The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman

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Ok so I don’t usually write a review because I don’t think and question too much. I just read and either enjoy. Or not enjoy. But my friend Sam from bookclub insists that I must write a review and so this is for her. Really just so she will get off my case... except she won’t. Bahahahaha The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman is one of the funniest, most heart-warming, beautifully written books I’ve read in a VERY long time. I really didn’t want it to end. The hunt is on! It's a road trip with Leonard's spreadsheet of names, an itinerary, and his complete command of Google maps. I liked the premise of the story and the characters. A lot was improbable, but that didn’t bother me. Some of the people they meet along the way are a bit over the top, too, but they added a little colour.

There are some twists in their adventures, som of which you don’t really expect. But the ending will turn your heart to mush. A book full of hope, humour and kindness, with one of the most endearing central characters I've met in a long time. An utter delight!' Sarah Haywood, author of The Cactus One of those gorgeous books that completely lifts your spirits and restores your faith in humanity. An utterly lovely tale. Ruth Jones So The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman is as much as how you chart a way out of grief, often haphazardly and with no real grace or elegance but hopefully a new lease on life, and how even as you do something crazy, as Norman does when he seeks to perform at the Edinburgh Fringe in memory of his beloved bestie Jax, you might be actually doing the sanest thing you can do for yourself.The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman is the first novel by Australian author, Julietta Henderson. The audio version is narrated by Katherine Parkinson. When they were ten, Norman Foreman and Jax Fenton made a Five Year Plan. Norman's mother Sadie also misses Jax. Not just for his friendship and what it meant to Norman but for his noisy and lively presence in their home and his never-ending schemes. A single mother, Sadie lost her father, a not very successful comedian, the year before Norman was born while she was away at University. Her grief and anger at his death lead her to a short period of drinking and one-night stands so she was never sure who Norman's father could be. With her family of two and her boring job with an obnoxious boss, she's not sure that she's a good mother to Norman but knows she has to do something to help him overcome his deep misery. When she spills all her woes to Leonard, an elderly pensioner who works part time with her, he comes up with a plan to help Norman and so the three of them set off on a road trip from their home in Penzance to Edinburgh. The story is narrated from the POV of both Norman and Sadie. Their grief is handled with sensitivity, not sentimentality and the heart-rending moments are balanced out with gloriously witty, sprinklings of humour - there are so many laugh out loud moments, it left me grinning from ear to ear.

The Funny Thing about Norman Foreman was a tender, occasionally funny tale of resilience, and about following your dreams. Chatting one day about her predicament, Leonard offers to help. It turns out he may be old (eightyish?), but he’s no newbie. In Julietta Henderson's The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman, the title character is a 12-year-old boy who wants to perform his stand-up comedy at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Also known as "the Edinburgh Fringe" or simply "the Fringe," this event started out as an unofficial offshoot of the Edinburgh International Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland. It soon became a festival in its own right and is now the largest arts festival in the world.

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Norman – whose left eyebrow is hairier than his right; whose ears move up and down far more than other people’s when he chews; whose skin is plagued by psoriasis……is a small boy with a very BIG HEART. We know that moving on is inevitable but we also feel guilty, as Norman does, that we are somehow doing a disservice to the person we have lost by not dwelling in that grief forever. Twelve-year-old Norman Foreman and his best friend, Jax, are a legendary comedic duo in waiting, with a plan to take their act all the way to the Edinburgh Fringe. But when Jax dies, Norman decides the only fitting tribute is to perform at the festival himself. The problem is, Norman's not the funny one. Jax was. Twelve-year-old Norman Foreman had never had any friends – until bad boy Jax came along. Then they were so close that in Norman’s eyes, the best thing about having a best friend was Jax. Norman and Jax were a comedy duo in preparation for the big time. Their plan was for their appearance in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in five years’ time and they worked toward it every day. In between going to school and having the best fun. Traurig, herzergreifend, lustig, chaotisch und an manchen stellen möglicherweise etwas übertrieben, aber definitiv ein Herzensbuch.