Taking Off

by Matt Howard

Ash Lynch has worked (if you can call it that) in the magazine industry for what feels like forever. But he's at a very loose end - his ambition to climb the greasy pole of career success long since expired, his personal life at a bit of a standstill.

At yet another of his work colleagues' birthday drinks, Ash eyes Zoe and it's infatuation at first sight. But he's out of practice with the opposite sex, and if he's receiving any positive signals from Zoe he's oblivious to them. So it's not entirely surprising when his more enterprising work-mate, Evan, lands Zoe before the week's out.

Luckily, Ash finds some sort of solace hanging out with Miller, an ex-roadie taking a break from his trip around Australia to work at the local (birthday drinks) bar. Ash and Miller become great mates, talking heaps, occasionally getting trashed and generally having a good time together.

A weird turn of events finds Miller and Ash taking off overseas, first stop Amsterdam (a destination not entirely surprising). Their often hilarious journey across Europe has more than a dash of sex, drugs and rock and roll, taking them to new places in every sense of the word ...

But will Cali, the girl Ash met in Amsterdam and hasn't been able to get out of his mind since, be the one for him? And is he brave enough to visit her on her Greek island to find out? Or is his sojourn going to dead-end back in Australia with yet another potential relationship biting the dust?

A cross between Nick Earl's Zigzag Street and Andrew McGahan's Praise , this is the hilarious, but also poignant, account of two blokes' adventures and friendship as they journey into the unknown.

Genres: Fiction

341 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Matt Howard is the author of 4 novels, each set in a different city. They are Street Furniture, Taking Off, Ethan Grout, and The Time is Now, Monica Sparrow.

Reviews

[Andrew Buchanan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely not a challenging read, but very enjoyable well written and relatable for the average person

[Sebastian]

Nor an especially good book. The writing style is compared to Nick Hornby but lacks Hornsby's level of turn of phrase, insights and wit.

Plot isn't especially interesting either, but whatever.

[Toby · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the best written book, very easy read and not the most exciting characters. However it is heartwarming, and has a nice ending.

[Steve lovell · Rating 3 out of 5]

To me the doyens of lad-lit are Nick Hornby, Tony Parsons and their Aussie wingman, Nick Earls. This, by Matt Howard, was not in the same league, but nevertheless was an enjoyable summer read - non-taxing and flowing.
Is it perverse of this reader to be put off a book by a single incident, minor in the scheme of the storyline? This was the supposed crash of a Lufthansa airliner at Perth Airport that cut short the lives of the main character's parents. Why did they have to die in such an imaginary momentous event? Why not just a simple car accident? Am I being overly protective of Australia's fine air safety record despite Qantas' best efforts to be our first serious statistic? That being said, why Lufthansa - why indeed not Qantas?????????? Apart from this irritant (to me) and a few grating f-bombs, it is hard to be too critical of this pleasant read - a read without any pretensions of great literary merit. The book is populated by likeable people with only minor blemishes, and the bro and romances (actual and hoped for)are engaging enough to induce further reading until outcomes are attained.
Other readers could do worse than this offering to break up the demands of weightier tomes, and for that purpose I intend to check out Matt Howard's other offerings, including his brand new release.

[Fiore · Rating 2 out of 5]

A relaxed read, not much tension in what happened. Even the issues dealt with felt like it all went too smoothly. But perhaps this was meant as a book that would leave you feeling positive about changes in life. I do have to admit I liked a good deal of the desciptive sentences used in this.

[Monica · Rating 5 out of 5]

OMG! I loved this book!! It was laugh out loud, inspiring and beautifully written. Cannot recommend this enough.

peace.

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good fun travel book, with a distinctly Australian flavour