The book is set up as the two main characters' diaries as they pursue fertility treatment. Perhaps it's because I'm reading this at a temporal distance from this setting (the mid 90s), or it could be the fact that I don't want children therefore don't comprehend the all-encompassing desire for a baby which the female character has, but I found them both immensely unpleasant. I found most of the novel predictable and dull, and the resolution was too short and under-developed. Finally the reinforcement of gender stereotypes - woman desperate for child, man skeptical and uncaring - were too much to bear.

Poignant and funny book about a sensitive subject. Loved the way it was written - two people writing down their thoughts about conceiving. Well done, Ben Elton!

Elton is not very good at writing about the female emotion, it made her sound very naive. Interesting subject matter, made me feel quite low.

I felt somewhat nervous about this book. Elton has picked a sensitive subject to cover and having read one of his books before, I know that his style is to make fun of people and things so I wasn't sure how he could make this topic funny. All I can say is that Elton did a truly brilliant job.
Elton manages to weave a fantastic line between sad and funny moments. There are touching moments where you really feel how desperate Lucy and Sam are for a baby and just how hard and heart-breaking it is for them to have such difficulties. At the same time, both are hilarious and it makes their situation a little lighter. I normally chuckle at most at books, but this book made me actually laugh out loud.
The book's style is extremely unusual. There are no chapter divisions but it's almost in one continuous flow, divided between Sam and Lucy's diaries. This is fantastically effective as it helps you to see into their minds. When the couple argue you can understand both points of view. It's woven together brilliantly and he switches between the two at exactly the right moments.
I really did enjoy this book (less so the ending but Elton can be forgiven) and thought Elton did a wonderful job of a hard topic.

Book moves super slowly for about 300 pages. And then in the last 20 pages go through everything in top speed. Found the characters anoying and whiney and obsessive. Defintely don't recommend this book. I just kept reading because I have a thing about quitting books. I literally just skimmed through it all though.

This book has no chapters. Instead, it is written as diary entries that unfold between a couple as they try to conceive. It is very humorous and also heart-wrenching.

Really good concept and execution, if you just want a book about real people that can make you laugh, cry and laugh till you cry this is the one.

By The Great Ben Elton. this was my first Elton book and it was an odd read. i'm not sure what i was expecting, and maybe Elton had been built up too much as a writer by my friends, but i was left a little let-down.

To start, it was written ten years ago and it feels it. the tone of the humor was dated, and the satire was referencing pop-culture phenomena that had gone stale a while back. towards the end i did get into the 1998 mindset, and that helped.

Overall, I liked the 'he said' 'she said' structure of it
and the best thing i could probably say is that it was very, very readable (i read the last half of the book in a single day). I'm curious now about reading a more current Elton book.

Even if the story wears kind of thin in the final third of the book it is hilariously funny (and that is quite an achievement given the serious theme I think) and has enough of "must know how it ends"-quality to recommend it.

Hahahahahahahaha! And also a tiny little bit sniff sniff.

Hilarious!

I have read several books by Ben Elton and his versatility is immense.
This book made me laugh out loud but was also extremely sad. The ending was probably realistic although I hoped it might conclude as his imaginary screen play did.

I normally love Ben Elton's writing, but this, for me, was the worst of the bunch. The main characters were sooooo annoying, selfish, stupid, whiney, vapid, and self-involved, I had trouble reading it. The ending was quite sweet and there were definitely some funny bits, so I can't say it was all bad.