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Book Reviews Title Turning
Thirty Fiction-Net
Rating Buy It
From Amazon.co.uk - BUY
NOW! Cover
Story Thirty means only
going to the pub if there's somewhere to sit down.
Thirty means owning at least one classical CD, even
if it's Now That's What I Call Classical Vol
6. Thirty means calling off the search for the
perfect partner because now, after all these years
in the wilderness, you've finally found what you've
been looking for. Unlike most
people Matt Beckford is actually looking forward to
turning thirty. After struggling through most of
his twenties he thinks his career, finances and
love life are finally sorted. But when he splits up
with his girlfriend, he realises that life has
different plans for him and Matt temporarily moves
back home to his parents. Within hours, his
mum and dad are driving him up the wall just like
the old days. Feeling nostalgic and desperate for
sanity, he decides to get in touch with his old
school mates. So one by one, he tracks down the
rest of the magnificent seven, Gershwin, Pete, Bev,
Katrina, Elliot and Ginny - his former on-off
girlfriend. Back together after a decade apart. But
things will never be the same for any of them
because when you're turning thirty nothing's as
simple as it used to be. We
Say An extremely
informative back cover there and it's worth
pointing out that - once again - Flame have seen
fit to play the deceptive trick of printing
praising review quotes on the front cover and only
underneath in small print explaining that these
quotes refer to a completely different title. We've
said it before. We'll say it again. Flame should
stop this practice - it does nothing but give the
appearance of intending to mislead. That said, we can
concentrate on the book. Turning Thirty follows
Matt Beckford during the months approaching his
thirtieth birthday. Following a split with his
girlfriend, Elaine, Matt leaves New York and
returns to his native Birmingham whilst he readies
himself for a long-term move to Australia. The
story really concentrates on Matt's time back in
Birmingham and it's wonderfully refreshing to read
a story based outside London. Some books bring
you up to the laughs gradually. Not this one. The
entire opening half of Turning Thirty contains more
belly laughs per chapter than any title I can
remember. Matt's time back living with his parents
are only too realistic and funny and his
observations on approaching the big 'three oh'
induce a near-permanent state of
chuckling. Inevitably,
things slow down midway and Matt meets up with many
old school friends and even briefly dates an
ex-girlfriend after moving into her spare room.
This isn't a throwaway few laughs book - there are
plenty of meaty topics to be found, including a
friend's affair with a married man, the death of an
old friend and, of course, the question of how to
handle getting just that little bit older. Still,
you'll be pleased when the humour-content picks
back up in the last few chapters and you'll again
find yourself involuntarily heaving with
laughter. Turning Thirty is
funny, realistic and even wise. Definitely Mike
Gayle's best work to date and an excellent manual
on how to handle your thirtieth
birthday. Review by: Rob
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