Duffy loves Mel, and after four years they still have a great relationship, but when she gives him an ultimatum, he finds he is not ready to get married. So she breaks up with him. Duffy is utterly distraught, and does a great deal of moping, even though a TV’s hottest presenter is pursuing him and wants to get her hands all over him. He talks to his mother, his sister, his friends, and even Mel, and eventually he sorts himself out, but by that time, it has all become very complicated, and he can’t simply kiss and make up with Mel.

Mr. Commitment is a simple romantic comedy set, surprise surprise, in white middle class London. It’s a novel with no great psychological insights, unless you count the idea that men in their late twenties often don’t know when they are onto a good thing as an insight. It’s a novel that takes no risks in plot or style. But, dear reader, I thoroughly enjoyed every page of this book.

The great strength of Mike Gayle’s writing is his ability to describe Duffy’s approach to life and his inner thoughts so well. Duffy may have a problem with commitment, but basically he is a sensible bloke with a good sense of humor. He is also a little out of the ordinary: he is a struggling stand-up comedian. It’s a British approach to life, where going down to the pub for a few pints several times a week and regularly watching the evening TV soap Eastenders is what people do. It’s not intellectual or particularly intense, but there’s an ease and friendliness to it that is hard to find in the US. Reading Gayle’s evocative portrayal of Duffy’s life made me pine for my homeland.

So if you enjoyed Nick Hornby’s High Fidelity, or Lisa Jewel’s Thirty Nothing, you’ll be satisfied by Mr. Commitent. Duffy tells his story with self-deprecation, emotional honesty, and a jokey swift narrative which leaves you no time to get impatient with his indecisiveness. Strict Anglophiles will be pleased to learn that the Americanization of the book is kept to a minimum: we get "cookies" and "French fries" rather than "biscuits" and "chips" but for the most part the language has been left distinctively British.

See the British edition.

Categories: Fiction