Wild About Harry

by Colin Bateman

A tie-in to a terrific new film, but also a bona-fide Bateman novel in its own right, Wild About Harry tells of the trials and tribulations of a sleazy local chat show host. This is the story of Harry McKee -- sleazy local chat show host. A once loving husband, he's become a drunken unfaithful slob and even his kids won't speak to him. His wife is divorcing him and taking him to the cleaners. On his last night as a married man he winds up drunk and is beaten up. When he keels over the next day at the divorce hearing his wife and solicitor assume he's pulling a fast one. He eventually wakes from a week-long coma but he's lost his memory -- everything since 1974. Inside his sagging middle-aged body he feels eighteen. Though he doesn't know it yet, Harry has been given the chance to get back his life, his wife and his self-respect. If only he could remember how it all went wrong and why his family hate him. As the pieces of his past slowly begin to fall into place we watch Harry attempt to persuade Ruth to fall in love with him all over again, and witness his failure to resurrect his career. Clinging on to the past, he at least still fits into his teenage tank-top and flares -- but he's only got two weeks until the next divorce hearing, when he will be homeless, childless and clueless!

Genres: Fiction, Humor

First published October 15, 2001

About the author

Colin Bateman was a journalist in Northern Ireland before becoming a full-time writer. His first novel, Divorcing Jack, won the Betty Trask Prize, and all his novels have been critically acclaimed. He wrote the screenplays for the feature films of Divorcing Jack, Crossmaheart and Wild About Harry. He lives in Northern Ireland with his family.

Reviews

[Eno · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man, I certainly hadn't expected this. It's not as absurd as many other Colin Bateman books, and there's a certain amount of CHEESE in it, being an underlying love story. But boy, did I giggle a lot, and after all, this story of getting a second chance after screwing up your life is more touching that I expected it to be. This book genuinely made me a bit happier.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good, easy read. I read this fairly quickly compared to a lot of other books, but it's great. There's a movie too, but I haven't seen it. Maybe this is what happens when you become a shitty TV chat show host. Not really anyone's dream job, is it? I liked the ending, though, I'm sucker for something tied up well.

[Rishabh Maini · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read this in quarantine, and the story is truly funny and smooth going. One time must read for sure.

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: tells of the trials and tribulations of a sleazy local chat show host. Became a movie.

[Carey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Light hearted fun, 3.5.

[Ck442000]

Funny film starring James Nesbitt

[Deepak Tanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the first fiction novels i read - picked from a library in Singapore. The idea of a second chance in the epilogue is what makes this memorable