Infidelity for First-Time Fathers [Paperback]

Mark Barrowcliffe (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 24, 2002

Something's wrong in Stewart Dagman's life. The party invitations that used to read 'Bring Bottles and First Aid kit. Eight till police raid' now say 'Ben is one. Help us celebrate. Please leave quietly before afternoon nap.' Life is moving on, and Dag wants to move with it. All he dreams of is someone to love, a family of his own and a half indecent sex life. So what happens when those dreams come true? Twice. In a week. How will his friend Henderson react to being left alone and balding 'in the howling wilderness of single life'? And is it really possible to get rickets through the over-use of anti-ageing UV cream?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Barrowcliffe's follow-up to Girlfriend 44 establishes him as the king of the cheeky, ironic romantic tagline, but his follow-through leaves much to be desired in this labored comedy about a 30-something British fellow who suddenly finds himself with two pregnant girlfriends. Stewart Dag Dagman is the whiny, wisecracking narrator who finds himself facing fatherhood when his long-time, live-in girlfriend, Andrea Ellis, informs him that she's in a family way; he gets a double dose of impending maturity when his younger lover, Cat Grey, delivers a similar pronouncement. Barrowcliffe tracks Dag's half-baked romantic angst through a series of scenes that feature endless sequences of hit-and-miss comic dialogue with Stewart's best friend Henderson, until the would-be father finally 'fesses up about his romantic duality to Grey. That touches off a series of breakup scenes followed by a sequence in which Grey pretends to be an online journalist to meet her counterpart, with Dagman using electronic surveillance equipment to find out how the two women really feel about him. Barrowcliffe jumps through some serious hoops to generate narrative tension, introducing a strange shooting incident as well as a terminal illness involving Andrea's father before he sprints off to the inevitable happy ending as the opportunistic Henderson pursues Grey while Dagman tries to restore his credibility with the two women. But most of the comedy never rises above the sitcom level, and the novel being built around an unlikable protagonist doesn't help matters. Barrowcliffe pens a few funny scenes here and there, but the occasional chuckle can't save this thinly plotted tale from an abundance of unfocused writing that fails to tickle the funny bone.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

'Stunning - even better than his first' Jill Mansell

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Product Details

• Paperback: 416 pages
• Publisher: Review (June 24, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0747268150
• ISBN-13: 978-0747268154
• Product Dimensions: 7.7 x 4.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,455,056 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Leaves a bad aftertaste, May 8, 2003

By 

Anna Klein - See all my reviews

This review is from: Infidelity for First-Time Fathers (Hardcover)

Stewart Dagman (Dag), a mid thirties British bloke, is engaged to be married to his live-in girlfriend of ten years, Andrea Ellis. And guess what? She's pregnant. But Dag also has this fresh young "bit on the side," Cat Gray, and guess what? She's pregnant too. So what's a guy to do?

On one hand, I found INFIDELITY FOR FIRST-TIME FATHERS side splittingly funny -- even the thoroughly British parts that a poor American like me didn't get. Dag is being assailed by a fiancee whose desire for the physical is much greater than his own, and Barrowcliffe does a hilarious job of describing the way men in their thirties and forties are continually cruising for women in their twenties. The story is a comic roller-coaster, the reader propelled from one twist to the next. I don't think there's a single potential turn that Barrowcliffe failed to make, except for the one at the end. There he crashed.

Which brings me to the part that isn't funny: The entire plot. It could have been an interesting (and yes, still funny) tale of a guy's attempt to do the right thing, but Dag doesn't hold up his end of the deal. He comes across incredibly selfish and unlikable, which would be fine if he wasn't the lead character, but he is, and three hundred some pages in his whiny company are enough to kill any joke and completely total any "deeper meaning" the story might have fostered. His slapstick conversations with his best friend, Henderson, don't improve matters. Basically the reading experience consists of following an immature guy through a series of incomplete breakups and near misses while he makes sometimes apropos, sometimes totally nutty comments about everything from politics to relationships (what else?) to dealing with your in-laws. And the thugs? The electronic surveillance? The births? Can we strain credulity any further?

When I first read INFIDELITY FOR FIRST-TIME FATHERS, I laughed. I fully admit I laughed. But I'm not laughing now.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Second Effort, November 6, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Infidelity for First-Time Fathers (Hardcover)

This is the author's second novel. Like the first, Girlfriend 44, it is a contemporary comedic novel with plenty of drole asides in the style of Nick Hornby, PG Wodehouse, and columnist-author Dave Barry. Stewart Dagman, a mid-thirtyish management consultant, has to choose between duty to his pregnant fiancee and housemate for the past ten years, Andrea, with whom he shares a comfortable and familiar, if not exciting life, and Cat his exhilarating new paramour, with whom he is falling in love. There are tons of interesting complications, all plotted skilfully --- this is actually a page-turner ---- and throughout there are endless wickedly funny takes on contemporary London life that made the first novel so engaging. I had a little trouble with some of the London slang and place references, but no great distraction. I have to say I enjoyed it thoroughly. Three strangers approached me on a plane trip to ask about the book that was making me laugh to myself like a psychotic. All three were sufficiently interested to look past the somewhat off-putting (for American tastes) title to record the ordering info. I look forward to the next with impatient enthusiasm.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hilarious. But very, very wrong., June 2, 2002

By 

Frederick M. Segrest (Huntsville, AL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Infidelity for First-Time Fathers (Hardcover)

If I hadn't already read Girlfriend 44 by the same author while in Scotland, I might have been turned off by the title of the book (although it does get your attention). However, the sinister premise is a set-up for an avalanche of conflict and wild situations described by hilarious banter from the main character. He is not really a bad guy, he just does a bad thing and suffers throughout the book for it. The result is a wild, off-the-wall second novel, a more fast-paced and direct improvement over Girlfriend 44, which I also enjoyed. It was amazing to me that Barrowcliffe resolved the main character's messes so cleanly in the end! I am looking forward to his next.