Gabriel's Gift

Washington Post Book World

A gently charming, comic novel, exhibiting the brilliant dialogue that makes Kureishi's movies so entertaining.

From The Critics

Kureishi imbues this novel with the same warmth, humanity and wit that earned his screenplay for My Beautiful Laundrette an Oscar nomination. Fifteen-year-old Gabriel, aimless and confused, is unsatisfied with his family life. His mother works nights at a pub, his father, having walked out on the family, is a failed musician. Unhappy at school, Gabriel spends his time cultivating his (at times supernatural) artistic abilities, and when a wealthy ex-band mate of his father's comes to town, Gabriel finally sees a chance to mend the rift between his parents. The realism of Kureishi's flawed characters singles him out as a master stylist, and his ability to cultivate richly nuanced relationships is a thing of wonder. Kureishi has a remarkable ear for dialogue and a subtle grace many of his contemporaries should envy. This novel may be his finest work yet.
—Kevin Greenberg

Publishers Weekly

In 2001, Kureishi set teacups rattling in England with Intimacy, a sexually explicit novella about an extramarital affair, with possible real-life parallels. Here he concocts an appealing, deceptively breezy coming-of-age story recalling his screenplays (My Beautiful Laundrette; Sammy and Rosie Get Laid) in its tender evocation of London-area grunge. Since Mum banished Dad three months ago, 15-year-old Gabriel Bunch has been on the equivalent of house arrest. Nannied to death by hairy Hannah, a refugee from the Communist town of "Bronchitis," Gabriel copes by smoking pot, talking to his dead twin brother, Archie, and drawing objects that disturbingly come to life. Then his dad, Rex, a '60s-era guitarist now wallowing in a squalid bedsit, gets a call from Lester Jones, a David Bowie-like rock god who still packs 'em in. Rex brings Gabriel to meet Lester, who recognizes Gabriel's artistic gifts and gives him a painting that soon becomes central to a virtual custody battle between Mum and Dad and Gabriel himself. The plot is a familiar domestic triangle, as the parents vie for Gabriel's allegiance. But all three Bunches are rich characters capable of sudden growth spurts and surrounded by a crowd of psychedelically colorful friends and associates. Kureishi's loose, loopy style will keep readers off-balance ("She was a person around whom different odors seemed to congregate, like bums on a street corner"). Yet behind the apparent artlessness, this is a shrewd, warmly imagined portrayal of the healing powers of art. (Oct.) Forecast: Kureishi's rep and the psychedelic jacket should help sell this title, especially in big city stores. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Kureishi (The Black Album, 1995, etc.), well known for his screenplays My Beautiful Laundrette and Rosie and Sammie Get Laid, offers up an inveterately thin but generally amusing novel about recovering from the debilitating legacy of the rock-and-hippie world of the '60s. Things are seen from the consciousness of 15-year-old Gabriel Bunch, but the person who desperately needs recovery-therapy is his father Rex, a musician who hit his peak way back when he played with the fabulously successful (and still popular) Lester Jones. Ever since, though, he's been in a slow downward spiral that, as book opens, has resulted in his being kicked out of the house by Gabriel's mother Christine and holing up in a single room that's very sordid indeed. Why did it happen? Well, Rex, witheringly called "an old hippie" by a fed-up Christine, is idealistic about his art and won't compromise it-resulting in the permanent absence both of work and money. The solution? Gabriel, who has a way with his father, is the one who gets Dad a job teaching music to the troubled son of a movie mogul with deep pockets, a job that leads to others like it and to an all-new Rex (he likes the work) and a reunion with Christine. There are certain complications in the bringing of all this about-including a meeting with demigod Lester Jones himself, who is smitten by the young Gabriel and immediately recognizes his art-talent (he even makes a picture for him, which Rex then hocks). Amusing deceptions, misunderstandings, and setbacks precede the happy end, including Christine's ("Don't shout at me. I'm a single mother and I've got a headache!") troubles with men and jobs and Gabriel's Delphic communings with his dead identicaltwin brother Archie, who offers advice both on art and on parent management. Pleasant frivolities, with just a refreshing dash of cynicism and attitude.