Looking for Andrew McCarthy

by Jenny Colgan

'I'm wearing a beautiful pink dress, and I'm in a big pink room with billowing curtains, and I'm dancing to Orchestral Manoeuvres in the Dark, and my handsome partner leans over and whispers…'
Yes, 80s child Ellie really thought life was going to be like Pretty in Pink, St Elmo's Fire and all those other movies where everyone was astoundingly glamorous, popular, successful, had huge apartments and lived happily ever after. But now that she and her gang are thirty, she has to admit that things haven't quite turned out that way. When did horrible flats, difficult relationships and meaningless jobs take over? And, more importantly, what happened to the coolest, wisest, most inspirational Brat Packer of them all? Where is Andrew McCarthy now? Did life fulfil its promise for him? Is he happy on Channel 5? Surely he, of all people, can tell Ellie what to do about her thirty-angst.
Determined to get her idol to unravel some of life's great mysteries, Ellie sets out, unwillingly accompanied by her best friend Julia, on a quest across the USA, from LA to New York to find him. It's an unlikely epic, by turns hilarious, romantic and downright uncomfortable but, helped by a cast of thousands, of whom Frosty the Giant Pig is probably the least improbable, they do find some answers, although not the ones they expected.

Genres: Chick Lit, Fiction, Romance, Contemporary, Contemporary Romance, Modern, The United States Of America

403 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2001

About the author

Jenny Colgan is the author of numerous bestselling novels, including 'The Little Shop of Happy Ever After' and 'Summer at the Little Beach Street Bakery', which are also published by Sphere.' Meet Me at the Cupcake Café' won the 2012 Melissa Nathan Award for Comedy Romance and was a Sunday Times Top Ten bestseller, as was 'Welcome to Rosie Hopkins' Sweetshop of Dreams', which won the RNA Romantic Novel of the Year Award 2013.

For more about Jenny, visit her website and her Facebook page, or follow her on Twitter.

Jenny Colgan has also been published under the name Jenny T. Colgan.

Reviews

[Laurie (barksbooks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ellie has just celebrated her 30th birthday crying her eyes out in her bathroom after catching her latest boyfriend snogging an unattractive woman. Feeling horrible about the state of her life she embarks on a road trip to locate her 80's crush, Andrew McCarthy, who she just knows will be able to help her figure out why life didn't turn out like the ending of one of those brat pack movies she adored.

Julia and Ellie, like most chick-lit types, are a little too shallow for my liking but not so much so that I was completely annoyed. I especially appreciated the bit where Julia and Ellie ran into C. Thomas (call me Thom) Howell. My sister had his face plastered all over our bedroom when we were teens and this brought back some long buried memories.

An entertaining if not memorable read.

[Tanya (Girl Plus Books) · Rating 2 out of 5]

There's no beating around the bush... this was just a ridiculous book. The main character was thoroughly unlikable - immature, self-absorbed, flighty and silly. Her thought process and (lack of) impulse control was like that of a child. If the reader is to believe that a 30 year old woman behaves in such a way, it certainly does not make for a likable, relatable character. The supporting cast behaves nearly as badly. The dialogue and humor does not ring true. And the situations the main character finds herself in do more than stretch the imagination... they are beyond belief. I thoroughly enjoyed Talking To Addison by Jenny Colgan, but this one completely missed the mark.

[Toni · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have read a couple of other Jenny Colgan books and loved them. I was drawn to the title of this book, Looking for Andrew McCarthy, and the synopsis of the book sounded delightful. What a disappointment! I, truly, disliked this book. There was not one character who was likable or even interesting. The quest for Andrew was beyond boring. I had a very hard time finding this book and ended up ordering it from a used book site. The book was shipped from the UK to me in California. This book came a very long way to end up being a disappointing mess.

[Catsalive · Rating 1 out of 5]

Way to silly for me. Ellie was a bit of a half-wit. Didn't hold my interest & I didn't care enough to finish it.

[Karen Mcbride · Rating 2 out of 5]

The only thing that kept me reading this book was the hope that Andrew McCarthy would pop up sometime soon....even when he did I got the impression he didn't even want to be in the book either! My daydreams have more imagination than this story ....such a shame as the author could have really gone to town with the plot line!

[Corinne · Rating 1 out of 5]

The plot, a Bridget-Jones-like 30something who decides that stalking Andrew McCarthy of Brat Packer fame will solve all her problems, was too absurd to resist. Unfortunately, it's so stuffed with cheap/dirty sitcom humor and unbelievably unintelligent characters that it was actually painful to read.

[Rowena · Rating 1 out of 5]

Awful!

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book it is so my favourite ! Took me way back to the 80s ! This book found me one of my favourite authors :)

[Claudia · Rating 1 out of 5]

Wish there was a way to give a minus mark...... Truly bad!

[Eli · Rating 1 out of 5]

A silly book about a horrible person & her slightly less-awful friends.

[Jo Reads Romance]

Don’t waste your money
1 star

I, like many others here was eagerly anticipating this book after reading the brilliant Amanda's Wedding. However I was sorely disappointed and now wish that I hadn't wasted my time or money on this abysmal book.

The characters were unbelievable, contrived, not to mention annoying. There were several times where I could have cheerfully slapped the 'heroine' and the situations in which she found herself. I found her childish, whiney and from near the beginning I found myself wishing for an unhappy ending so that no-one would be lumbered with her. There were one or two moments which tempted a smile but in general it was the kind of book you finish and feel like you have just wasted a lot of time and haven't got anything to show for it.

I won't give up on Jenny Colgan just yet but I would advise others not to buy this particular book. Read it from the library if you must or better yet, stick to Amanda's Wedding.

[Allison Willis · Rating 5 out of 5]

...just because I loved Andrew McCarthy!

[Harry Tomos · Rating 1 out of 5]

flimsy on all fronts littered with references trying to hold a story together

[T.S.C. Lawrence · Rating 1 out of 5]

You know how there are just some books that do not age well? This book is very much one of them, and quite frankly, I feel like burning it and not even leaving a review because that would mean acknowledging I have read the book fully and wasted a week of my life doing so.
Quite literally, this book is the biggest what the living fuck in the world, and here is why:
1. The characters are quite literal assholes. Who in the living shit believes a homophobic, misogynistic asshole is sexy (AND GETS OFF ON IT) is off of their goddamn rocker, let me tell you.
2. The author has clearly never met a gay person or anyone of the lgbt community in her life, because my god the level of offensive material in this book is...wow. From the casual slurs to the stereotyping and having the straight characters bringing up the fact two of the main protagonists are gay in every sentence....uuuuurgh my god I wanted to scratch my eyeballs out with a rusty fork it was that cringe worthy to read! And on that note-
3. The author has no idea how people talk. No, seriously, half of the dialogue was meant to come across as being cool and casual...I had no idea what was being said most of the time.
4. Why do I keep reading novels with women as the main characters who do not do their jobs and then wonder why they get fired?
Um, because you need to DO YOUR JOB DIPSHIT.
5. Who in their right mind believes it is a smart idea to go and find a random celebrity with zero money, no job, no anything, on the off chance the celebrity will even acknowledge them? Yes yes ok argue with me it's just a book yadda yadda, but come on now...
6. And of course the main character meets the celebrity in the end...And he creepily kisses her on the mouth...

Honestly, if I could go page by page and make a list of everything wrong with this terrible book, I would. But instead, I'm going to erase it from my memory and if any one ever asks me if I've read it, the answer will be a firm nnnnrrrrggggh.

[Carrie · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Brat Pack holds a very special place in my heart, so I was excited to get my hands on this book! I'm sad to report that I didn't like it. I read as much as I could, but I didn't like the MC, many of the 80's references were lost on me (apparently there were tons of things popular there that weren't heard of in the States), and the writing style felt unpolished. Then I made the mistake of reading some GR reviews while I was hemming and hawing about finishing and someone posted a review that spoiled everything that happened in the book. And I mean everything. So that's it -- no need to bother now.

I guess I'm glad to know how the story ended without having to commit more time to reading it, but I really wish people wouldn't list everything that happens in a book in their review. If we've read it, we already know what happened. If we haven't, we've just been totally spoiled and there's zero point in reading it. Sometimes I read reviews to get the feel of general opinions before I decide on a book and this sort of review can sneak up on you before you have the chance to scroll away without your eye catching on enough to ruin it. There's an option to hide spoilers for a reason!

[Ann · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not finished but given up! Totally not my cup of tea, I did try but I think I must be the wrong generation. This is a story of a group of 30 year olds, who seem to have absolutely no sense of responsibility what so ever ( at thirty I had a husband, two children and a mortgage), I gave up when two of the group go off to LA in search of Andrew McCarthy and get so drunk on the plane that they cannot remember the name of their hotel and end up in the Ritz, as if! Bad language all the way through, childish tantrums, selfishness, I got to page 87 and could not put up with it any longer. I have read other books by this author which I enjoyed but not this one.

[Alisa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was drawn to this title, being a child of the 80s and a huge fan of Andrew McCarthy. (He still has the best hair of any of the Brat Packers.) The premise of the story sounded promising and hilarious. I think we can all relate to the disillusionment that comes with adulthood. Who wouldn't love the chance to ask our teen idols why life hasn't turned out like a John Hughes movie? But ... the characters were completely unbelievable and unlikeable. Ellie is supposed to be thirty years old, yet she thinks and behaves like a child. And I'm not a prude, but the vulgar humor was off-putting. This story could've been so much more.

[Maia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is so good for a quick read, I enjoyed it because of the wit and humour of it all. Although Julia and Siobhan were my least favourite characters because they were so fake to their friends I got really angry at Julia when she tried to take Andrew II away from Ellie when she had Loxy waiting to get married to her at home and Siobhan was even worse saying she had a crush o Loxy ad wanted to have a 'fling' with him I was disgusted even though I didn't like Julia this was just completely awful.

[John Appleton · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty much what you'd expect from Jenny Colgan, and I say that in a positive way. If you like her books, it's not likely to disappoint.

The inclusion of a number of 80s, and particularly Brat Pack, references helps. You get the usual crop of well-observed characters, all loveable misfits in some way, on the oddest of adventures. And as ever, fantastic one-liners that catch you by surprise.

A quick read, but that's the right pace for it. Good escapist fun.

[Paula Dixon · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really shouldn't read this type of book - I think I am too old and cynical for it. I found the characters all quite annoying and the bits I think I was supposed to find funny, just weren't. The only time I laughed was the awkwardly inserted author's opinion of On the Road.

Annoying beginning, tediously contrived middle and a quite nice ending.

[beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

LOVE Jenny Colgan HATED this. This is the only book I am yet to read and tracked it down in a local book shop and had to read it. It took me SO long to finish as I just found it boring. It felt really childish and immature. The characters had no depth to them and the storyline was just ??? What was the storyline!

[Lily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unlike other books by this author, I really struggled to get into this story and engage with the characters. For the majority of it, I kept thinking it was definitely going to be my least favourite of her novels and no higher than 2 stars. And then it all kind of came together in a cute, sad, quirky way and almost redeemed itself.

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

I usually enjoy Jenny Colgan's books but this one was very disappointing. I didn't like any of the characters, and some of the dialogue made me cringe so much. I'll stick to the baking themed books in future, which have a more polished writing style.

[Allyson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I’ve read other books by this author that were sweet and entertaining. This one was just stupid and annoying. About half way through I skimmed the pages and finished it to see what happened. Waste of time.

[Julie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved Andrew McCarthy too😊

Fantastic trip down memory lane for any Andrew McCarthy fans and the days of Bratpack movies and teenage crushes. Lovely story about friendship, finding our way and what matters.

[Adie Bishop · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVE IT!

[Lovviner · Rating 2 out of 5]

Loved the 80’s, love Andrew McCarthy, but this book was just plain silly.

[Dhuha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not the most interesting from the Jenny colgan collection. You get a little bit less than what is advertised. Synopsis writing is actually better than the story.

[Lavinia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked the content and premise, hated the writing style.

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow, så nostalgisk! Fick mig en liten tidsresa tillbaka till 80-talet och Brat Pack-gänget (måste se om St. Elmo’s fire) och samtidigt lite livsvisdom och lite goda skratt.