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The Understudy
From the bestselling author of STARTER FOR TEN, ONE DAY and US, THE UNDERSTUDY is a scintillating comedy of ambition, celebrity, jealousy and love.
For Josh Harper, being in show-business means everything he ever wanted - money, fame, a beautiful wife, and a lead role on the London stage. For Stephen C. McQueen, it means a disastrous career playing passers-by and dead people.
For Josh Harper, being in show-business means everything he ever wanted - money, fame, a beautiful wife, and a lead role on the London stage. For Stephen C. McQueen, it means a disastrous career playing passers-by and dead people.
11 pages, Audible Audio
First published January 1, 2005
411 people are currently reading
5867 people want to read
About the author
David Nicholls
33 books5,505 followersDavid Nicholls is a British author, screenwriter, and actor. A student of Toynbee Comprehensive school and Barton Peveril Sixth Form College, he Graduated from the University of Bristol having studied English Literature and Drama.
After graduation, he won a scholarship to study at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York, before returning to London in 1991 and finally earning an Equity card. He worked sporadically as an actor for the next eight years, eventually earning a three year stint at the Royal National Theatre, followed by a job at BBC Radio Drama as a script reader/researcher. This led to script-editing jobs at London Weekend Television and Tiger Aspect Productions.
During this period, he began to write, developing an adaptation of Sam Shepard’s stage-play Simpatico with the director Matthew Warchus, an old friend from University. He also wrote his first original script, a situation comedy about frustrated waiters, Waiting, which was later optioned by the BBC.
Simpatico was turned into a feature film in 1999, and this allowed David to start writing full-time. He has been twice nominated for BAFTA awards and his first novel, Starter for Ten was featured on the first Richard and Judy Book Club.
After graduation, he won a scholarship to study at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York, before returning to London in 1991 and finally earning an Equity card. He worked sporadically as an actor for the next eight years, eventually earning a three year stint at the Royal National Theatre, followed by a job at BBC Radio Drama as a script reader/researcher. This led to script-editing jobs at London Weekend Television and Tiger Aspect Productions.
During this period, he began to write, developing an adaptation of Sam Shepard’s stage-play Simpatico with the director Matthew Warchus, an old friend from University. He also wrote his first original script, a situation comedy about frustrated waiters, Waiting, which was later optioned by the BBC.
Simpatico was turned into a feature film in 1999, and this allowed David to start writing full-time. He has been twice nominated for BAFTA awards and his first novel, Starter for Ten was featured on the first Richard and Judy Book Club.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 891 reviews
June 22, 2021
David Nicholls is a fantastic writer. In fact, he's one of my favourite authors and, having finished this book, I've now read every one of his novels. Having achieved this, I feel that I'm in a position to ask; why do his books have such a low average rating? His writing is clever and profound and moving and funny - frequently LOL funny - and, while not all his works have entirely hit the mark, they've all at least displayed moments of brilliance. This book - with its average 3.33 - is the most obvious example of the author's under-appreciation by the reading public. Really, I think it's time to give Nicolls' books another chance, to forget the prejudice and enjoy them for the brilliant pieces of escapism they are.
January 9, 2017
After reading Nicholls' first book "Starter for Ten", this was disappointing.
There are some funny lines in "The Understudy" but it doesn't have the charm of his debut novel.
Unfortunately, the protagonist Stephen McQueen is a pretty pathetic character. He is understudy to the lead in a major West End play, but is not happy with that. As most actors are terminally unemployed, he isn't doing too bad. However, having chosen one of the most difficult professions to make it big in, he doesn't understand why he isn't a big star.
Well, boo hoo to you, Stephen McQueen. Life doesn't give you anything, you have to earn it.
The whole Steve McQueen thing is a pain as well. If the author is going to give his protagonist a famous name, then surely there needs to be some reason for it in the book. IE: A member of the McQueen family spots him and offers him a film role, or he jumps a motorcycle over a barbed wire fence, or something.
Then, poor Stephen finds out that the lead actor in the play is adulterous, egotistical, shallow and vain. Would you believe that a famous actor would take advantage of his position to abuse people, take drugs, shag women and generally be a prat?
Yes, and so would I.
I googled the author, halfway through reading this book, and it turns out he is a failed actor. Suddenly, it all becomes clear. Being a bestselling writer isn't enough, you still need to be cast as the star in your own movies.
I won't go on any more.
There are some funny lines in "The Understudy" but it doesn't have the charm of his debut novel.
Unfortunately, the protagonist Stephen McQueen is a pretty pathetic character. He is understudy to the lead in a major West End play, but is not happy with that. As most actors are terminally unemployed, he isn't doing too bad. However, having chosen one of the most difficult professions to make it big in, he doesn't understand why he isn't a big star.
Well, boo hoo to you, Stephen McQueen. Life doesn't give you anything, you have to earn it.
The whole Steve McQueen thing is a pain as well. If the author is going to give his protagonist a famous name, then surely there needs to be some reason for it in the book. IE: A member of the McQueen family spots him and offers him a film role, or he jumps a motorcycle over a barbed wire fence, or something.
Then, poor Stephen finds out that the lead actor in the play is adulterous, egotistical, shallow and vain. Would you believe that a famous actor would take advantage of his position to abuse people, take drugs, shag women and generally be a prat?
Yes, and so would I.
I googled the author, halfway through reading this book, and it turns out he is a failed actor. Suddenly, it all becomes clear. Being a bestselling writer isn't enough, you still need to be cast as the star in your own movies.
I won't go on any more.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 14, 2023
It took me a while to get into this book and I almost gave up but 100 pages in and it got interesting.
I didn't laugh out loud and didn't find it particularly funny, but the storyline was pretty good.
His other books are better in my opinion.
Three stars.
I didn't laugh out loud and didn't find it particularly funny, but the storyline was pretty good.
His other books are better in my opinion.
Three stars.
May 27, 2011
My wife ordered this, as she enjoyed One Day and Starter for Ten, which I've read, and they were ok.
Perhaps I've got Nicholls fatigue, or it's a backlash to the mainly 4 and 5 stars I've been giving recently, but I found this a chore to read.
The characters are all unsympathetic and the story weak. It's easy to read but instantly forgettable.
The story seemed to run out of steam and even the humour began to pall way before the end of the book.
The ending was meant to be a tenterhook, but I found myself not really caring what happened and that can't be a good thing.
I guess I'm not the target audience of the book, judging by the prefaced plaudits from differing women's magazines, but I can honestly say the book is disappointing.
There's nothing to set this book apart, and the author's approach doesn't put a new spin on the underlying themes. Several of the peripheral characters just felt like cardboard cut outs, they were so two dimensional.
Perhaps I've got Nicholls fatigue, or it's a backlash to the mainly 4 and 5 stars I've been giving recently, but I found this a chore to read.
The characters are all unsympathetic and the story weak. It's easy to read but instantly forgettable.
The story seemed to run out of steam and even the humour began to pall way before the end of the book.
The ending was meant to be a tenterhook, but I found myself not really caring what happened and that can't be a good thing.
I guess I'm not the target audience of the book, judging by the prefaced plaudits from differing women's magazines, but I can honestly say the book is disappointing.
There's nothing to set this book apart, and the author's approach doesn't put a new spin on the underlying themes. Several of the peripheral characters just felt like cardboard cut outs, they were so two dimensional.
June 21, 2025
“A romantic comedy is a story where one person’s unhappy, and then they meet and fall in love with another unhappy person, but they can’t get together and happy because of the obstacles – “
Stephen C. McQueen, no relation, is one unhappy squirrel. He’s an actor who is still waiting for his big break on the London scene after too many years of knocking at the door of success. Divorced, estranged from his seven year old daughter Sophie, living in a tiny cupboard in an insalubrious part of the city, Stephen makes ends meet by dressing in animal costume for a children’s show and as an understudy for one of the most successful new revues on Shaftesbury Avenue:
Far away in the distance, he heard the pop of a fork piercing the film seal on the top of a ready-meal.
Nora Harper, an American expat in London, is bored out of her skin and starting to question her hasty marriage to a dashing young actor who swept her of her tired feet in the New York restaurant where she was waitressing until her stalled musical career took off. Nora is unhappy and starting to drink heavily in her luxury industrial loft where she is practically a prisoner of her successful husband.
The Twelfth Sexiest Man in the World is the main obstacle. Josh Harper has traded in his smouldering good looks for a BAFTA acting prize, tons of money and a budding career as an action hero in American blockbuster movies. He is currently the talk of the town in a play about Lord Byron and he is mostly happy because the person he loves best in the world is himself.
Stephen is Josh’s understudy in the Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know play and is in turn mad at the lead actor because Josh never misses a show, despite his dissolute lifestyle of sex, drugs and raising hell. After a very close call that had Stephen don the costume for the lead player only to be stymied by Josh Harper’s very late arrival, the star proposes to make up for his understudy’s disappointment by inviting Stephen to a private party in his renovated loft.
Stephen feels like he is finally close to grab his dream and run with it, get noticed by the right crowd, make useful contacts with the big wigs, show what he is capable of ...
“Well – it would be a break, wouldn’t it? A change, an opportunity to show what I can do, the start of something.”
“And this lucky break, what if it never, ever comes? What if you wait and wait and wait, and nothing happens, and you end up with nothing?”
His come-down is just as abrupt as his sudden burst of hope: Josh didn’t invite him as a guest but as paid help for the party. Stephen ends up incautiously sampling from the drinks he serves until he gets stinking drunk. The other drunk member of the party is Nora, Josh Harper’s wife. The two unhappy persons end up on the rooftop where they bicker about their common friend.
Things get a little complicated from here on, but I think most readers who are also movie fans are familiar with the story.
Stephen had seen, on average, five movies a week since he was five years old. This was on top of a certain number of plays, and too much television drama, but it was the films that had stayed with him.
Alison, Stephen’s former wife, blames this interest in movies and fictional characters for his refusal to accept the reality that he doesn’t have what it takes to make in in the theatrical world, and she insists that he gets a regular job if he wants to keep visiting rights with Sophie. Stephen tries to counter-argue that the secret of happiness in life is to work at what you’re passionate about and never to give up on your dreams. Alison, who remarried a successful business man and has her own consulting firm for personal development, begs to differ.
I look at you, and I don’t see a man who’s found the secret of happiness. Someone scared, and frustrated, and bitter, yes, but not happy. And it’s because you’re not living in the real world, Stephen. If you were younger, it would be fine, but you can’t just wait around hoping for some miracle, for your luck to change. It doesn’t work like this, only in films.
Stephen tangles up his life even further by accepting the friendship offer from Josh Harper, who might have some secret agenda of his own, and by falling in love with the wounded but very intelligent and witty Nora. Josh offers a bribe in the form of a promise to call in sick at the theatre and to let Stephen replace him for three shows. In exchange, Josh wants Stephen to follow the ‘bro-code’ and cover up for him when he has special assignations.
“I swear, ninety, no ninety-five percent of the time, I am one hundred percent faithful. But every now and then, that voice in my head, that Be-Good Voice? Well, it sort of ... goes ... very ... quiet. The fact is, Steve, I’ve discovered that it’s incredibly hard to become even a tiny bit famous without turning into a bit of a wanker. Another beer, yeah?”
So Stephen has to chose between his loyalty to Nora and his only chance to play the lead character in a big play. It’s a tricky situation that doesn’t get any easier as his sudden closeness to Josh reveals how much of a tosser the twelfth sexiest man in the world really is, and his closeness with Nora only serves to underline his own moral turpitude. The most serious problem of all is that his wife Alison and his new acting coach Josh might be accurate in their assessment of Stephen’s true talent as an actor:
“I’m just not getting ‘mad, bad and dangerous,’ mate. I’m getting sensible, kind and careful, and who the f_ck wants to see a play called Sensible, Kind and Careful?”
>>><<<>>><<<
This is David Nicholls’ second published novel, and it didn’t enjoy the same success as his other stories and scripts. I think the main turn off was the wet towel personality of the main character, the not Steve McQueen guy. And I saw many reader comments that the comedy was missing, that the novel was to downbeat.
I feel like I have read a different book, because I thought the narration was often laugh out loud funny, the screwball moments well handled and the budding romance between two wounded people believable. But then I’m one movie geek who likes Brit rom-coms better than the Hollywood recent offers.
I think I liked most of all the commentary on the difficulties faced by an aspiring actor with more enthusiasm than talent and the insights into what goes on behind the scenes in a major production.
I got confirmation of why this is important in the novel when I tried to read some more about the start of David Nicholls’ career. Like Stephen, he tried for years to make it as an actor in London, only to finally throw in the towel and strike in a different direction:
He struggled as an actor and has said "I’d committed myself to a profession for which I lacked not just talent and charisma, but the most basic of skills. Moving, standing still – things like that.”
I think the author put more than a little of his own bitter experiences in his fictional lead character.
The other aspect of the novel that enchanted me was the dichotomy between screen tropes and real life, in particular as it regards romantic comedies. The genre is of course famous for being formulaic and lacking in fresh ideas, relying heavily on the audience familiarity with the medium. Stephen is acutely aware of what is expected of him as the lead in a rom-com script:
He would have to make a big speech.
In a movie, of course, this speech would have come entirely naturally, fluent, unforced, unpremeditated. Passionate, eloquent, clinically effective declarations of love were as commonplace in movies as “You’re off the case, it’s gotten too personal” or “Don’t you go die on me, you hear?” or “Whatever it is, it’s not human,”
Of course, when he tries to apply the theory to the practicalities of winning over the heart of Nora, things will go spectacularly off track. He gets hit back with:
“... it’s not a particularly healthy starting point for a romantic relationship, is it? Mutual despair?”
Which bring me to the third and final plus side of the script: I like it when the outcome is not guaranteed for the romantic leads and they could drift in any direction until the final page of the book. [Oh, I almost forgot: little Sophie is a clever and charming scene stealer every time she appears]
And I think the success of next books written by Nicholls warrant a reconsideration of this mostly ignored early effort.
April 1, 2024
Not bad at all, the characters have enough deepness, there are quite a lot of interesting things said, but this book looks like the ones which could be better with a minimum of effort.
Until then, you're not sure if you're dealing with a comedy or a tragedy. Maybe both...
Until then, you're not sure if you're dealing with a comedy or a tragedy. Maybe both...
March 7, 2017
“In all the most intense and intimate experiences of his life, he couldn’t help comparing them with how actors had simulated similar moments: his ecstasy at the birth of his daughter, say, or his grief at the news of the premature death of a schoolfriend, yelping for joy when Alison agreed to marry him, or the smile he’d worn on his wedding day. That’s not to say any of his responses were any less sincere. It was just that, consciously or otherwise, he was always comparing his behaviour with how he had seen actors respond, hoping that it might somehow match up. Life seemed to be at its best, its truest and most intense when it resembled life as simulated on screen: full of jump cuts and slow motion, snappy exit lines and gentle fades to black”
The Understudy is the second novel by British author, screen writer and actor, David Nicholls. Stephen C. McQueen is an actor. Not a famous one, unless you count his performance as Sammy the Squirrel. Stephen has two CVs: the one he shows people; and the one in his head, set in that parallel universe where he gets his big break and everything works out. When he’s trying to impress his ex-wife and his daughter Sophie, he’s inclined to bend the truth a bit…..
At the moment, he’s the understudy for Josh Harper, playing Lord Byron in Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know. Josh, the 12th sexiest Man in the World, has a stellar career and a beautiful wife, Nora, although he blames his bad behaviour on insecurity, addiction to sex and low self-esteem. Stephen’s only chance for a Big Break is if something happens to Josh.
When Stephen meets Nora Harper, something clicks. They get on, and she makes him “feel smarter and funnier, more complicated, less shabby and mundane than he suspected he really was. She made him feel well cast, and in a central role too, rather than the understudy of some phantom other self”. Yep, he’s fallen in love.
Nicholls gives readers a wholly believable plot that will have them laughing out loud, wincing and shaking their heads at the antics of his protagonist. His characters are very humanly flawed and the behaviour of many is less than admirable. As Stephen wavers between the chance of his Big Break and the chance of love, he will strike the reader as staggeringly naïve, disappointingly selfish, heartbreakingly earnest and unbelievably stupid. And yet, we want him to succeed.
This one is a slow burn: Nicholls takes his time setting his scene and fleshing out his characters, and patience is rewarded with some beautiful descriptive prose, some excellent sitcom and a heartwarming ending. Recommended.
The Understudy is the second novel by British author, screen writer and actor, David Nicholls. Stephen C. McQueen is an actor. Not a famous one, unless you count his performance as Sammy the Squirrel. Stephen has two CVs: the one he shows people; and the one in his head, set in that parallel universe where he gets his big break and everything works out. When he’s trying to impress his ex-wife and his daughter Sophie, he’s inclined to bend the truth a bit…..
At the moment, he’s the understudy for Josh Harper, playing Lord Byron in Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know. Josh, the 12th sexiest Man in the World, has a stellar career and a beautiful wife, Nora, although he blames his bad behaviour on insecurity, addiction to sex and low self-esteem. Stephen’s only chance for a Big Break is if something happens to Josh.
When Stephen meets Nora Harper, something clicks. They get on, and she makes him “feel smarter and funnier, more complicated, less shabby and mundane than he suspected he really was. She made him feel well cast, and in a central role too, rather than the understudy of some phantom other self”. Yep, he’s fallen in love.
Nicholls gives readers a wholly believable plot that will have them laughing out loud, wincing and shaking their heads at the antics of his protagonist. His characters are very humanly flawed and the behaviour of many is less than admirable. As Stephen wavers between the chance of his Big Break and the chance of love, he will strike the reader as staggeringly naïve, disappointingly selfish, heartbreakingly earnest and unbelievably stupid. And yet, we want him to succeed.
This one is a slow burn: Nicholls takes his time setting his scene and fleshing out his characters, and patience is rewarded with some beautiful descriptive prose, some excellent sitcom and a heartwarming ending. Recommended.
November 21, 2021
Good, although I may have enjoyed it even more if I'd read a print copy. The narrator for the audiobook was mostly very good, but he performed Nora in a way that sounded like she had a speech impediment and it was really distracting for me.
London actor Stephen C McQueen - not the famous one, but the other one - has found himself in a bit of a rut in his early 30s. Struggling to get decent acting jobs, reluctantly divorced and living in a small and tired studio apartment in a dubious part of the city, he is really just going through the motions of life. When we meet him, his main gig is understudy to Josh Harper, one of the hottest young actors on the planet, in a play about Lord Byron. Theoretically it could lead to a big break for Stephen, except Josh never not turns up for a show. When a misunderstanding about Josh's birthday party results in Stephen meeting Josh's wife Nora for the first time, Stephen's life begins to look a little brighter. An American non-actor, Nora is virtually friendless in London, so when she and Stephen hit it off, she quickly draws him into her orbit.
This book is pretty classic David Nicholls, although it's only his second published novel. You can absolutely imagine it on the big screen. The characters are nuanced and they take the reader across the entire emotional spectrum. I gather from the author interview included at the end of the audiobook edition, that it draws quite heavily on many of Nicholls' own experiences. In the end though, I think I - like Nora - wasn't as interested in the theatrical life as Nicholls and his other characters were.
London actor Stephen C McQueen - not the famous one, but the other one - has found himself in a bit of a rut in his early 30s. Struggling to get decent acting jobs, reluctantly divorced and living in a small and tired studio apartment in a dubious part of the city, he is really just going through the motions of life. When we meet him, his main gig is understudy to Josh Harper, one of the hottest young actors on the planet, in a play about Lord Byron. Theoretically it could lead to a big break for Stephen, except Josh never not turns up for a show. When a misunderstanding about Josh's birthday party results in Stephen meeting Josh's wife Nora for the first time, Stephen's life begins to look a little brighter. An American non-actor, Nora is virtually friendless in London, so when she and Stephen hit it off, she quickly draws him into her orbit.
This book is pretty classic David Nicholls, although it's only his second published novel. You can absolutely imagine it on the big screen. The characters are nuanced and they take the reader across the entire emotional spectrum. I gather from the author interview included at the end of the audiobook edition, that it draws quite heavily on many of Nicholls' own experiences. In the end though, I think I - like Nora - wasn't as interested in the theatrical life as Nicholls and his other characters were.
February 12, 2012
Sorry, Daily Mail, but The Understudy was not “laugh-out-loud.” Or at least, in my case it wasn’t. But I knew it wouldn’t be. Because Starter For Ten made me, quite literally, laugh out loud like a little mad woman,thus allowing me to believe that David Nicholls’s second book would be a minor disappointment for yours truly. And indeed…
The Understudy is Steve McQueen. Not the famous one, but a British lesser version of him. While Josh Harper, a handsome 29-year-old, has become a superstar adored by all women, Steve struggles to make the ends meet as his acting career goes nowhere. His passion for his job has led him to a divorce and to become a disappointment and/or embarrassment to his seven-year-old daughter Sophie. While Josh is critically acclaimed for his performance as Lord Byron on a stage in London’s West End, Steve gets closer to Nora, Josh’s American wife who’s very cynical and critical of her husband’s superficial lifestyle.
The novel was entertaining – don’t get me wrong. I find in Nicholls’s characters the same quality as in those of Nick Hornby: they are terribly human. They have flaws and seem to often make the wrong decisions, ending up in situations they struggle to get out of. There was something quite pathetic about Steve; you would not expect a 32-year-old to be so immature and stubborn. However, you feel for him: whether you want to tell him he’s being stupid (“not stupid… say silly.”) or sympathize, Steve’s (self-)questioning will assuringly tug at your heartstrings because we’ve all been there at some point.
Nevertheless, The Understudy lacked the “folly” which I enjoyed so much in Starter For Ten. Or perhaps I’m still closer to my Fresher’s naivety and hopes and have not quite reached my complete-cynicism-towards-life phase? (although I’m definitely, slowly getting there!) Also, I was a little annoyed with the depiction of Sophie: while I know very clever children, she sounded more like a moody 16-year-old than a little girl of seven, no matter how intelligent she was supposed to be.
The book remains a good, entertaining read so I would definitely advise it to anyone, but it wasn’t mind-blowing either.
The Understudy is Steve McQueen. Not the famous one, but a British lesser version of him. While Josh Harper, a handsome 29-year-old, has become a superstar adored by all women, Steve struggles to make the ends meet as his acting career goes nowhere. His passion for his job has led him to a divorce and to become a disappointment and/or embarrassment to his seven-year-old daughter Sophie. While Josh is critically acclaimed for his performance as Lord Byron on a stage in London’s West End, Steve gets closer to Nora, Josh’s American wife who’s very cynical and critical of her husband’s superficial lifestyle.
The novel was entertaining – don’t get me wrong. I find in Nicholls’s characters the same quality as in those of Nick Hornby: they are terribly human. They have flaws and seem to often make the wrong decisions, ending up in situations they struggle to get out of. There was something quite pathetic about Steve; you would not expect a 32-year-old to be so immature and stubborn. However, you feel for him: whether you want to tell him he’s being stupid (“not stupid… say silly.”) or sympathize, Steve’s (self-)questioning will assuringly tug at your heartstrings because we’ve all been there at some point.
Nevertheless, The Understudy lacked the “folly” which I enjoyed so much in Starter For Ten. Or perhaps I’m still closer to my Fresher’s naivety and hopes and have not quite reached my complete-cynicism-towards-life phase? (although I’m definitely, slowly getting there!) Also, I was a little annoyed with the depiction of Sophie: while I know very clever children, she sounded more like a moody 16-year-old than a little girl of seven, no matter how intelligent she was supposed to be.
The book remains a good, entertaining read so I would definitely advise it to anyone, but it wasn’t mind-blowing either.
May 12, 2017
This is a good, quick, funny, fun read - especially if you´ve ever struggled to make it as an actor, writer, artist or similiar. Although the story often has to give way to the jokes, the jokes are funny, which saves the day.
July 30, 2021
It was a decent and enjoyable read. Nothing great or a new favorite but I'm interested in starting to read more by David Nicholls. Have read a few so far but been a long time since I picked them up. Like his writing style even though I didn't fully love this
February 24, 2016
Light entertainment with some laugh out loud moments. You’re promised a good time with this book – and you’ll get a very untraditional ending.
Stephen has a dream. Since he was a little boy, his biggest wish and ambition for life has been to become a succesful actor. Instead, he plays the parts of 'dead guy #4', a squirrel in a kids' show, and the understudy for a superstar. On top of that, he's divorced from the woman he loves, he cannot connect with his daughter, and lives in a crappy apartment without a fridge. And then he falls in love with the wife of Josh Harper, the 12th sexiest man on earth, aka a self-centered cheating bastard who offers Stephen his big break for the small price of his soul.
The Understudy was better than I had expected. I had read some lukewarm reviews, but ended up having a good time with some laugh out loud moments. It was perhaps a bit predictable at times, and the protagonist annoyed me a bit - too much of an anti-hero for my taste.
Josh likes to say he put the funk in 'functional'. Personally I think he just put the ass in 'embarrassing', but, hey, what do I know?
But I liked how this novel centered around the stage and old Holywood movies, when the story itself was a brilliant contrast to this type of story telling. We get an anti-hero and an anti-climax. There's no big holywood ending, no great morality, no grand gesture. I liked that. It seemed more real.
My blog: The Bookworm's Closet
January 22, 2017
"It's important to have ambitions. To find the thing you love doing, and do it to the best of your abilities."
So I started reading this book with basically no expectations at all and I'm glad I did so.
The book didn't disappoint me, however it had some flaws.
Firstly - why do people always think that they can get away with lying? Stupid, stupid, stupid. I think that's the reason why I couldn't identify with the main character, Stephen. He lied so many unnecessary times that by the end I just wanted to literally flip a table or something. Of course everyone whom Stephen lied to found out. OF COURSE. I wasn't disappointed with the book, I was disappointed with the main character.
Secondly - being a very famous actor's understudy ISN'T a bad job. At least in the real world. In this book it seems that it is, and I cannot understand that because the author of this book is an actor himself -_-
BUT I really liked Nora, Josh's wife. A woman I admire. And I liked how the author made Josh as a character - a very famous actor who can get literally anything he desires, but doesn't know anything about life and is just oblivious to things that actually matter.
The book wasn't very funny in my opinion, however there were a few moments when I was laughing out loud. Of course, the ending was sort of predictable, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
I'm looking forward to reading David Nicholls first novel, Starter For Ten, because he also wrote screenplay for a film version of it, which stars James McAvoy ;) ;)
But yeah, overall not a great book, but also not the worst one that I've read.
"What's the point of realistic dreams?''
So I started reading this book with basically no expectations at all and I'm glad I did so.
The book didn't disappoint me, however it had some flaws.
Firstly - why do people always think that they can get away with lying? Stupid, stupid, stupid. I think that's the reason why I couldn't identify with the main character, Stephen. He lied so many unnecessary times that by the end I just wanted to literally flip a table or something. Of course everyone whom Stephen lied to found out. OF COURSE. I wasn't disappointed with the book, I was disappointed with the main character.
Secondly - being a very famous actor's understudy ISN'T a bad job. At least in the real world. In this book it seems that it is, and I cannot understand that because the author of this book is an actor himself -_-
BUT I really liked Nora, Josh's wife. A woman I admire. And I liked how the author made Josh as a character - a very famous actor who can get literally anything he desires, but doesn't know anything about life and is just oblivious to things that actually matter.
The book wasn't very funny in my opinion, however there were a few moments when I was laughing out loud. Of course, the ending was sort of predictable, but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
I'm looking forward to reading David Nicholls first novel, Starter For Ten, because he also wrote screenplay for a film version of it, which stars James McAvoy ;) ;)
But yeah, overall not a great book, but also not the worst one that I've read.
"What's the point of realistic dreams?''
August 31, 2022
Didn't really enjoy this. In fact I kind of want to give it 1 star, but I've only given it 2 stars because I know that hating stories about lies spinning out of control is something quite specific to me, so on average I think people would enjoy it more than I did.
Basically I just didn't like any of the characters. The only one I could even vaguely root for was the daughter, but I wouldn't even say I liked her. A lot of the dialogue was just tedious and honestly I didn't really care what happened to the main character at the end.
Basically I just didn't like any of the characters. The only one I could even vaguely root for was the daughter, but I wouldn't even say I liked her. A lot of the dialogue was just tedious and honestly I didn't really care what happened to the main character at the end.
August 7, 2017
David Nicholls has taken an interesting, universally recognisable concept – the feeling of inferiority while pursuing one’s dreams, but in The Understudy it just falls flat, and I blame the characters. I made zero connection with all of them, so any development the characters might have gone through or any epiphany that might have enlightened by the end of the story them just flew right by me.
June 6, 2016
not as funny as the book cover reviewers made it seem
January 25, 2019
Meh.
Nice enough but I'm left unimpressed.
Showbizz is a crazy world, full of immature people. Life would also be a lot less complicated if people didn't do drugs and drink alcohol that much...
Nice enough but I'm left unimpressed.
Showbizz is a crazy world, full of immature people. Life would also be a lot less complicated if people didn't do drugs and drink alcohol that much...
February 20, 2015
Since reading One Day I have been singing David Nicholls’s praises to anyone who will listen. Originally I thought he had only written two books; One Day and Starter For Ten, so it was a nice surprise when I went onto his website and found he had a third (and now a fourth!).
Though all these books are basically relationship comedies, Nicholls sets them in a world so real and rich with authentic detail that I can’t help feeling he is writing these books just for me! A good portion of One Day was set at uni around the same time I was there so references to TV shows, bands and pop culture of that time resonate with me and make me nostalgic, and though I never wanted to be on University Challenge (or even watch it), the college aspects of Starter For Ten rang true with me too. The thing I love most about these novels though is that Nicholls and I seem to share the same sense of humour – he sets up and executes jokes in his books very much like I do.
And now, The Understudy, which takes a swipe at celeb culture and the pathos that comes with playing second fiddle to a egotistical theatre star (did I mention I worked in the theatre for a time after leaving college?) has once again made me laugh and made me remember the backstage bitching that I saw.
Funny, poignant and very easy to read. If you don’t agree, well, it doesn’t matter because these books were written just for me. :-)
Though all these books are basically relationship comedies, Nicholls sets them in a world so real and rich with authentic detail that I can’t help feeling he is writing these books just for me! A good portion of One Day was set at uni around the same time I was there so references to TV shows, bands and pop culture of that time resonate with me and make me nostalgic, and though I never wanted to be on University Challenge (or even watch it), the college aspects of Starter For Ten rang true with me too. The thing I love most about these novels though is that Nicholls and I seem to share the same sense of humour – he sets up and executes jokes in his books very much like I do.
And now, The Understudy, which takes a swipe at celeb culture and the pathos that comes with playing second fiddle to a egotistical theatre star (did I mention I worked in the theatre for a time after leaving college?) has once again made me laugh and made me remember the backstage bitching that I saw.
Funny, poignant and very easy to read. If you don’t agree, well, it doesn’t matter because these books were written just for me. :-)
December 6, 2020
i think this was supposed to be a „very funny“ story about an actor, stephen mcqueen („with ph, not the famous one“ etc), the understudy of josh harper, a major west-end star... the (predictable) miseries of life very close to but on the other side of „success and fame“.... the two opposing characters, josh, the successful one and stephen, the failing one - could have been very interesting to look at, especially since the author trained as an actor before turning to writing, and so must know all about how success on stage works and how and why it doesn‘t. unfortunately, probably in the intention of making it „very funny“, both characters are over-written and cliché, as are the situations between them and so there isn‘t really something worthwhile to be learned from them and their story (and it’s not that funny, either... because too predictable). i would have been very interested in the same story, told in a realistic way, closer to the real life of people facing these challenges. that being said, it‘s a quick read, and it does have some nice dialogues.
July 12, 2020
I wish I could have felt more sympahy for Stephen, but through-out the book he's so delusioned by his future fame, that I just felt bad for him and found him slightly embarrassing. Like when meeting actors from shows he's been on as an extra and thinking they'll recognize him. Like thinking in imaginary headlines about his just-around-the corner success. Like always thinking he's on the path to greatness.
I knew from a few chapters in that this would end in one of two different scenarios. Wasn't surprised by which one was chosen considering how Josh is portraid. I am however a little disappointed that it didn't show how Stephen's life turns out, because after all the investment I'd given this book (which was wilting slightly in places, somehow this book have SO MUCH TEXT!) I would have hoped to get something rousing and inspiring. Instead I get a maybe.
Thirteen year this book has been on my shelf, it's a slight weight of my shoulders.
I knew from a few chapters in that this would end in one of two different scenarios. Wasn't surprised by which one was chosen considering how Josh is portraid. I am however a little disappointed that it didn't show how Stephen's life turns out, because after all the investment I'd given this book (which was wilting slightly in places, somehow this book have SO MUCH TEXT!) I would have hoped to get something rousing and inspiring. Instead I get a maybe.
Thirteen year this book has been on my shelf, it's a slight weight of my shoulders.
June 12, 2009
It was enjoyable, but there were so many problems. What kept me going was the story (yes, I did want to find out what happened next) even though I couldn't find a character I really cared about.
I especially wondered how someone as apparently untalented as Stephen Q McQueen got to understudy a lead role on the West End. The portrayal of understudies in this book was really rather insulting. I've seen a number of understudies and I know some personally, and you have to be incredibly talented to understudy a star on Broadway or the West End.
Nicholls seems to have most of his theatre jargon down, so it made me wonder how he could get so much of the theatre world wrong.
I especially wondered how someone as apparently untalented as Stephen Q McQueen got to understudy a lead role on the West End. The portrayal of understudies in this book was really rather insulting. I've seen a number of understudies and I know some personally, and you have to be incredibly talented to understudy a star on Broadway or the West End.
Nicholls seems to have most of his theatre jargon down, so it made me wonder how he could get so much of the theatre world wrong.
May 16, 2018
I can't say this was a book I would recommend. It was slow going and I found it all too easy to put aside. The story was plodding and I was never ever thinking I can't wait to get back to find out what happened to Stephen McQueen. I found the characters all too one dimensional and the story all a bit pointless.
It was meant to be a comedy, albeit of the slightly uncomfortable kind but in reality it was just dull. There were elements of slight amusement but hardly " is a scintillating comedy of ambition, celebrity, jealousy and love" which is how it is described on Amazon.
It was meant to be a comedy, albeit of the slightly uncomfortable kind but in reality it was just dull. There were elements of slight amusement but hardly " is a scintillating comedy of ambition, celebrity, jealousy and love" which is how it is described on Amazon.
July 1, 2023
2.5 stars. Alternating between rich and gaseous, charming and annoying, promising and sad, this book had very little payoff, and I can see why it's Nicholls' forgotten work. However, I did find it interesting to read about the specifics of the acting industry, as informed by Nicholls' own life experience.
June 8, 2025
3.5 stars ——— I thoroughly enjoy David Nicholls :) ‘The Understudy’ is the fourth book of his that I’ve read. This book reminded me A LOT of ‘Us’ that I finished earlier this year. Even though the stories are very different, they both have the same sense of hopelessness and many of the characters are a little too similar. I think I probably preferred this book to ‘Us’, but having read that first, it was difficult to enjoy ‘The Understudy’ as much as I perhaps could have.
Anyway, very funny, often extremely uncomfortable and cringe-inducing. Overall, I would recommend!
Anyway, very funny, often extremely uncomfortable and cringe-inducing. Overall, I would recommend!
October 30, 2018
I don’t think I have ever laughed out loud so much while reading a book before. Very well done, I got incredibly invested and the ending was just right.
August 8, 2021
*Audio (but GR version not available)
March 22, 2023
Lighthearted superficial plot, humorous and compelling to read. Not very substantial characters but they fit with the plot line- and an underwhelming ending.
November 11, 2023
Leest zeer vlot. Een boeiend verhaal waardoor je het boek moeilijk kan wegleggen
May 9, 2025
I will read anything he writes. I need to know what happened after this book ended.
September 21, 2021
One of my favourite authors but my least favourite book of his work. There were some really great parts but it wasn't sustained throughout the book.
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