Customer Reviews

Brand New Friend

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Mike Gayle has easily become one of my go to authours. When he comes out with a new book I am amungst the first to order it, when I am in a slump and want to read something that is sure to give me a chuckle I pick up a Mike Gayle book. His voice is always fresh and his story lines are certianly not typical and in his latest 'BRAND NEW FRIEND' he delivers all that fans have come to expect from him.

Gayle has a knack for taking his readers on a laugh-out-loud funny journey into the male mind. Unfortunately it seems that all the men in his books are pretty similar (which makes me wonder...is that so unrealistic?) they love a good beer, hanging out with their friends in crappy bars, music, and talking about nothing (okay so it is pretty realistic!). But somehow he comes up with innovative story lines that force these men to make some tough decisions and examine feelings that they would much rather be kept buried. Gayle never, in my opinion, takes unrealistic turns in order to wrap the story up in a neat little package...everything doesn't always end up the way we would hope and 'BRAND NEW FRIEND'is no exception.

When Rob decided to take the plunge and move in with his girlfriend of two years, Ashley, he is forced to leave behind one of his most cherished assets...his friends. Because of Ashley's job Rob moves to Manchester two hours outside of his home town of London and is forced to try to make a new life for himself but that is not as easy as it sounds. Six months into the move and Rob has not yet made one single new friend, and not for lack of trying. After numerous "bloke dates" orchestrated by Ashley Rob is just about at the end of his rope when he meets Jo. She and Rob have everything in common and have the potential to be great friends...only problem is that J-O is not J-O-E.
Will Rob's relationship with Ashley survive his friendship with Jo? And is it possible for a man and a woman to really be "just friends"?

'BRAND NEW FRIEND' is at times hilariously funny and at times heartbreakingly realistic. This is definitely another winner from Gayle!

Brand New Friend is the fourth of Mike Gayle's stories that I've come across and although there are a lot of similarities and common ground covered that seems to be in all his books, he's used a fair number of new ideas used in this one. The biggest of course is the question, can men and women be friends? Of course those of us with plenty of friends of the opposite gender know that of course you can, but this wouldn't be that interesting a novel if the events just followed simple life. Rob, the main narrator of this tale doesn't make life easy for himself and his new friend Jo, by not correcting Ashley, his girlfriend who assumes Jo is Joe until of course the inevitable meeting of the three occurs. The story is also helped along by the loneliness and desperation of Rob, a man in his thirties who has reluctantly moved to Manchester from London on an ultimatum of his girlfriend, Rob simply doesn't have any friends there. His girlfriend's male friends don't have the same interests that he does, and being around them is just depressing. Therefore unbeknownst to him Ashley has put an advertisement in the personals section of a local newspaper. This is where much of the humour of Brand New Friend takes place, as Rob's bro dates have him playing them out in his head like a date.

The one thing that makes this book work is that all the main characters are very likeable people. Gayle's debut novel My Legendary Girlfriend didn't flow that well simply due to the fact the main character in that one, Will Kelly wasn't likeable or interesting at all. Brand New Friend may have also worked better if it was set a few decades ago where those generations probably had more of a hang-up on men and women being friends with those of the opposite sex, especially if that friend is single. Most people of my generation have plenty of friends of the opposite sex, who may or may not gel with their partner as well and it's not really a big thing these days.

If you don't want to take a gamble on a full length novel by Mike Gayle check out his short story from the Quick Reads series Men at Work. That's the excellent book I first discovered this author's work with and decided to give a few of his full length novels a try. But if you're up to buying a full length novel this is a great one to start with!

Whether a man and a woman can be `just good friends' has been the subject of maaaaany a heated discussion. I'd side with `unfortunately, not past puberty'.

Here Mike Gayle tackles this subject with his usual light, humorous and very insightful touch and reaches the same conclusion, but so much more gracefully than most of us did at the Union bar. And no-one gives a better insight into the working of the male brain like Mike Gayle!

The only letdown in this book was Rob's girlfriend who is so sickeningly, annoyingly, cloyingly nice (borderline perfect) it just not realistic... particularly disappointing as Mike Gayle's characters are usually so true to life. Even as a means to illustrate a point... TOO MUCH! Bleuch!

Otherwise another great, fun read from Mike Gayle.