Hornby displays his knack of turning a superficially slight tale into something more meaningful. About a Boy is actually about two boys: Will Freeman, 36 years old going on 18, leads a hedonistic lifestyle, funded by a Christmas hit written by his father in the 1930s; and Marcus is a confused 12-year-old, brought to London by his depressed bohemian mother. The two find each other when the childless Will, testing out a new way of meeting women, joins SPAT, a single parents group. Marcus has a lot of problems - a suicidal mother, an uncool haircut, and he doesn't know who Kurt Cobain is. Because he's different, he is bullied at school and Will, who understands these things, is able to help the mature but introverted Marcus come out of himself and learn to enjoy being a boy. Hornby writes movingly about the major and minor problems of living a decent, humane life in 1990s Britain.