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| This Charming Man | 
 enlarge | Author: Marian Keyes
Publisher: Michael Joseph Ltd
Category: Book
List Price: £17.99
Buy New: £7.50
You Save: £10.49 (58%)
New (27) Used (10) from £5.00
Avg. Customer Rating:  79 reviews
Sales Rank: 588
Media: Hardcover
Pages: 688
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.1 x 1.9
ISBN: 0718149122
EAN: 9780718149123
ASIN: 0718149122
Publication Date: April 30, 2008
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: This book is brand new and will dispatch within 48 hours
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| Customer Reviews:
 Hard work, but gets there in the end July 28, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have read all of Marian Keyes books and loved them, but i was completely drained by the time i finished this one. The themes of addiction and domestic violence are dealt with very well and depict the horrific consequences of both. The story is told by four women who are all connected in some way to a politician the 'Charming Man. The four women's stories are interwoven to some extent and each relate their 'story' in their own way. I found the way the book was written(through the different characters and different writing styles) quite demanding, although interesting and clever it is not a relaxing book to read and not one to read if you want cheering up. There is some light heartedness which is told through Lola's unusual diary entries and i won't spoil it but i did laugh out loud at some of the images the words created. It is a bit of a departure from the 'normal' Marian Keyes but brave of her to try something a little different.
 Full of humour and characters to relate to July 27, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
This Charming Man was the first Marian Keyes book I had read and I absolutely loved it. It was full of believeable characters and was so funny, a real book to lose myself in. I couldn't get to sleep at night as I kept wanting to read just a bit more. I've now read a second of her books which is just as gripping and beliveable. My third is on my bedside ready to be started.
Another great book. July 23, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I have read all of Marian Keyes books and think that her way of writing serious and at times dark subjects with a sense of humour that can make me laugh out loud (even on the bus!) is astounding. This book does not disapoint. Loved all the characters (except the one were are not meant too of course) esp. Lola and the friends she makes and grew to love Grace as well by halfway through.
I couldn't put it down so I better go and do some housework now that I've finished it! Can't wait for the next novel.
 This charming book July 18, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I've just finished this book and not sure if it's a work of genius or if it missed the point a bit.
There are three main characters and each of their lives has been affected to a greater or lesser extent by the (anti) hero of the title Paddy De Courcy. Two of the three, Grace and Marnie, are sisters and their stories are linked and are very powerful. They also know Alicia, the much less interesting fourth woman. Lola, she of the irritating diary prose, I think belonged in a different book. She's very funny and charming in her own right but her situation never rings true and I can't help thinking she was put in for some light relief. She really adds nothing to the main plot and her 'heartbreak' is not convincing. I also thought the whole politics storyline was weak.
There is a second theme to the book, and that's addiction and this is described absolutely brilliantly.
I love Marian Keyes' writing, and I looked forward to picking this book up every evening. She has the knack of creating characters you feel you really know, and for that alone it's worth reading this book.
Great, but could be so much better July 17, 2008
3 out of 4 found this review helpful
Why intelligent woman write in silly voice? Real people no speak like this! Grate on nerves very quickly. Not easy rise above, even though quite funny jokes.
Ok enough of lampooning the style. What a shame that the most entertaining of the three narrators of this book was landed with this appalling format - speaking in pidgin English and presented in italics. Excuse my language but - WTF??
Lola had plenty of charm and loads of witty observations to make but really, what an effort was required to get past that style. Worst of all was she had her friends spoken dialogue - inside speech marks - delivered the same way. Very, very bad. Naughty editor need be firmer with writer. (Sorry, lapsed back into it!)
You all know the set-up of this book by now and I agree with many others who have said that what the charming man himself lacks is charm. Surely this story would have packed a much firmer punch had the charmer actually managed to persuade any of the readers that he really is the blue eyed boy at the outset. Instead, we meet him as an arrogant idiot and very quickly realise he's darker than that. So where's the charm - bad boy acts bad. No surprise there.
The story isn't about him anyway - he's a side issue. What is the story about? Who knows. It just goes on and on and on and every time you get into it and really get involved with a character, it's all snatched from under you and you are forced to start again with another character. Such is the downside of the multi narrator story.
In so many ways Keyes wants to have her cake and eat it with this book. She shuns the conventions of chick lit novels then shamelessly wallows in them near the end. She despises conspicuous wealth but knows her readers want glamour and aspiration so ladles it on endlessly. I think one quote from one of her narrators summed it up - it was something like 'I hate the rich and famous but find myself fascinated by their lifestyles'.
Fair enough, she's a mass market writer and the market demands this stuff.
Although the book was very long, in some ways it wasn't long enough. Each of the voices really needed a book of their own. For instance, Grace gets a chapter in which her snooty, sneery in-laws (with endlessly described material goods and lifestyle) let her down by overlooking her partner as a godfather to their child. This is set up and turned into quite a big deal. But it never gets referred to again and in fact we don't hear any more of her in-laws.
Maybe Keyes should write lots of shorter books and give each story breathing space - who knows, maybe that's exactly what she wants to do but her publishers are demanding books like this.
Either way, as the cover suggests, you can still 'Trust Marian' - she makes other chick lit writers look like the joke that they are, and manages to engage the reader from the very first sentence. If the book is a big old mess then it's still in another league from the rest of the genre.
Take it on holiday, it will be your faithful companion. I just wish this book was more... perfect. God knows Keyes has the talent.
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