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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1139262 in Books
• Published on: 2000-03-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Girlfriend 44 supplies a sharp, sardonic study of one man's slant on relations between the sexes. Laddish, thirtysomething Harry is still looking for the woman of his dreams, after 43 failed attempts. When his mate Farley apparently commits suicide over a girl called Alice, Harry sets his sights on the bereaved, convinced that she's the woman of his dreams. There's just one small catch--his best mate Gerrard is equally convinced that she's the only one for him and so the contest commences. A battle not so much of wits as of puerile one-upmanship ensues as the pair project their own needs and desires onto the object of their fantasies. Sporting metaphors are served up fast and furious in this rogues' rally:

"So by cutting the levity ... he brought the fight onto his own territory. Even if he failed ... he would still be there, like a tennis player hanging on in a demanding rally, biding his time to regain the centre of the court."

With its sharp one-liners, witty observations and vivid characterisations, Mark Barrowcliffe's first novel Girlfriend 44 presents a provocative insight into the male psyche. --Nicola Perry

Review
'There are shades of Withnail and I, as well as Notting Hill, in this laugh-out-loud look at a couple of gropers on the prowl' Belfast Telegraph 'Sharp and funny' -- Loaded 'Dazzlingly funny and oh so true...' -- Jill Mansell 'Funny, sharp and so realistic you think you know all the characters... We loved GIRLFRIEND 44 so much' -- New Woman 'Hilarious... [Barrowcliffe is] an assured stylist with a lively, wordy wit' -- Independent on Sunday 'I howled with laughter... Lively, witty and upbeat... If you've got any sense of humour at all you'll be hard pushed to get through GIRLFRIEND 44 without laughing out loud' -- Mirror 'A natural chronicler of the love-lorn male' -- The Times 'Smart and funny' -- Cosmopolitan 'A hilarious read' -- Company 'Fresh, funny' -- PS Magazine 'So funny... Zany, alive and always true to itself' Wall Street Journal -- Wall Street Journal 20010902

PS Magazine
'Fresh, funny'

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Customer Reviews

Superlad nearly pulls it off
On the plus side: this is laddishly and arrogantly un-pc ...... and (mostly) refreshing for that. The one liners are often wickedly profound: there's a bit about one's own opinions (when en-route to drunken-ness) that knocked me sideways in it's honesty. This book is hugely endowed with witty similies - have a notebook handy to jot them down for use in the pub.

On the minus side: those aforementioned similies are sometimes a tad overdone, and crop up on almost every page. Succint it aint - witness the intro. which spends an age building up the characters around basically a rather mundane breakfast scene. Believabilty is somewhat stretched at many junctures - and, as for the end, well I won't give anything away.....judge for yourself!

This is "pretty damn readable without being totally addictive" fare - more of a handbook in witty put-downs that hangs on a pretty threadbare and inplausible plot than a full-blown, bona fide novel revolving around a good story

Made me laugh out loud many times
Funniest book I've read in years. Most of the humour relies on "odd couple" relationship between the two flat mates. Great insight into the single bloke psyche.

Far too long and trying far too hard AVOID
I tried to like this book I really did. But it has been written too quickly, with barely any editing and is far too long. Clearly this was someone trying to say "Look at me!!" far too loudly. There was a surfeit of one liners that made you think that this was written by a journalist who believes himself to be a comedian. Once he has his own style his writer might be better. Very disappointing.