Read Time:1 Minute, 30 Second
Mr. Commitment has been called the male Bridget Jones’s Diary. It’s the story of Benjamin Duffy, an aspiring British stand-up comic and part-time temp worker—who, like Bridget, suffers from relationship problems. As the novel opens, Duffy’s girlfriend of four years, Mel, proposes. What follows is three hundred pages of indecision for Duffy—a debilitating fear of commitment and an even stronger fear of losing Mel. With the help of his bachelor-for-life flatmate Dan (who suddenly realizes that he gave up the one woman he really loved), his older sister, Vernie, and his brother-in-law, Charlie, Duffy constantly flip-flops between reluctantly committing and wanting to run for his life.
With a heart full of terror, Duffy realizes that Mel will no longer continue to let him sit on the fence. He has to choose between being a married man and being free, single, and alone.
I enjoyed Mr. Commitment—and not just because the language and the setting reminded me of my recent trip to England. I appreciated the male perspective—though I often wondered how realistic it was. Do men, I wondered, really—even if only on rare occasions—discuss their true feelings with one another? I was pretty sure they just talked about football—but maybe men are different in London.
Whether or not it’s really all that truthful, I enjoyed pretending it was. That’s what fiction is all about, right?
All in all, Mr. Commitment is a good casual read. It’ll make you smile—and sometimes it’ll even make you laugh out loud. And maybe—just maybe—in the end, it’ll make you want to openly discuss your feelings.
But don’t count on it.
Kristin Dreyer Kramer has been writing in some form or another (usually when she was supposed to be doing something else) since the ripe old age of ten—when she, her cousin, and their two Cabbage Patch Dolls formed the Poo Authors’ Club. After a short career in advertising, Kristin got sick of always saying nice things about stuff that didn’t deserve it—so now she spends her days criticizing things, and she’s much happier for it.
Since creating NightsAndWeekends.com in February of 2002, Kristin has spent her life surrounded by piles and piles of books and movies—so many that her office has become a kind of entertainment obstacle course.
As if her writing and editing responsibilities for N&W.com weren’t enough to keep her out of trouble, Kristin also hosts a number of weekly radio shows: Reel Discovery, Shelf Discovery, and On the Marquee. She’s also a proud member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association (CriticsChoice.com), the Central Ohio Film Critics Association (COFCA.org), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS.org), and the Women Film Critics Circle (WFCC.Wordpress.com).
Kristin lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband, Paul, and their daughter, Anna. She welcomes questions, comments, and fan mail at kdk@nightsandweekends.com.
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Kristin Dreyer Kramer has been writing in some form or another (usually when she was supposed to be doing something else) since the ripe old age of ten—when she, her cousin, and their two Cabbage Patch Dolls formed the Poo Authors’ Club. After a short career in advertising, Kristin got sick of always saying nice things about stuff that didn’t deserve it—so now she spends her days criticizing things, and she’s much happier for it.
Since creating NightsAndWeekends.com in February of 2002, Kristin has spent her life surrounded by piles and piles of books and movies—so many that her office has become a kind of entertainment obstacle course.
As if her writing and editing responsibilities for N&W.com weren’t enough to keep her out of trouble, Kristin also hosts a number of weekly radio shows: Reel Discovery, Shelf Discovery, and On the Marquee. She’s also a proud member of the Broadcast Film Critics Association (CriticsChoice.com), the Central Ohio Film Critics Association (COFCA.org), the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS.org), and the Women Film Critics Circle (WFCC.Wordpress.com).
Kristin lives in Columbus, Ohio, with her husband, Paul, and their daughter, Anna. She welcomes questions, comments, and fan mail at kdk@nightsandweekends.com.
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