One for My Baby

by Tony Parsons

Book Overview

From the bestselling author of Man and Boy and Man and Wife comes the charming story of a widower who doesn't believe you get a second chance at love. Full of biting social commentary and overwhelming... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0743456645
• ISBN13: 9780743456647
• Release Date: March 2004
• Publisher: Atria Books
• Length: 345 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 5.8" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

Audio version is great!

Reading the other reviews I realize none of them are about the audiobook. The story in the audiobook is very good, but the performance brings it up to a great level. I picked the audiobook up not expecting much, but was very pleased in the first few minutes that I had made the decision to listen. Since then several of my fellow audiobook fanatic friends have also listened and we agree that this is one of the best performances we've heard.

Exploring Men's Feelings

An interesting book on getting back into life after being hurt. In this case, a young man finally marries after searching for Miss Right for many years, only to tragically lose her. After two years he finds other people in his life falling apart. And at the same time begins to straighten out his own life. Written by one of England's best up and coming writers this is not exactly a new concept, but in his hands there is wit, wisdom, love and recovery. It is most interesting in that this theme is more often handled from the female point of view, but not in this case. It's an exploration of men's feelings that is much less commonly seen. Yes, men have feelings too. But as one writer said, men tend to put their feelings in a room, close the door to the room and not visit it very often. This book is a refreshing change.

Totally real

"Totally real" could truly be described in any review of Tony Parson's work. This is the most recent book I've read of his, and it did not disappoint. He has a gift for laying out these totally real people (as opposed to "characters") on the page. I didn't always like Alfie; but I understood him, and knew deep down he had a good heart and wanted to be a better man. I loved Jackie's drive to be independent; I could go on but suffice it to say that all the people in this book were explored really very well and I had a total picture of who they were - even Josh, his "friend" that was one of the lesser people in the story. At the end, I was wishing Alfie well. I will continue to read Tony Parsons as long as he deigns to write.

Well written character study

Language teacher Alfie Budd leaves Hong Kong after several years there to return home to London fueled by grief for a lost loved one. However, London may swing, but no where near the way Alfie remembers the town. Everything is different, but mostly his parents act strangely. Alfie thought they shared a loving relationship, but now his father piteously discos with a foreign au pair younger than his son while his mother has a love affair with her rose garden.Stunned, Alfie fears he will never capture what he once had in Hong Kong so he wanders through meaningless sexual encounters with his students (once a taboo, but more acceptable in this amoral 1993 London). As Alfie wonders about living without love, he descend deeper into a cesspool of immorality that gives him no solace except through the wizened teachings of Mr. Chang.Alfie is a solid center of this well written character study that leads to fans feeling empathy towards the lead protagonist still suffering from his loss and coping through hollow encounters. The secondary cast enables the readers and Alfie to see that life without love is empty. ONE FOR MY BABY raises philosophical issues of how to live (not just survive) and forge or keep relationships after a loved one dies yet the entertaining story line fails to truly respond to the concerns posed by Tony Parsons; thus readers will ask what's it all about Tony?Harriet Klausner

Second As Enjoyable As His First

I think British writer Tony Parsons is just fantastic. His "Man & Boy" was one of my favorite books last year, and this may end up being one of this years. I think he's great because he creates real, honest, and flawed protagonists. They don't have all the answers and more often than not will probably do something that produces hideous results, but their reality makes me root for them all the more. In his newest book, it's Alfie Budd, a teacher at a language school who is slowly moving through the unbearable grief caused by the tragic death of his wife. Like "Man & Boy" Parsons revisits themes of love and loss, & children's relationships to their parents.Equally moving and very funny, the book unravels with not a great amount of surprise, but a boudless supply of heart.