One Day. David Nicholls [Import] [Hardcover]

David Nicholls (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 1, 2009

'I can imagine you at forty,' she said, a hint of malice in her voice. 'I can picture it right now.' He smiled without opening his eyes. 'Go on then.' 15th July 1988. Emma and Dexter meet for the first time on the night of their graduation. Tomorrow they must go their separate ways. So where will they be on this one day next year? And the year after that? And every year that follows? Twenty years, two people, ONE DAY. From the author of the massive bestseller STARTER FOR TEN.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The Hollywood-ready latest from Nicholls (The Understudy) makes a brief pit stop in book form before its inevitable film adaptation. (It's already in development.) The episodic story takes place during a single day each year for two decades in the lives of Dex and Em. Dexter, the louche public school boy, and Emma, the brainy Yorkshire lass, meet the day they graduate from university in 1988 and run circles around one another for the next 20 years. Dex becomes a TV presenter whose life of sex, booze, and drugs spins out of control, while Em dully slogs her way through awful jobs before becoming the author of young adult books. They each take other lovers and spouses, but they cannot really live without each other. Nicholls is a glib, clever writer, and while the formulaic feel and maudlin ending aren't ideal for a book, they'll play in the multiplex. (June)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Review

It's rare to find a novel which ranges over the recent past with such authority, and even rarer to find one in which the two leading characters are drawn with such solidity, such painful fidelity, to real life that you really do put the book down with the hallucinatory feeling that they've become as well known to you as your closest friends. Hard to imagine anyone encountering characters as well drawn as this and not recognizing the extraordinary talent of the writer who has created them. -- Jonathan Coe, Guardian Books of the Year 2009 Incredibly moving -- Marian Keyes, writing in the Irish Independent A totally brilliant book about the heartbreaking gap between the way we were and the way we are...the best weird love story since THE TIME TRAVELLER'S WIFE. Every reader will fall in love with it. And every writer will wish they had written it. -- Tony Parsons Big, absorbing, smart, fantastically readable ... brilliant on the details of the last couple of decades of British cultural and political life ... the perfect beach read for people who are normally repelled by the very idea of beach reads -- Nick Hornby The funniest, loveliest book I've read in ages. Most of all it is horribly, cringingly, absolutely 100% honest and true to life: I lived every page. -- Jenny Colgan The ultimate zeitgeist love story for anyone who ever wanted someone they couldn't have -- Adele Parks I really loved it ... it's absolutely wonderful ... just so moving and engaging -- Kate Mosse A wonderful, wonderful book: wise, funny, perceptive, compassionate and often unbearably sad ... the best British social novel since Jonathan Coe's WHAT A CARVE UP! ... Nicholls's witty prose has a transparency that brings Nick Hornby to mind: it melts as you read it so that you don't notice all the hard work that it's doing -- The Times You'd be hard pressed to find a sharper, sweeter romantic comedy this year than the story of Dex and Em -- Independent We may have found the novel of the year - a brilliantly funny and moving will-they, won't-they romance tracing a relationship on the same day each day for two decades -- Heat With its beautifully rounded, real characters and deeply poignant storytelling, this is one of the year's best novels. -- Heat With a nod to WHEN HARRY MET SALLY, this funny, emotionally engaging third novel from David Nicholls traces the unlikely relationship between Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew ... Told with toe-curlingly accurate insight and touching observation ... If you left college sometime in the Eighties with no clear idea of what was going to happen next, or who your lifelong friends might turn out to be, this one's a definite for your holiday suitcase. If you didn't, it still is ... The feelgood film must surely be just around the corner. I can't wait. -- Daily Mail Nicholls has a gimlet eye for period detail ... A beguiling read -- Observer [Nicholls] has both a very deft prose style and a great understanding of human emotion. His characterisation is utterly convincing ... ONE DAY is destined to be a modern classic. -- Daily Mirror A moving and feel-good read. Nicholls is an expert at capturing that essence of young adulthood, first love, heartbreak, and the tangled, complicated course of romance ... Deserves to be the must-read hit of the summer. -- News of the World I couldn't think of anyone who wouldn't love this book -- Simon Mayo Books Panel, BBC Radio Five Live Nicholls captures superbly the ennui of post graduation ... The writing is almost faultless, there's a great feeling for the period and it's eminently readable. -- Herald Nicholls has written a warm, witty, smart and sad novel, and maybe one of the best books of the year -- Sunday Tribune David Nicholls' third novel captivates love in a way that's real and unassuming ... Relaying the essence of friendship and unrequited love with fall-off-your-seat humour, this is an unputdownable romance for the 21st century -- SHE You're gripped from the opening pages ... Nicholls, author of STARTER FOR TEN, writes faultless, engaging dialogue and keeps up a cracking pace. You will find this hard to put down -- Psychologies As a study of what we once were and what we can become, it's masterfully realised -- Esquire Perfect for the beach or summer in the city -- In Style An off-kilter romantic comedy with charm to spare -- Harpers Bazaar A delicious love story -- Sunday Herald funny and moving -- Scotsman David STARTER FOR TEN Nicholls is back with this smart comedy, packed with the mistakes, mismatches and meandering conversations that make up real life -- Marie Claire, Book of the Month A modern fairy tale, slickly put together. A gifted story-teller with lots of technical savvy. -- Scottish Review of Books An edgy romantic tale -- Woman & Home I loved this book ... moved me profoundly -- Amanda Ross Snort-out-loud stuff ... it deserves to be a huge hit -- thelondonpaper A wonderful evocation of a modern love affair -- Glamour Lightly done, but saved from schmaltz by rueful wit and lashings of cringe-inducing nostalgia -- Guardian Review Clever, funny and poignant -- Daily Express A total treat ... by turns bittersweet, funny, touching and sad, but always Nicholls's wonderfully observant and wry touch shines through. A way-we-live-now parable about relationships, disappointments, friendship and expectations; a novel utterly comfortable in its own skin -- Kate Mosse, writing in The Times Fabulous ... I couldn't put it down ... It's brilliant -- Fay Ripley

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 437 pages
• Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton (August 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0340896965
• ISBN-13: 978-0340896969
• Product Dimensions: 1.5 x 5.3 x 8.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (535 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #463,263 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

344 of 358 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Absolutely marvelous January 10, 2010

By J. Luiz

Format:Kindle Edition

I absolutely loved this book. I became a big fan of Nicholls with his first novel (A Question of Attraction -- originally titled "Starter for Ten" with its U.K. edition.) I was a little letdown by his second -- The Understudy, which was fun, but not quite as good as his first. This book exceeds his first. He takes a great device -- following the lives of one couple on the same day over a period of 20 years -- and does a masterful job of storytelling with it. We go from the couple's idealistic college days -- they meet on the day of their graduation -- all the way into their late 30s, with all the physical and emotional changes that come during that timespan. We see the career missteps along the way, and all the various relationships they have while still remaining friends -- and the woman, Emma, always secretly in love with Dexter Mayhew, who has more than a few wild oats to sow before he realizes the woman he should be with is the one who's always been his best friend. The writing is absolutely marvelous. The dialogue is absolutely terrific -- the couple have a teasing/kneedling way of talking to each other and the reparteee between them remains funny and fresh throughout even though the novel is long -- 435 pages.

To say much more would be to give too much away. But if you like insightful books about relationships that can touch all of your emotions, this is the book for you. I think structurally the way Nicholls manages to take you on an extraordinary trip from the first page to the very last is a tour de force.

I had to buy this from amazon/uk because it was available in Britain a year before it became available in the United States, but I'm so happy I got it. This is definitely a book I will re-read several times -- and I hope Nicholls continues to have a prolific career.

90 of 98 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Now, seriously, this book is great fun... January 5, 2010

By baroquemaniac

Format:Kindle Edition

After I had been ploughing through two brick-like books that had 'Literature' (with capital L) writ large all over them, this variation on the evergreen topic of 'Harry and Sally' was a most welcome relief: genuinely funny, liberal doses of acid repartee and shrewd observations, great care given to telling details and lots of fine craftsmanship spent on the staging of embarrassing encounters, disastrous reunions and relationships derailing. (I particularly liked the parlour game gone horribly wrong at the home of one of the leading man's prospective girlfriends.)

And what is more, from the very beginning there is beneath the surface charm a strong undercurrent steering proceedings away from mere lightweight banter into the more troubled waters of a true ,human comedy`. In the last chapters the author even sets about sounding depths for which the reader arguably has not been sufficiently prepared; I still wonder if these late twists add an extra layer of complexity or simply strike a false note and ultimately are Nicholls' misguided bid for being shelved with the serious authors.

The concluding pages are heavily fragrant with bitter-sweetness, again something an author introduces at his own risk; but on the other hand there is no denying that the unexpected narrative device used in these pages conveys an adeqaute impression of things coming full circle and being brought to a close.

And yes, I was moved, so no more niggling and five stars out of five.

237 of 268 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars Not Quite When Harry Met Sally July 25, 2010

By Gregory Baird VINE™ VOICE

Format:Paperback|Amazon Vine™ Review (What's this?)

One thing is certain: David Nicholls is an adept humor writer. There are plenty of amusing moments and sharp one-liners to be found in "One Day." Another mark in Nicholls' favor is that he understands how complicated life can be. His characters screw up (sometimes repeatedly), do unlikeable things (and quite frequently), and so his novel is lifted above standard romantic comedy offerings. I can certainly see why so many people enjoy this book so very much. But if I'm being completely honest I must admit that I am not one of those people, despite the good points I just mentioned.

My main problem with this book is that Nicholls takes the disagreeable components of several characters a little too far. Dexter (or Dex, as he is frequently called) goes from being the person you like "in an ironic, tongue-in-cheek, love-to-hate kind of way" (in the words of his agent) to someone you (or at least I) can't abide somewhere around the hundred page mark. It's one thing that some of the minor characters are irritating, but it's quite another when you just can't stand one half of your romantic pair. Dex is the kind of self-involved, pleasure-seeking guy you are meant to love anyway because his charisma is winning and his heart, well, might just be filled with good intentions, even if they rarely-to-never get realized. He's the kind of guy who would actually take the time to wonder that "he wasn't sure that struggle suited him" when pondering a career path. Indeed, the only reason he wants a career at all is so that he can have a line to impress women with (and since "Hi, nice to meet you, I'm an astronaut" isn't in the cards he'll just have to fall back on television).... This much is amusing, but when his self-absorption leads him to angrily think to himself that "he has better things to do" then be at his beloved mother's deathbed, it goes too far.

Disclaimer time. I am not callous. I am well aware of how difficult it can be to deal with a parent's serious illness because I have personal experience in the matter. I am also well aware of the fact that Dex thinking he has better things to do is meant to reflect his inability to emotionally process the impending death of his mother so soon after he has graduated from college. Here's my problem with this: in the first hundred and fifty pages of the novel it becomes abundantly clear that Dex is meant to be on a long path to recovery. Not just from his own self-absorption, but from the more literal excessive drinking and drug use that begin to plague him immediately after graduation. OK, I have two problems with this--the first is that when things continue in the same vein I just wished he would hit rock bottom so we could get to the healing, already, but since there were still three hundred pages left it was apparent that absolute rock bottom was a ways off. By the time he gets left alone with a baby and predictably can't keep away from the liquor cabinet I just wanted to throw the book across the room. The second, and much larger of my problems with this novel, is that it is clear that it is up to poor, sweet Emma to save him.

This isn't, at heart, a story about Dexter and Emma--or it is, but only insofar as Emma is the only person with the capacity to affect real change in Dex. In the end, the love story in "One Day" is secondary to Dexter's story. Emma is reduced to (eventually) acting as the vehicle for his recovery. So her story stagnates. She can't fall in love, because if she did there wouldn't be any room for Dexter in her life. Who, after all, needs so much unnecessary drama anyway? We are meant to believe that Emma can't fall in love because she has already fallen, irretrievably, for Dex. I'm sure this point just screams to the romantic in a lot of readers that like this book. Well, I'm a romantic, too (believe it or not at this point), and this just didn't do it for me. Emma's total love for Dex is inexplicable. It doesn't make sense. And I'm well aware that life itself rarely makes sense, but this went overboard to me. They have nothing in common. You can tell me that opposites attract as much as you want, and I will believe you, but I still won't see how Dex and Emma could ever be considered a matched pair. And the fact that Emma is expected to wait around just to save Dexter when he's ready isn't romantic, it's insulting.

I can't discuss the ending here, but I will say that I found it to be EXTREMELY manipulative. I might have been more willing to forgive my complaints about this book had it ended differently. But I don't want to give anything away for anyone who wants to read this book, so I will say no more.

If you are a fan of Nicholas Sparks you will probably love this. I have seen frequent comparisons to When Harry Met Sally, a movie that I absolutely adore, but I don't think they hold true. Harry and Sally are clearly meant for each other, even when they bicker upon first meeting, and I see no such chemistry in Dex and Emma. There are also many comparisons to Same Time Next Year, but as I have neither seen the movie nor read the play I cannot say how they stack up.

As I said in the beginning, I can see why so many people have enjoyed this book and are undoubtedly looking forward to the movie version. I just don't get it.
Grade: D Read more ›

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful

3.0 out of 5 stars Ahhh...the joy of reading about two people being miserable for twenty years... July 2, 2010

By Vampires and Tofu

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Ahhh...the joy of reading about two people being miserable for twenty years...

Well yes, there's that, however One Day is a very well written and a compelling read that will keep you up into the wee hours of the morning. I kept reading about this one and the premise sounded intriguing so I had to give it a try. The book follows Dexter and Emma for a span of twenty years, telling the story of where they are in their lives on one day ~ July 15 ~ every year. From everything I had heard (and read in the gazillion blurbs,) I expected this to be a love story, and while Emma does yearn to be with Dexter, love story it is not. What it is instead is a tale of lives misspent on bad decisions and two people who never quite figured out how to be happy.

One Day starts out twenty years ago, the morning after Dexter and Emma have hooked up. They've just graduated from college and their "real lives" are about to begin. Emma is idealistic and has harbored a crush on Dexter for a while. Dexter...well, Dexter doesn't seem to care very deeply about anything. They go their separate ways but remain friends over the years.He eventually gets a job as a Howard Stern like TV host and Emma begins working in a Mexican restaurant but dreams of writing. His life is a rapid descent into drinking, drugs, and sleeping with EVERY woman he crosses paths with. I found it really hard to have any sympathy for his character and to tell the truth, I kept hoping something awful would happen to him to make him wake up and quit being such an ass. But even when bad things did happen to him, he continued on with his selfish, self-destructive ways. Emma's life meanwhile is quiet and plods along slowly (marked by her own share of really bad decisions....) She eventually achieves "success" in life but she never seems to find happiness. Her relationships don't work out, she suffers from low self-esteem and I think we are supposed to believe that if only she and Dexter could figure out they belong together, they would get their happily-ever-after.

Only problem is, I never found myself rooting for them to get together because frankly, I thought Dexter was a jerk and would more than likely only break her heart anyway. I couldn't figure out for the life of me why he had such a hold over her heart for so long. I can understand it when she was in her twenties, but for two decades? Seriously? You know the girlfriend you just wanna shake cause she keeps picking the wrong men? Hello, Emma.

And the ending. Remember watching the last Lord of the Rings movie and thinking to yourself at least 4 or 5 times, "Ok, THIS must be the end?" Check. And I have some other issues with the ending, but discussing them would include spoilers and I don't wanna do that. Suffice it to say a certain pivotal event kinda pissed me off. Not to mention it was ripped right out of a popular movie from a few years ago. If you read it you will understand. Or you can email me and we can discuss it =)

Bottom line, despite my complaints, One Day IS highly readable. It gives a solid portrayal of the emptiness in living only for yourself with no regard for others (shout out to Jesse James and Tiger Woods.) It also does a fine job of showing us the changes Dex and Emma go through in their lifetimes...dreams that don't quite work out, disillusionment, aging itself, and longing for something more. Not every book can be about the winners at the game of life. Read more ›