Book Review – Disco Boy by Dominic Knight
Chaser Co-Founder’s Debut Novel is a Gentle Romantic Comedy
With cover blurbs all linking the author with his part in the almost infamous Chaser comedy group, readers may be surprised by Dominic Knight’s debut novel Disco Boy (Random House, 2009).
Disco Boy
Paul Johnson is a law graduate who has studiously avoided working in the corporate world. His weekends are spent DJing at birthday parties, a career lucrative enough to fund his laidback lifestyle. While Paul is reasonably happy with his lot in life, he can’t ignore the fact that he lacks direction. Playing lame 80s tunes for drunken party-goers is not quite the career in music that he desires, yet neither does he feel in step with the mind-numbing work and long hours of a financial paralegal.
Despite being perpetually unlucky in love, Paul finds himself juggling the attentions of two romantic interests. Felicity, a colleague from the law firm that he finds himself joining in spite of his misgivings, is almost the perfect woman. She is beautiful, intelligent and likes all the right music. Emily is a nineteen year old student and comes from a wealthy North Shore family. Unfortunately she has a deep love of Kylie Minogue and a smarmy older brother who has also taken a shine to Felicity.
Supporting Paul through his inability to make a decision about his future, are his painfully relaxed parents (Paul still lives at home), his boofy mate Nigel and close friend Zoe.
Engaging Characters in a Straightforward Romantic Comedy
Comparisons with the novels of Nick Hornby (and particularly High Fidelity, with its music themes) are inevitable; however Knight’s story does not quite have the same edge as Hornby’s best known works. While the central character may be an aimless average bloke, the story feels much lighter, in part due to the gentle plot development but also because of the setting. The Australian dating culture described so aptly in Disco Boy is very different to its European and North American counterparts.
The appeal of Disco Boy lies in its simple take on modern romance. Paul is an incredibly likeable hero – the quintessential “nice guy”. Equally his potential love interests are amiable young women, despite their key differences. There is also plenty of humour in the novel, mostly found through Knight’s well crafted prose. His descriptions of nights out in Sydney (both at private functions and the pub scene) will inspire smiles and nods from readers familiar with the Aussie culture.
Dominic Knight and Disco Boy
In addition to his writing and occasional performing role in the Australian political satire comedy group The Chaser, Dominic Knight contributes opinion pieces to, and was a former blogger for, the Sydney Morning Herald.
With the Chaser team being best known for biting satire, particularly through ABC-TV’s The Chaser’s War on Everything, Disco Boy is surprisingly charming. While Paul as narrator pokes fun at much of what is happening around him, the satire is restrained and the book remains true to the modern romance genre.
Disco Boy (ISBN 978-1-74166-626-7, 293 pages)
Disco Boy by Dominic Knight
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