 2001

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book
This is an excellent book for those of us who are travelling through midlife parenthood. Hogan leads the reader through his character's past deftly. Read more

Published on 21 Aug 2001 by gerrymorrow@hotmail.com

4.0 out of 5 stars Well, it made me laugh....
...which is what you'd expect if you're familiar with Hogan's stuff in the Observer. But the tone here is much darker than that of his Sunday column, with the funny bits often... Read more

Published on 2 Aug 2001

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointing debut
Dreadful, the more so if, like me, you enjoy his Observer column. Unoriginal, derivative plot: mid life crisis male has fling then realises family is all important, invites... Read more

Published on 19 Jul 2001 by mojotrux@madasafish.com

4.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant read but ...
An excellent read, the author entices you with an obviously intended inevitability throughout the book and still manages a very entertaining read. Read more

Published on 19 Jul 2001 by arrywalker@yahoo.com

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