Fun times

Funny Girl

By Nick Hornby

Blurb

Make them laugh, and they're yours forever . . . It's the swinging 60s and the nation is mesmerized by unlikely comedy star Sophie Straw, the former Blackpool beauty queen who just wants to make people laugh, like her heroine Lucille Ball Behind the scenes, the cast and crew are having the time of their lives. But when the script begins to get a bit too close to home, and life starts imitating art, they all face a choice. The writers, Tony and Bill, comedy obsessives, each harbour a secret. The Oxbridge-educated director, Dennis, loves his job but hates his marriage. The male star Clive, feels he's destined for better things. And Sophie Straw, who's changed her name and abandoned her old life, must decide whether to keep going, or change the channel.

Nick Hornby's new novel is about popular culture, youth and old age, fame, class and teamwork. It offers a wonderfully captivating portrait of youthful exuberance and creativity, and of a period when both were suddenly allowed to flourish.

I was drinking.....

A classic martini whilst reading it, the quintessential 60s cocktail...

In my opinion...

I am not a great fan of comedy novels, and this certainly didn’t make me laugh out loud, but I did smile wryly several times.

I have read a lot of Nick Hornby novels, and this was very much in the same vein. He observes very accurately & I could have believed that the novel was based on an actual show, as there were so many references to other shows that did exist in the sixties

It is clever writing, I believed in the characters, and by the end I wanted to know how their lives turned out- but I would not reread it & did not care enough about the story that I would pass it on to my friends.

My rating