How Boys See Girls-Canadian Edition

by David Gilmour

Bix has it all: a failed marriage, a faltering career as a speechwriter, a drinking problem (not to mention the pills) and a wayward eye for the women.  The last thing he needs is trouble named Holly, which is, of course, exactly what he gets--briefly.  His only assets are his daughter Zoey and an excruciating (and excruciatingly funny) sense of who he is, which becomes his path to redemption from the erotic rollercoaster that is this impressive and un-put-downable novel.

David Gilmour's first novel, Back on Tuesday, garnered critical acclaim from such diverse critics as William Burroughs and Northroup Frye, and was published both in Canada and the United States.  David works at the CBC where he is a film critic for "The Journal".

Genres: Canada, Fiction

161 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

David Gilmour is a novelist who has earned critical praise from literary figures as diverse as William Burroughs and Northrop Frye, and from publications as different as the New York Times to People magazine. The author of six novels, he also hosted the award-winning Gilmour on the Arts. In 2005, his novel A Perfect Night to Go to China won the Governor General’s Award for Fiction. His next book, The Film Club, was a finalist for the 2008 Charles Taylor Prize. It became an international bestseller, and has sold over 200,000 copies in Germany and over 100,000 copies in Brazil. He lives in Toronto with his wife.

Reviews

[carol. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Okay, that's just ironic--my new favorite author David Gilmour, who has such flattering things to say about women
wrote a book about how boys see girls.

Oh, I think we know.

His "blame-the-interviewer" and "blame me talking French to someone else at the same time" apology doesn't help his case.

[Mir]

How do boys see girls? They're not worth reading. Like Chinese and homosexuals and Canadians who aren't David Gilmour. At least the gays are funny with their self-absorption and Proust.

[Alieda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Canadian master author David Gilmour (winner of the 2005 Governor General's Award for his brilliant novel, A Perfect Night to Go to China) , delivers sharp, precise prose in a story as heartbreaking as it is funny. The novel's deliciously loathsome antihero, Bix, is a divorced, middle-aged, oversexed womanizer with a drinking problem, a soul-crushing job, and no game. However, Bix's unself-conscious, self-indulgent honesty makes him frighteningly compelling: he's a bad person, but he's genuine. His humanity is as blatant as his bitterness. Now enter an unequaled, maddening lust for the green-eyed Holly Briggs, a much younger babysitter / jewelry vendor, and cringe along Bix's pursuit of happiness, sex, pills and--well, Holly. Personally, I enjoyed Gilmour's ingenious metaphors: "[in the wind,] the leaves on the trees rustled and turned silver like a school of fish changing direction." This book is smart, serious, and very, very funny. Fans of J.D. Salinger, David Eggers, and Jeffery Euginides will most likely dig David Gilmour. Read this book if you are looking for fresh writing, a genuine but unheroic narrator, and a story as truthful as fiction can be.

[Heather]

This is probably my favorite book...

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I die, I will be remembered for how much I loved this book. Please bury me with it.

Update, 2021: the fact that the feminists hate it so much makes me love it even more.

[Monty Martin · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy read semi page turner, better fit for re-titling.
A relational story best described as a psychopathic journey, and mad mindset of a middle-aged man obsessed with a younger woman twice his youth.
I noticed three distinct narrative styles, which threw my interest at the beginning, albeit leveling off and capturing my attention soon after.
The story appears to wander off topic towards the end before gaining traction again.
Its refreshingly subtle and vulgar.

[Jessi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really, really disliked this book for the first 30 or so pages but it was one of few I had with me to read on a flight so I went with it. It ended up being okay. I think it was the first person not quite stream-of-consciousness that bugged me. Eventually, I grew to tolerate the narrator though, because he is a twat, I never really liked him. Basically, the whole book is a 40-something year old man who is obsessed with (what I assume is) a 20-something year old girl.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title should read: How Alcoholic Middle-Aged Men See Attractive Women Half Their Age. The main character is a degenerate that you are somehow compelled to wish good things for. Similar to David Duchovny's character on Californication only more focused and obsessed with one girl.