Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4474 in Books
• Published on: 2004-07-19
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 496 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Is David Nicholls' Starter for Ten a throwback? Many readers look back with nostalgia to a recent golden age of comic writing, when David Lodge, Malcolm Bradbury and Tom Sharpe were producing some achingly funny work, with brilliantly realised characters. But Nicholls' sharp-as-nails novel has all the comic acumen of his great predecessors (along with their frequently-utilised university campus milieu) and, like Lodge and co., Nicholls writes real characters, not just boobies suitable only for pratfalls and sexual embarrassment. So even though the situations may often be ridiculous, we're still engaged by the protagonists.

Here, they are university student Brian Jackson and aspiring actress Alice Harbinson. Brian has arrived at his place of learning with a stronger desire than the acquisition of knowledge: he's going to be a star of TV's hottest quiz. But his progress on "The Challenge" is somewhat stymied by his growing desire for the beguiling Alice, struggling to make her mark as an actress. And as obstacles impede their affair, Brian becomes more and more convinced that only overwhelming success on the quiz show will win her.

What makes this novel such a delight, apart from the strongly drawn characters (both major and minor) is the coruscating dialogue: Nicholls writes comic dialogue like a dream, and his targets are many and varied: the idiocies of love and sex, the ludicrous pursuit of meaningless TV celebrity, fat cat businessmen lining their pockets--you name it, and it's probably here; Starter for Ten is a panoply of modern Britain with all its glories and excesses writ large. Nicholls wrote the third series of the hit TV series Cold Feet, which is as good a demonstration of his credentials as one could wish for. But Starter for Ten is his best work; there are no false notes struck by miscast actors, just prose that has a comic energy not often encountered these days. --Barry Forshaw

Jenny Eclair, Richard & Judy's Book Club, 11th Feb 2004
'A classic...I sniggered, snorted and hooted.'

Paul Morley, Richard & Judy's Book Club, 11th Feb 2004
'Exquisite.'

Customer Reviews

Excellent
Having been on my list for some time, I have finally read 'Starter For Ten' and it really does stand up to all the hype. Very well constructed with suberb characterisation - you can immediately empathise with the central character's (Brian) view of 80's life. This hit all the right notes for me as I too attended University in the 80's with the same passion for Granddad shirts and donkey jackets (although not Kate Bush - though I knew people who did). The story takes you along comfortably ( and squirming at times,i.e. the unrequited love) to what you think will be a copybook ending - but life is not like that and neither is this book.

Worth a read
I am the perfect demographic for this novel, went to uni in 85, chased posh gels without success, didn't fit in with the upper middle class. I bought this book on spec because I was bored, thought it might pass a few hours.

I expected it to be cringeworthy and rather lame. The reviews went on about hilarity and snorting with laughter. Who are these people, why are they laughing so much?

Nicholls's novel could have got bogged down in 80s references, trivia and cheap jokes but actually is rather poignant and quite moving. The dinner date scene early on is a great example where out of a potentially comically absurd situation he creates a air of some sadness and anger.

Essentially what I am saying is that this novel is a lot more serious than we have been led to believe. It is not really Hornbyesque but does capture humour and sadness in a similar way to High Fidelity.

Its rare that this kind of 'shick-lit for lads' actually works. I soon forgot the references, parallels with my own experience and the setting of the novel - the characters and their stories overtook them.

In the end it was a satisfying read, if you like Hornby or O'Farrell give it a try.

One of the best books I'd read in a long, long time
This book resonates with my own life and experiences on so many levels; an Essex girl myself, familiar with all Brian's Southend haunts, I read this book during my difficult first year at University. I would come back from lectures, deflated, disappointed and lonely, brew myself a cuppa, reach for the HobNobs, and curl up in my room with this book. So many of his experiences seemed to parallel my own, and perhaps this is why I found it so enjoyable (and laugh-out-loud funny), and certainly allowed me to look at my own situation in a less serious light. Two years on I'm writing my dissertation and about to graduate, but I still continue to recommend and lend this book to anyone who will listen.

Buy this book (along with 'Swallowing Grandma') for anyone you know who is about to leave for University, it will certainly cheer them up in their lonelier moments and help them feel less lonely and weird. :)