Isy woke up one day in her late twenties to discover that the invisible deal she’d done with her best mates – that they’d prolong growing up for as long as possible – had all been in her head. Everyone around her is suddenly into mortgages, farmers’ markets and nappies, rather than the idea of running naked into the sea or getting hammered in Plymouth with eighty-year-old men. When her dearest friend advises her that the next guy Isy meets will be The Actual One, Isy decides to keep delaying the onset of adulthood – until a bet with her mother results in a mad scramble to find a boyfriend within a month.
From papier-mâché penguins to being stranded on a dual carriageway in nothing but a fur coat and trainers, THE ACTUAL ONE is an ode to the confusing wilderness of your late twenties, alongside a quest for a genuinely good relationship with a man who doesn’t use moisturiser.
From papier-mâché penguins to being stranded on a dual carriageway in nothing but a fur coat and trainers, THE ACTUAL ONE is an ode to the confusing wilderness of your late twenties, alongside a quest for a genuinely good relationship with a man who doesn’t use moisturiser.
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Reviews
Imagine if you will a more cuddly Trainspotting, or a drunker, dirtier Adrian Mole. Isy's warm, wonky memoir lies somewhere between the two: darkly, sweetly funny and affecting, and studded with lemon-sharp insights on life
Isy Suttie has conquered comedy and is now poised to ascend to the summit of the literary world. A delightful, no-holds-barred romp through the highs and lows of being a singleton - you're unlikely to read a more enjoyable book this year
Isy Suttie turns the painful process of growing-up into something laugh-out-loud funny, and for that I could kiss her
Funny, wise and worth what sounds like a decade of romantic mishaps
Always funny, always daft ... endlessly entertaining
Suttie's mix of human observation and self-examination makes her a cross between Lena Dunham and Victoria Wood. The Actual One is about the moment she realised all her friends were growing up, and the deal they'd all made to stay young for ever was only in her head. That led to a desperate search for a boyfriend ... Expect a mix of songs, stories and stand-up
You might know Isy as Dobby from Peep Show, but if you've heard her Radio 4 series Love Letters, you'll be familiar with her charming, rambling storytelling style. It's put to delightful effect here in a memoir about her 20s, which spans her years avoiding responsibility, chasing comedy success and her (slightly reluctant) search for "The One". The line where she compares bums to Switzerland is still making us laugh
Isy - who you'll recognise as Dobby from Peep Show - has written her memoirs, centering on the panic you get when you realise your mates are turning into actual grown-ups, whoe you are still living the life of a reckless student. Full of hilarious insights, this book is proof that growing up is actually OK in the end.
..it's this cheerful honesty that makes The Actual One so enjoyable, and ultimately encouraging.
a very funny look at trying to avoid adulthood.
Written with the cheeky wit of a 21st-century Victoria Wood...
A book about avoiding adulthood at all costs. By a writer who should not be avoided at any cost. Hilarious, warm, addictive and everything you would expect from Isy Suttie.
If you are looking for The Actual One, Isy's chaotically entertaining book will give you hope. And if you're in what she calls a Sturdy Relationship, it will make you extremely grateful.