Come Together: A Novel [Hardcover]

Emlyn Rees (Author), Josie Lloyd (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 30, 1999

Original, perceptive and very funny, Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees collaboration is the first romantic comedy to be told from both the mans and the woman's perspective -- in alternate chapters. Jack Rossiter,  a single guy who'd rather run a marathon than have a relationship, meets Amy Crosbie, a beautiful and earnest woman who is looking for The Man.   Its a disaster from the start.  Jacks vaguely interested, but then Amy tells him that she was really interested in his best friend.  She tells him this after sleeping with him. Then he doesn't call and she wonders why.

But for some reason, Jack eventually does call Amy.  And they go on a date.  And another one.  They like each other.  They acknowledge they like each other.  Amy begins to think that she may have finally found her man, but she may be very wrong.

As the two voices reveal their story, which involves dates, drink, shouting matches, misunderstandings, a romantic weekend get-away, best friends, true love and undisguised lust, we experience a true modern romance through this unlikely couples amazing affair.

Come Together is the story that proves that love is still possible even for the most improbable people.

Meet Jack. . .
Jack Rossiter.  I'm twenty-seven years old, single, and live with my best mate, Matt.  Matt and I started hanging out when we were eight.  Life was simpler then.  Our idea of fashion was polyester.  I told him that I wanted to be a spy and he asked me who Id marry.  I imagined falling in love with a girl so perfect I couldn't even guess her name.  Things have changed since then.  I did fall in love for a while but it didn't work out.  And single is good, single is fun.

Meet Amy. . .
I know this all sounds dramatic, but H (my best friend) knows my horrible secret. . . Oh, God, I cant even bring myself to think about it, but the truth is. . . .I haven't had sex for over six months. I guess this technically makes me a virgin...  Whatever it makes me, its not normal for a healthy twenty-five year old girl. SIX MONTHS!  I mean, I've got my own flat, I've got A levels -- so come on down Mr. Right.  At least it would get my mother off my back.

NOW FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS WHEN THEY MEET EACH OTHER. . .

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

He says: "A one-night stand. No complications. Just another chalk mark on the board. A bit of harmless fun." She says: "You have no idea how much I hate being on my own."

They are Jack and Amy, two twentysomething singles living in London, and the central characters in Josie Lloyd and Emlyn Rees's joint effort, Come Together. Jack is an artist who scrapes out a living by day working part-time in a gallery and prowls the bars by night looking to "pull." Amy is a temp with dreams of becoming a fashion designer. When the two meet at a party, they spend the whole night talking; both enjoy the conversation, but while Amy starts thinking that Jack "could well be my perfect man," his thoughts run along more basic lines--he wants to see her again because "I haven't had sex for over a week and you haven't had sex for over six months. Because, Amy, we therefore have a mutual need. And, yeah, because I fancy you, too."

That last sentiment is important. Though Jack starts out trying to seduce Amy into a casual fling, he ends up falling for her hard. There's only one problem: the little matter of the nude portrait he's doing of Sally McCullen, a drop-dead gorgeous blonde and former obsession. Told in alternating he said-she said chapters, Come Together is fairly predictable plot-wise, but the prose is effortlessly comical, the characters endearing, and the details of dating in the '90s hilariously spot-on. An added frisson of enjoyment comes from the fact that Lloyd and Rees became a couple themselves in the course of writing this novel. --Alix Wilber

From Publishers Weekly

Collaborating as alternating male and female voices, Rees (The Book of Dead Authors) and Lloyd (It Could Be You) draw a slacker-love roadmap that allows readers of each gender to see what the other really thinks. Currently engaged to marry in real life, the writing couple have created West London Bridget Jones-wannabes Jack Rossiter and Amy Crosbie, who rival their precursor in list making and neurotic fretting, if not in charm: each has a sardonic, unapologetic edge that makes them less endearing than Bridget. At 25, chronic office temp Amy hasn't had sex for months. Struggling artist Jack, 27, sees his single life as "a state of siege" (his rule of thumb: don't give up complete no-strings-attached sexual freedom until your "Uberbabe" comes along). The two meet, talk all night, immediately go off to obsess about each other. Amy's judgment of Jack by "vital statistics" makes us wonder about the depth of the mutual attraction, but as one watches them endure every possible relationship pratfall and misunderstanding, the emotional ante rises for a happy-ever-after. Their biggest blowup is the most interesting, if only for its current-events echoes: does Jack's "accidental fellatio" count as infidelity? Gen-Xers will find all of their culture and conflict in these pages?honesty, jealousy, vacations from hell, condoms. Anyone over 35, however, will be as dismayed as they are entertained by the jadedness and naivete of the characters' concerns. Agents, Vivienne Shuster and Jonny Geller. Rights sold in Denmark, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Sweden, Finland and Greece; film rights to Working Title Films; author tour.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 289 pages
• Publisher: Villard; 1st edition (March 30, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0375502327
• ISBN-13: 978-0375502323
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (108 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,898,208 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Keeper!, January 24, 2006

By 

Colleen McMahon ""Omnivorous Reader"" (Atlanta, GA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Come Together (Paperback)

I recently came across this while cleaning out some old books, read a few pages, and decided to put it back on the shelf for a re-read soon.

Come Together is chick lit of the British variety, and an excellent example of the genre. The twist in this one is that the co-authors, male and female, write the chapters alternating between the male and female characters' first-person voices, giving a multi-dimensional view of the relationship and the events. Like Bridget Jones, there is lots of insecurity and amusing goof-ups before the relationship can really happen, but this time it's not just the female being spazzy.

And it's often laugh-out-loud funny. What made me decide to re-read it was finding this passage again( this is Amy, the female protagonist, calling her best friend Helen the morning after meeting Jack, the soon-to-be boyfriend):

H: (sleepily) Hmmm?

Me: (a pause, just so she'll know it's me) Blachhhhhhhhh! (I inject this greeting with as much postpuking throaty misery as I can muster)

H: Blachh-blachh-blachh? Or just blachh?

Me: Blaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaachh!

H: I'll be right over.

I love H. She understands me.

What's not to love? If you are a fan of Brit chick lit and are looking for a fun read, check this one out. It's a few years old, but well worth looking for.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must Read for the Bridget Crowd, February 14, 2000

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Come Together: A Novel (Hardcover)

If you loved Bridget Jones, you will love this book. Amy is Bridget with attitude! I got this book and fell in love with this couple! You will love seeing both sides of a relationship. Then I found out that the Authors are now married! Also, there is a sequel out in the UK called Come Again!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars COME AGAIN - EXCELLENT, January 7, 2000

By 

cruzy (LONDON, ENGLAND) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Come Together: A Novel (Hardcover)

JUST SIMPLY BRILLIANT - COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN ! JUST AS GOOD AS THE 1ST ONE..COME TOGETHER...LOVELY ENDING ...REALLY LOVED IT

BUY IT BUY IT BUY IT !