CLASSIC READ
Looking for Andrew McCarthy - Jenny Colgan (2001)
Ellie is throwing herself an 80s-themed party for her 30th birthday and she wants to know why her life hasn't turned out to be like a John Hughes movie. She has just caught Billy, her saxophone-playing boyfriend, cheating on her (but he isn't as charismatic as Rob Lowe), she lives in a dingy flat with an appalling flatmate she calls Big Bastard (it looks nothing like Demi Moore's loft in St Elmo's Fire) and to top it all off she hates her job. Deciding that she really needs some answers from her Brat Pack crush Andrew McCarthy (remember Pretty in Pink, Mannequin and Weekend at Bernie's), Ellie pleads with her friends to join her on a quest across the Atlantic to find the low-key actor. A madcap adventure ensues, which begins with her telling her boss Mr Rooney (Ferris Bueller's Day Off, anyone, anyone?) to stick it, and sees her ringing all the A. McCarthys in the LA phone book. A must-read for Gen Xs who will love all the cultural references, from the Footloose-like highway near-miss to the Lost Boys-inspired policemen.
7/10
Andrew McCarthy, now 46, has recently been seen on the small screen in Lipstick Jungle, based on Candace Bushnell's novel. He has several movies in production this year.