Don Tillman manages himself. He doesn't fit in, in any conventional sense nor in any ordinary way. He lives by route, eats by standardized meal selection and finds the concept of fun totally alien. Nevertheless, he sees the need to initiate a search for a life mate. However, normal dating routines leave him cold; he hates the waste of time--he simply does not have the social skills to patiently wait out traditional matchmaking trial and error. So, like the scientist he is, he decides to tackle the problem logically. He draws up a questionnaire to eliminate any potential time wastes in his quest to find a suitable wife--really!
To fob this off as a, feel good frolic, is to severely undermine both the truly magical story as well as the gut-wrenching hilarity of the novel; I laughed so hard, and so long that my eyes watered, literally. Don meets Rosie a wholly unsuitable candidate on his marriage rating scale--she smokes, hates red meat and drinks copiously. Despite everything Don finds Rosie unbearably attractive. As a geneticist, Don, decides to assist Rosie in conducting a series of surreptitious DNA tests on possible paternity candidates, whom Rosie's mother, long deceased, led her daughter to believe might be her rightful father. In the ensuing antics, Don and Rosie grow sideways and longways both in the mind of the reader and in the plot of the story, to become the most charming fictional couple since 'Harry met Sally', including inappropriate, tear-drenchingly funny behavior. The Rosie Project, is simply one of those books you know by instinct will remain on your 'to recommend list' for years to come. A wholly entertaining read, that pokes trills of unpredictable thrills to pop goosebumps of pleasure over your skin with almost every smile-a-minute word.
