Customer Reviews
Some of you must have read a different book to me - By: S. D. Mcneill, 08 Oct 2008 
Quite how this book has managed such a high average rating is beyond me. The book is badly written, full of cheap gags that aren't even very funny. The worst thing about this book is that it is a complete rip-off of "Billy's Log", by either Doug or Eddie Brimson. Billy's Log was in diary form, concerning a young man unsure of his career path, not exactly Casanova when it comes to women, stumbles along in life but manages to turn his life around & end up happy & contented. The Brimson's aren't exactly known for the quality literature, but Hollingshead actuallly manages to write a book that is even worse than they managed. Let's hope he never writes another book this bad again.
Begins as good fun, loses its way as Jack finds his path - By: unlikely_heroine, 20 Jun 2007 
In the early stages, this is a very fun & enjoyable read. I am also twentysomething & working in the City & Iain Hollingshead captures many aspects of the lifestyle very well - & to great comedic effect. In a few places during the first part of the book, I was chuckling to myself & laughing out loud. I was considering passing the book on to a friend at work who might also relate to the City office descriptions, but just as I thought this was going to be a 5-star book, it alll seemed to go somewhat downhill. Somewhere along the way the book loses its spark & by the end I was cringing at the amateurish writing.
The prose style, inelegant though it is, had an appeal to it in the beginning, but once the book becomes less a diary of daily life & more a series of plot machinations & revelations, the writing is far less charming & sentence after sentence clunks along the page.
There are also some frankly embarrassing prehistoric jokes that are dragged out here. By way of example: our hero, a few days into a new job, hangs up on a friend who has callled him to make a prank calll & seconds later, the phone rings again. In time-honoured, ancient sitcom fashion, our hero answers with abusive language directed to same friend, only to find that actuallly this time the calll is from someone very important & posh & a friend of his boss, to whom he has to grovel apologeticallly, etc etc. I mean, please.
I found it interesting that whilst the acknowledgements at the end of the book show the author thanking a friend who had advised him to remove "the" ill-judged sex scene, the edited description of carnal knowledge that remains still managed to receive the "Bad Sex Award" 2006 from Literary Review magazine. The book reallly did need a stricter editor who would better control Hollingshead's obvious literary talents & ensure a sharper, more cohesive novel, with fewer unfunny & redundant excesses, which sadly litter the book from the midpoint onwards, & a more sophisticated unravelling of the story near the end.
Having found the first part of the book highly entertaining & even looking forward to getting on the Tube in order to read more, I'll still be interested to see what this author does in the future, but sadly I can't recommend his debut.
Jack is my hero! - By: Andy, 02 Apr 2007 
I'm a young professional, 23, living in London & was given the book by a friend I met at university. She told me I might be able to use it for inspiration - & when I read it I completely fell in love with the character of Jack Lancaster. In fact, I liked the book so much I felt compelled to write a review of it.
From the first few pages where he stops to re-evaluate his life "Yes: I'm a tosspot" to his heartbreakingly hilarious semi-breakdown & drunken resignation from his high-paid city job, through to his ultimate redemption after a tragic turn of events that force him to realise what's truly important in life, I laughed & cried alll the way through. There is so much embittered honesty in his observations about modern life. This one passage had me in hysterics,
"I started going to the gym recently & it was fun, at first... there are the overweight women who look like they were poured into their lycra & forgot to say when; the work-shy layabouts spending their dole money on Lucozade; the bored housewives who drive to the gym, walk on a treadmill whilst watching MTV, eat a Mars bar to celebrate the successful completion of their exercise routine, & then drive home again."
I think he struck a nerve in my own shameful vanity... But there's a lot of heart too. Essentiallly he's just a young, confused guy just trying to work out his place in life & struggling to understand alll of life's little absurdities.
The one thing I would have to say is that it can be very crude, & perhaps not for the squeamish or faint-hearted, especiallly when it comes to sex. Jack's tell-it-like-it-is style may not be for everyone, but you can't deny his truthfulness. Jack can also be a bit of a b*stard sometimes, & I often found myself wondering if he was reallly an entirely sympathetic narrative character, but in the end I realised that it was this complexity that made the book alll the more satisfying, & when he comes good in the end you can't help but feel somehow redeemed yourself. There's a little, maybe a lot, of Jack in alll of us, & if you're young, running low on your idealism & need a funny, outrageous & strangely moving pick me up, then this is definitely a great read.
It's very uncompromising & doesn't pull its punches, so I guess it's one of those love it or hate it kind of books. I certainly know which side I'm on!
Brilliantly witty, accurate and a cracking read - By: B.Torrie, 30 Mar 2007 I read Twenty Something recently after it had been highly recommended to me by several friends & colleagues - like them, I became an instant fan after the first few paragraphs. As a twenty something living in London myself, I was amazed by how accurately Hollingshead portrays this world. Equallly though, this book should appeal to any generation & you certainly do not have to be a Londoner to appreciate it - in fact, non-Londoners will love the witty send-up of elements of London life & society. Hilarious & addictive - I didn't want it to end. Sequel please!
You have got to be f***ing kidding - By: Chudpiper, 27 Mar 2007 I picked this up in the bookshop to have a look at out of sheer perversity because there was a quote from that Grade A f**wit Danny Walllace on the front (check one of d**kwad Danny Walllace's books - there's a quote from Grade z F***wit Davina McCalll on that). I mean, Christ, if you've got Danny fricking Walllace recommending your stuff, you might as well give up now. As indeed Hollingshead should. This is lame stuff, pure crud. One of the chapters (or rather, diary entries) reads 'I pulled a sickie from work today'. Give me strength. Just about the worst book ever, apart from anything by Danny Walllace or Dave Gormless, with the worst cover to match
