Margin Notes: Funny Girl




From the bestselling author of High Fidelity, About a Boy, and A Long Way Down comes a highly anticipated new novel.

Set in 1960's London, Funny Girl is a lively account of the adventures of the intrepid young Sophie Straw as she navigates her transformation from provincial ingénue to television starlet amid a constellation of delightful characters. Insightful and humorous, Nick Hornby's latest does what he does best: endears us to a cast of characters who are funny if flawed, and forces us to examine ourselves in the process.

My rating: 3 of 5 stars

For me, this was a solid 3.5 stars--enjoyable, written well, but no real pizzazz. A little disjointed.

Nick Hornby is a great author--he has quirky characters who have interesting lives and notions, and this book is no different. It centers around a young woman in 1960s outside of London, who wants to be a comedian. It's a path not much pursued by women in the 60s, so there's no path for her to follow. She is beautiful, but no one takes her ambition seriously, so she leaves Blackpool and goes to London and lucks into a job on a TV show. She hits it off with the writers and her costar and her star rises. It's a success due to the witty script (she's always pushing for more actual humor) and her beauty and due to the take on British life for most people. It takes place at the UK starts becoming modern.

(view spoiler)
Overall a fun read, but nothing I'd highly recommend.

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