This is closer to "how to be good", rather than "high fidelity" or "about a boy". I really liked it.

Life affirming in a way you wouldn't expect a book about 4 down-on-their-luck characters would be. The characters themselves are fully fleshed out by Hornby, who is a great writer with a terrific ear for dialogue. It's all very English and hilarious in a way only the english can be.

Another New Year's Eve, another party...another group of four people who meet unexpectedly on the rooftop of a building they've all trekked out to so they can kill themselves.

I read the back-cover synopsis and went "What?!" out loud in the bookstore. (Though I don't recommend doing this, as people stare.) This could have been such a grisly novel, but not with Hornby. I devoured this book and loved every page. He tells the story, through four different perspectives, of an unlikely group of misfits who are desperate and unhappy with their lives, and meet each other on a rooftop. They've each come here for suicide, but they end up with so much more than they had planned on. It's darkly comic, without feeling dark. It's imaginative and creative, without exploiting the characters for the sake of an extra laugh. Hornby takes gruesome subject matter and, in his inimitable style, treats it with humanity, compassion, and humour. His characters are so real, and I laughed out loud many (many!) times. You relate with each on some level.

This is a great read, and classic Hornby. He's a master of fiction -- truly good, truly funny fiction -- and with this novel, he will not leave you disappointed.

I thought this would be a book about hope and living life to its fullest. Obviously the author has never been suicidal since a "topper" would not find validation in life the way these characters do. I read the whole book, expecting someone to die. The character, Jess, is a teenaged cliche and I ended up skipping over her chapters. Basically, these characters have no reason to live, not in the beginning nor the end of the story. Their circumstances aren't altered in any way. They have no joy. Friends. Family. Hope. Its a book about nothing but setting appointments an deadlines.

This book was an interesting subject since it took such a dark subject and made it amusing. It's true to life in many parts, and makes a lot of good points about life in general. This book is more about life and screweing it up than suicide, and is quite enjoyable.