My Legendary Girlfriend by Mike Gayle

[SteveScaffardi]

I never would have found Mike Gayle had it not been for my flatmate insisting I read one of his books. I have to admit I wasn't too sure at first. The blurb read a bit too much like chick lit novel for my liking. I'm a man, and I like manly things dammit! Luckily I got past my silly male ego and embraced my metrosexuality, and a good few years later and I'm one of Mike Gayle's biggest fans.

 

My Legendary Girlfriend was Gayle's first novel, having spent time as a journalist and features writer. This book was a huge success as Gayle followed in the footsteps of fellow lad lit author Nick Hornby to write a book about relationships from a male perspective with very high praise indeed.

 

English teacher Will Kelly is single and pretty miserable to be honest! Set over one weekend, Will spends most of his time pining over his ex-girlfriend, Aggi, who cheated on him with his best pal. Then Kate enters Will's life in a series of phone calls which start to make Will feel like he has found someone to help him get over his ex.

 

Dubbed a male version of Bridget Jones Diary, Mike Gayle's first book isn't too bad. And I say that having read a number of his books since, and knowing how good some of his later novels are. I enjoyed the book when I read it, but I did struggle to relate to the main character at times. Sometimes I wanted to grab him, give him a slap, and tell him to snap out of it!

 

But Gayle writes in a way that makes you want to keep reading to see what happens, regardless of whether you like Will or not. And it has to be said that the ending has a nice twist.

 

This is not my favourite Mike Gayle book, but it holds a special place for me as this was my first real introduction to lad lit, and in a way, this was probably one of the biggest influences on me to pursue the idea of writing The Drought.

 

All in all, I would say that My Legendary Girlfriend is a decent read, but if you don't like or fancy this book, make sure you check out other books by Mike Gayle because you won;t be disappointed!

 

3/5 stars

 

http://stevenscaffardi.blogspot.co.uk/

[Raven]

I read this shortly after it was published, after seeing an interview with Gayle on the BBC program Bookworm.

 

For me it is one of his best books; perhaps because it was the first of his books that I read or because it was a different genre for me at the time.

 

I like the atmosphere he creates, the almost squalid existence Will leads whilst trying to find his path, and I like the format of the book with the whole story being played out over the course of a weekend.

 

It's also from a time when Gayle was writing "Lad Lit" (for want of a better term), rather than the Chick Lit he is now writing. Whilst I still read and enjoy his books (for the most part) I think he was more interesting and original when he was telling stories solely from the male perspective.

 

I must read this again at some point.

[SteveScaffardi]

Yeah, I do agree with you about the transition from lad lit to chick lit. Have you read Hen/Stag weekend? I've heard good things about it but haven't got round to reading it yet.

[Raven]

No, I've not read it yet; I tend to leave his books until they are out in paperback. The Stag and Hen Weekend is out on Valentine's Day.

[Raven]

I actually re-read this last week (over a decade since I last did so).

 

I do like the tone and informality of this book.

 

I think if you have been a university student or a graduate who has lived in a bedsit or rented accommodation you will feel some empathy with Will over his living conditions. Also, I like that Will isn't a perfect character; he's bitter, sulky and lazy, but under the emotional armour he's developed to get him through the day he's also a pretty likeable chap.

 

I think the book highlights for me the strengths and weaknesses of Gayle's writing. He is very good at creating three-dimensional characters that you can instantly relate to and feel empathy for, but at the same time his plotting can be a little farfetched at times, with things happening more for dramatic effect than because that is the way the character would actually act. Okay, so I may be over thinking this for the type of novel it is, but some of the things that happen in this book - and in his other novels - really jar for me because they happen suddenly and usually contrary to the behaviour of the character up to that point.

 

Despite this, though, I did enjoy re-reading this and with the exception of Brand New Friend - which I didn’t really get on with the first time around - this has completed my re-reading of all of his earlier works.