About a Boy Nick Hornby

The movie is great and the book is great - for different reasons and in different ways, but I like them both equally. The book has a very different ending, and like all written work is able to flesh out the characters more fully, so that their relationships with one another have more value.
It is still a story about Marcus, a 12 year old with serious issues (He's having a shit time at home and a shit time at school) and Will a 36 year old boy who lives off the royalty payments from a song his father wrote many years ago. Marcus is too open and available to the worlds' pricks and Will is totally closed off to them, and the story is about them meeting one another and rubbing off on each other. Teaching each other their coping mechanisms, so that they are better equipped to fight off the world.
Marcus decides that couples are not the future. "You need more than two, you need backup" And so he creates for himself, and Will a web of people that can help with things when everything goes bad.
The book is great because you understand why Marcus' mom is crying, and his relationship with Ellie plays a more central role.
The movie is great because you get to see Marcus, and hear his accent, and it has the "Killing Me Softly" scene.
Nick Hornby is great. His books are funny, and meaningful.