Good Material Audiobook By Dolly Alderton cover art

Good Material

A Novel

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Good Material

By: Dolly Alderton
Narrated by: Arthur Darvill, Vanessa Kirby
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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW'S 10 BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR • A TODAY SHOW #ReadWithJenna BOOK CLUB PICK • From the best-selling author of Ghosts and Everything I Know About Love: a story of heartbreak and friendship and how to survive both

“Like Nora Ephron, with a British twist….Delivers the most delightful aspects of classic romantic comedy—snappy dialogue, realistic relationship dynamics, humorous meet-cutes and misunderstandings—and leaves behind the clichéd gender roles and traditional marriage plot.”—The New York Times

Andy loves Jen. Jen loved Andy. And he can't work out why she stopped.

Now he is. . .

Without a home

Waiting for his stand-up career to take off

Wondering why everyone else around him seems to have grown up while he wasn't looking

Set adrift on the sea of heartbreak, Andy clings to the idea of solving the puzzle of his ruined relationship. Because if he can find the answer to that, then maybe Jen can find her way back to him. But Andy still has a lot to learn, not least his ex-girlfriend's side of the story…

In this sharply funny and exquisitely relatable story of romantic disaster and friendship, Dolly Alderton offers up a love story with two endings, demonstrating once again why she is one of the most exciting writers today, and the true voice of a generation.

©2024 Dolly Alderton (P)2024 Random House Audio Fiction Friendship Genre Fiction Literature & Fiction Funny Comedy Witty Romance Feel-Good

Critic reviews

NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES

“Like Nora Ephron, with a British twist….Good Material…delivers the most delightful aspects of classic romantic comedy—snappy dialogue, realistic relationship dynamics, humorous meet-cutes and misunderstandings—and leaves behind the clichéd gender roles and traditional marriage plot…..Alderton excels at portraying nonromantic intimate relationships with tenderness and authenticity….Alderton deserves comparisons to rom-com legends like Hornby.”—The New York Times

"Alderton is one of this generation’s preeminent oracles for love, romance, and heartbreak....[She] exposes the inevitable misfortunes of singledom while never neglecting its inherent beauty....To readers, she’s like an older sister, guiding us through breakups, fights, and first-date mishaps with something like grace."—Swarna Gowtham, Elle

"Hilarious...Hurts so good...Surprising and sharp...[Alderton's] ability to create complex characters and tell the story with a varied perspective is masterful...Perfect endings are nearly impossible to find—especially in the break-up genre—but this comes pretty dang close. To quote the great Nicole Kidman, in her iconic AMC prologue, 'Heartbreak feels good in a place like this.'"—Clare Mulroy, USA Today
Honest Writing • Relatable Breakup Portrayal • Excellent Narration • Insightful Perspectives • Heartfelt Ending
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Compelling and funny while also providing thoughtful nuggets on relationships and personal truths. Great characters and great narration.

Funny and insightful

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this book made me so happy and I couldn't stop listening to it. light, witty and loved all of the characters.

LOVED it

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I like this book a lot.
It showed how being hurt and trying to move on feels like on both sides and how it truly is okay to not want kids or just not be in a relationship. It’s hard and unfamiliar and not everyone understands it. But its okay. Its okay to have a choice.

Realest it could get

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But I do know the unbearable pain of a sudden break-up. I almost quit this book more than once when the endless whining and self-pity got too much. The last two hours made up for those that went before.

A trip into the lifestyle of which I know nothing

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Yes, the male character can get a little bit whiny and it gets a little bit annoying at times. But the overall story, especially the end where you hear from his partner, makes it all worthwhile. Enjoy.

Better than the reviews made it sound

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This was a funny story with a few laugh out loud moments. The performances made it for me. The actor had great comedic timing and was really engaging.

Funny story, excellent performances

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I went into this book assuming that since the protagonist is a comedian going through a breakup you are going to have a funny, heartfelt story of someone using humor to deal with the emotional baggage/process of a break up. However, for the first 90 percent of the book you could substitute Andy’s profession with any mediocre career where the individual is failing and it doesn’t matter to the story. This disappointment clouded the book for me. There isn’t a single laugh or smile to be had in this book, but I also didn’t find it pulling on my sentimental heart strings very much either. It’s pretty meh.

not what I expected

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Wasn’t so sure about this 1/3 of the way through. Was regretting I had picked it but luckily I hung in there because it got better and I ended up really liking it.

Glad I Hung In There

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Nothing - this book was delightful . I have no complaints. I recommend it to all my friends.

So very funny! Full of heart and wisdom. Great characters. Narrator was funny. Absolutely loved it.

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Excellent narration and character development. The story was a surprisingly poignant and moving slow burn. Definitely understand why it is on so many best of 2024 lists.

Surprisingly moving

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