Upgrading [Paperback]

Simon Brooke (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 3, 2004

If you've got it, flaunt it...

Young, ambitious, and pretty damn good-looking, Andrew Collins knows that the workaday world is not enough for him. He wants more than a boring job and a mediocre life. Mostly, though, he wants more money. So when he answers an ad for male escorts, Andrew figures he's just found the perfect way to make a buck -- with a "Sugar Mama." But he soon finds that his older paramour, along with her bizarre and somewhat sinister friends, may be taking him for what looks to be a very bumpy ride with no brakes on board.

Just try not to lose it.

But now that he's finally got the green, Andrew finds himself drawn to the plainest of Janes. She's a no-nonsense, deep-thinking shop assistant who's saddened to see the real Andrew being suffocated under a pile of fancy clothes and flashy frills -- not his type at all. So why can't he stop thinking about her? Maybe because life in the lap of luxury isn't what it seems -- or even what he truly wants? Caught between cold cash and a warm heart, Andrew must figure out what matters most: his love of money, his love of himself, or love, period....

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A wage slave turned gigolo seeks love and money in English freelance journalist Brooke's silly, mildly amusing second novel, his first published here. What begins as a stint at a London escort agency for disenchanted 24-year-old media sales flunky Andrew Collins turns freelance once Marion, an oft-divorced American client in her 50s, proposes they see each other exclusively. Relying on the advice of Mark, an older and somewhat more seasoned gentleman of the trade, Andrew attempts to make the financial most of his situation. But as Marion's demands become incrementally more outrageous (and here's where Brooke's at his comic finest), Andrew is forced to decide between the enticements of his moneyed client and those of the more beguiling but less financially established Jane, a shop girl who sees straight through Andrew's pretensions and doesn't care one bit for them. Brooke's prose is peppered with designer names and tony hotspots, enough to bridge the male/female gap and inch his book that much closer to the Midas stuff of chick lit. But its tale of a gorgeous male 20-something struggling with greed and an inability to commit may also alienate a few female readers.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

All aboard the Hornby bandwagon! This lad-lit romp features a handsome London media sales jockey, Andrew Collins, whose dreams of a glitzy lifestyle catapult him into a side job as an "escort" for rich women. Wealth proves a powerful aphrodisiac for Andrew when he meets Marion, an American divorcee who temptingly dangles Rolex watches and shopping excursions to Paris and New York to keep him on his toes. But entry into Marion's world comes at a price. Things get complicated when Andrew falls for the squeaky-clean, cardigan-wearing Jane, from whom he hides his other life. Andrew is a misguided hero whose dogged pursuit of hard cash seems rather shallow, but he is redeemed by his perceptive ruminations on past loves, his parents' tired relationship, and his friendships. An affably naive narrator, a flatulent flat mate, and a wealth of cheeky witticisms help bolster this pleasant but hardly Hornby-quality British export. Misha Stone
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Pocket Books; Original edition (August 3, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743477626
• ISBN-13: 978-0743477628
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,556,686 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Tiresome and predictable, July 18, 2005

By 

Jeanette C. (Utah, United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Upgrading (Paperback)

Yet another story of a whiney 20-something who thinks the world owes him a living. The main character (a lackluster brat named Andrew) signs up with an escort/prostitution service in the first chapter and then spends the rest of the book moaning about how picked on he is and why-oh-why can't these mean rich people give me some of their money just because I'm...what? This guy is a bumbling, awkward idiot. He's not funny or charming and he's not even very good company - not quite what you'd expect of an escort. This is a tiresome, plodding, story that goes nowhere for great lengths of time and wants the reader to accept it as being deep and funny and quirky when it's really none of the above. (The numerous editing mistakes and typos didn't help either, very sloppy.)

1 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars terrific character study, July 30, 2004

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Upgrading (Paperback)

Working at media sales for the Guardian, Andrew Collins detests his tedious job, which fails to pay for the lifestyle that the handsome lad believes he deserves. Fearing he will turn into a "Wanker", Andrew seeks money that equates to happiness. Andrew answers an Evening Standard ad for male escorts, hoping to land a "Sugar Mama".

Andrew escorts the wealthy, decadent and older Marion. She and her nasty friends turn him into her boy toy. He likes the expensive cars he now drives, the excess "green" he carries, the weekend flights across the Atlantic, and the other trinkets she buys him, However, he soon feels his esteem battered when he meets shop assistant plain Jane. She likes the potential she sees in him, but is disappointed in how weak he is by allowing the Rolex crowd to buy his soul. To his shock, Andrew cannot get Jane out of his head and realizes he must decide whether he wants love or money.

Andrew will remind readers of Alfie as he seems as shallow and morally void yet somehow empathetic and understandable. His struggle to select between debauched luxury and love leads the audience to hope he will properly choose, but not wait too long because Jane will not sit around moping. There is a vast contrast between Marion and her jet set minions who contain no redeeming qualities as opposed to the nurturing be all you can be Jane. This extreme also keeps the options simplistic as it boils down to selling your soul vs. loving another's soul. This is a terrific character study that if Marion was a wee nicer could have been UPGRADED into quite a complex tale.

Harriet Klausner