Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
 Dissappointing!! September 27, 2008
I almost set it down after 200 pages. But I decided NO... it will get better. It didnt, just rumbled on at the same old speed. Davina McCall describes Danny Wallace to be a genius- O dear, please.
NOT FUNNY!
 A joy from start to finish September 17, 2008
As you would expect from Danny Wallace there is some genuine hysteria here - reminiscing about an unfortunate man whose name was a dreadful variation on `Hitler', impersonating a `furry', making sense of German rap lyrics and general Michael Jackson memories from childhood all had me sniggering, both as I was reading and at various points afterwards.
What I wasn't expecting though was quite how poignant it was at times. There's a few really touching moments, both in terms of what the author finds out during in his `project' and how it's handled in the book. It isn't just a series of funny incidents - it's real, it doesn't always go smoothly, and it asks some pretty deep questions about lost friendships, life and growing up.
Overall though it's just such a brilliantly positive story - a joy in fact.
At must if you are around the 30 mark! September 3, 2008
You will laugh out loud and you will warm to this writer from the start! It brings back memories of your childhood and all the sweets, TV shows and characters that go with it. I haven't read his other books but I will be buying them right away, and recommending this one to all my friends. Danny Wallace may seem a bit odd when you see him on the telly but this book gets you to the heart of a guy who is naturally very funny.
 Essential reading for anyone approaching the Big Three O... August 25, 2008
Danny Wallace, writer and TV presenter, is heading towards his 30th birthday and having an identity crisis. His friends all seem to be moving on and as he looks around his grown up house at his grown up display cushions, he starts to panic. One day he opens an old box of paraphernalia from his childhood and finds an address book. Realising he's lost touch with all his old childhood friends; he sets about tracking them down...
Friends Like These is a warm, funny, honest, heartwarming book about rekindling lost friendships and making the transition from being a twenty-something to a thirty-something. As someone who is only a year off doing just that, I could really relate to Danny's feelings. We all wonder what old friends are doing, and we now have the likes of Facebook and MySpace to keep us connected...but Wallace takes it a step further. He actually meets up with them all in person. Now he doesn't have your average group of friends to start with. He's godfather to Jamie Oliver's daughters; one of his best friends is the bass guitarist in a rock band and his girlfriend works on Big Brother! However, he came from ordinary beginnings and wonders if he will find that all his old friends have ended up working in IT! He wonders if they too are nervous about the impending milestone, and would like to make the transition easier by sharing it with friends who have had an impact on his life.
Friends Like These is very easy to read. Danny Wallace started his career as a journalist, so the style is punchy and witty, with nice bite-size sub-chapters. His observations on childhood, on growing up and on friendships really made me smile and the ending is quite poignant. This is one of those books that will make you sigh with satisfaction when you've turned the last page, and maybe feel a little warm inside too!
Ever wondered "whatever happened to..?". Then read this book. August 3, 2008
0 out of 2 found this review helpful
Are you a man around the age of 29? Are you having a strange urge to find out what your old friends from school are up to, and are you worried that it's the beginning of turning 30-something? Well, me too. But now there's no need- you can just read this book instead. Danny Wallace has already done all that, in 2007, and his story is much better than yours, or mine.
Danny goes in search of friends, mainly from primary school, with a very loose premise of 'updating his address book', an address book he's found in a box of old school stuff his Mum kept, though this is just an excuse for a trip down memory lane.
He ends up in L.A., in Japan, in Germany, and around many places in the UK doing all the tracking-down and catching-up that you and I would be doing if we had the time and money.
As well as being laugh-out-loud funny in parts it really is very, very touching, and not nearly as superficial as the premise might have you believe- the book deals with the death of old friends, and explores the need to try and re-contact people and why many people feel that need but some people don't.
This book really will make you want to get onto Facebook or Friends Reunited and track down all your old buddies. I did and I have.
My favourite book of the year so far.
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