Handlingsresumé af 'About a Boy'

Will is in his thirties, and he has never had a job in his life. The reason he doesn’t need to work is that his father wrote a famous Christmas song. Therefore, Will lives off the royalties from the song. He enjoys his own life, and he has many girlfriends. He, however, does not get intimately involved with others. He just wants friends to bring happiness to his life, and he does not want to get involved with serious friendships. Marcus is a twelve-year-old boy, and he has just moved to London with his mother. His parents have been separated for several years. He does not get along with any of his classmates at his new school. Marcus’s classmates think he is strange because of his clothes, his hairstyle, and his behavior. Marcus has no one to talk to and his mother is severely depressed. She regularly cries for no apparent reason. Marcus wants to help her, but he does not know what to do. Will wants to meet single mothers. He pretends to be a single father and joins a single parents’ group. He meets a woman named Suzie. She has a daughter named Megan. Will meets Marcus at a SPAT picnic. When they return to Marcus’s home, his mother, Fiona, attempts to commit suicide. She is quickly sent to the hospital. After that, Marcus decides to talk seriously with his mother, and he plans to set her up with Will. It does not work out between Fiona and Will. Marcus often visits Will after school, and he discusses his problems with him. He thinks Will is the first person who understands him in his life. Marcus talks to Will about Ellie and other things that happen at school. Will does not like Marcus because he does not want to care for anyone. After a while, Will takes pity on Marcus, and he figures out a way to help him. Will falls in love with a woman named Rachel, and he wants to spend the rest of his life with her. In the end, Will realizes that people need to support each other instead of living on their own.