Book title: One Day
Author: David Alan Nicholls
Genre: Romance
Print length: 448 pages
Copyright: 2009
Publisher: Vintage
Published: 6-15-10
ISBN: 0307946711
Description:
This is a story about two college graduates who became best friends and the course their lives took over a twenty year span. Each year on July 15th from the year 1988-2007, we get to see what happens in the lives of Dexter Mayhew and Emma Morley. Emma has a major crush on Dexter but he just wants to be friends. Over the years they date other people. After career failures and successes, failed relationships, Dexter's marriage and divorce, Dexter and Emma decide to date each other. They get engaged, and eventually marry. Everything is going fine at first but then tragedy hits. Now despair sets in, guilt takes over, leaving Dexter a changed man far from his younger days of drugging, drinking, and women.
Table of contents:
Other Books by the Author
Title Page
Dedication
Part One - 1988-1992: Early Twenties
Chapter One - The Future
Chapter Two - Back to Life
Chapter Three - The Taj Mahal
Chapter Four - Opportunities
Chapter Five - The Rules of Engagement
Part Two - 1993-1995: Late Twenties
Chapter Six - Chemical
Chapter Seven - G.S.O.H.
Chapter Eight - Showbusiness
Chapter Nine - Cigarettes and Alcohol
Part Three - 1996-2001: Early Thirties
Chapter Ten - Carpe Diem
Chapter Eleven - Two Meetings
Chapter Twelve - Saying 'I Love You'
Chapter Thirteen - The Third Wave
Chapter Fourteen - Fathering
Chapter Fifteen - Jean Seberg
Part Four - 2002-2005: Late Thirties
Chapter Sixteen - Monday Morning
Chapter Seventeen - bigdayspeech.doc
Chapter Eighteen - The Middle
Part Five - Three Anniversaries
Chapter Nineteen - The Morning After
Chapter Twenty - The First Anniversary: A Celebration
Chapter Twenty-One - Arthur's Seat
Chapter Twenty-Two - The Second Anniversary: Unpacking
Chapter Twenty-Three - The Third Anniversary: Last Summer
Reader's Guide
About the Author
Acknowledgements
Copyright
Author Bio:
David Alan Nicholls was born on November 30, 1966. He is an English author and screenwriter. These were the schools he attended:
- Barton Peveril College
- Bristol University
- American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York
He obtained a BA in Drama and English. In addition, he also studied Theatre Studies along with Physics and Biology. In his 20s he worked as a professional actor and went by the stage name David Holdaway.
My review:
First of all this is not the story of "When Harry Met Sally." In "When Harry Met Sally" you get the sense that he really did love her by the end of the film. I did not feel that way when I read the book "One Day." I love the way the book was written but hated the story. The author does an excellent job of describing locations and character dimensions. If you are looking for a happily-ever-after, this is not it. Anyone can see that Emma, from the very beginning of the story, is the perfect girl for Dexter. It took Dexter twenty years to see it. I'm sorry, I don't think it takes twenty years to know if you are in love. I think six months is enough time to know if you love someone.
Their love was not romantic or passionate. Even after they were married you can see that in the marriage. She always had to initiate everything to get Dexter to start up a little cafe, go see a house to buy, and even try to have a baby together. Yes, and she had to initiate sex. She was always questioning if he loved her. His TV career failed. His wife had an affair with his best friend and he ends up divorced. He is in despair and becomes suicidal. Then he asks Emma how was her career going. Emma's career was soaring. She was in a position to help Dexter get back on his feet and she did eventually help him become a success again. It is at this very point in his life that he decides to give Emma a try at a relationship as his girlfriend. Dexter was a real butt-hole towards Emma for most of the twenty years. I was angry by the end of the book. Emma got him but she never did get the love she wanted.
If there is no spark at the beginning, there will be none at the end. That's what I came away with in this story. If she has to initiate anything, that should be enough for her to know that it's not in the cards. When a guy is in love he will be chasing her, not the other way around.
Rights to the film were sold to Warner Bros. The film bares the same name "One Day." The author of the book also wrote the screenplay for the film.
