2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Not bad., September 21, 2010
I find Mike Gayle's books (Wish you were here, Life of the party, His 'n Hers) engaging so of course I wanted to read My Legendary Girlfriend aswel. I was even offended to see the book in a Dutch bookstore (in Dutch) for a very low bargain price. As a wannabe writer I was hurt on Mr. Gayle's behalf. When I started reading I became worried how long it was going to take the main caracter Will Kelly, to get his act together. I could relate to his suffering because around the same age I had a similar heartache. So in that regard I got tight up in the story. But upon further reading I became annoyed. Time was moving soooo slow. When was he actually going to do something? At times I just lost interest in the book for some days and continued reading in other books. But I kept some interest in the story so I returned. Today I finished it. I have to say that I applaud Mr. Gayle's convincing way of discribing Will Kelly and his troubles. It has proved, based on the comments here, that it is very tricky to discribe four days in a book of 368 pages. Than it probably comes done to personal likes or dislikes. I think sixty pages less would have improved the book. Even better would have been a visit by an interesting caracter. That most likely would have put or kept some pace in the overall story. I see the comparison with Bridget Jones Diary. I myself was thinking about "Adrian Mole's Secret Diary" and "Growing pains of Adrian Mole."
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A Good Ending In Search of a Beginning and Middle, April 23, 2008
A friend of mine in the UK sent me "My Legendary Girlfriend" as I'd expressed an interest in finding, for lack of a better term, some "Dude Lit" ... and this certainly fit the bill. Although it was something of a rough start (or perhaps I'm just an impatient reader), the book finally picked up about 2/3 of the way through, and was actually quite engaging by the end. If it had been that engaging all the way through it would have been an excellent book. As it was, I can only give it a rating of a "pretty good" book in clear conscience, but with the caveat that it was the writer's first novel.
The impression I got was that Gayle had a nice, solid ending, but didn't really have a beginning or middle to go with it, if you see what I mean. As for plot, there's almost zero -- a guy who's still heartbroken about being dumped spends the anniversary weekend of it three years later making a lot of phone calls, engaging in a lot of self-pity, acting like a massive slob around the house, and generally being pathetic, until he very suddenly grows a spine and goes through a series of rapid-fire relationship changes that conveniently turn into a happy ending for most of the cast. (Hope that doesn't spoil it for you!)
Basically, the first 2/3 of the book read like Gayle is stalling. There are a lot of anecdotes about the narrator's daily activities, his childhood, reminiscences about the girl who dumped him, a variety of other girls from his past, and his one male friend. There's a lot of bitching about his crummy apartment. And so on. There is foreshadowing and plot-building mixed in to all this, but a lot of it seems to just be put in to round it out from 20,000 words to 60,000 words so that you'll have an investment in the characters by the time you reach the end of the book.
Unfortunately, the time to get your reader invested in the book is "as close to the beginning as you can arrange it," not "just before the book ends," because only the most dedicated (or entertainment-starved) reader is likely to stick it out that long.
But, as I say, it was the author's first novel. The fact that it did get good by the end gives me hope that maybe his other books improve as he gets more experience. He's got something like five other books, and I expect I'll check them out when I get the chance to see if he manages in future to jump right to the good part and stay there for the course of the book.
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4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Love ain't supposed to hurt, January 9, 2006
I fell head over heels in love with Mike Gayle's sophomore release MR. COMMITMENT, so when I stumbled across MY LEGENDARY GIRLFRIEND - which happens to be his first book, I had to read it! I was not disappointed!
As usual Gayle takes his time when telling a story. There are many parts of the book that will have you screaming "hurry up!", but his well thought out characters and plot is what makes this book a hit!
Will is the ill at ease, sarcastic protagonist in this delightful novel. It's been three years and he still hasn't gotten over the day his ex-girlfriend Aggi dumped him - on his 23rd birthday -- without rhyme or reason.
There hasn't been a woman since who has come and knocked ol' Aggi down from that tremendously high pedestal Will has put her on. He obsesses over her day and night, and beats himself up trying to figure out what he could've done differently. He just cannot get her out of his system. That is until he gets a phone call from the girl who lived in his flat prior to him moving in. Could this stranger be the one who helps Will come to grips on the true meaning of love?
In just one weekend, he learns what usually takes a lifetime for some. Maybe there is someone out there that can measure up to his "legendary girlfriend".
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