A generous and energising tumble of ideas...he is inventive and penetrating

Like Isaiah Berlin with a thing for sci-fi

We might believe that we are on a voyage towards a future of perfect freedom, but Gray is here to tell us that we are really only going round in circles, repeating ancient heresies, and retelling old myths in modern cant

Gray must be one of the best read of contemporary philosophers, trawling insouciantly through high-, middle- and low-brow literature with the sharp-eyed eclecticism of a magpie of genius

A brain-twisting meditation on freedom...a brief, elliptical inquiry designed to raise more questions than anyone could answer

Perhaps the most brilliant of his originally structured "enquiries", brings home, with infectious learning, the many self-deceptions behind our reverence for freedom

An engagingly light touch, shot through with humour

It is wonderfully well written and hard to believe this is James Hannah's debut novel. Very early on I felt this was going to be a book I loved and I was right.

As The A to Z of You and Me drew to a close (with me sobbing), I thought about how kind people can be. How hard, beautiful and frustrating life is. And how we should make the effort to engage with it fully. It is, after all, fleeting at best.

I loved The A-Z of You and Me. James Hannah has an unerring eye for the tiniest detail within the biggest picture. This wry and tender love story is powerful, lyrical and moving'

Beautifully constructed and hugely moving. Deserves to be a smash hit.

Funny and sweet, whilst also being heartbreaking and thoroughly real throughout.

What a book! I am heartbroken.

So beautiful ... a stunning, unique debut

Wonderfully well written and hard to believe this is James Hannah's debut novel. Very early on I felt this was going to be a book I loved and I was right.

Sad and funny in equal measure but also quite uplifting about the power of the human spirit. An author who I am sure will continue to go from strength to strength.

This book broke my heart.

This is a really engrossing, interesting read and a book I just couldn't put down.

The story is sad, yet it is uplifting. The characters are flawed, yet human. I was very impressed by this novel. It is a delight to read and to recommend to others.

I was completely sucked into this book and flew through the pages. I loved it.

This book has moved me and it has changed me, and isn't that what it is all about? It is only March and I don't know if anything will top this one this year for me. Essential reading.

Take Trainspotting, cut out the swearing, and add a filter of nuanced meditations on love: welcome to The A to Z of You and Me. I absolutely loved this book.

'David Nicholls' school of commercial fiction. An accomplished piece of fiction, both entertaining and thought-provoking

Spare, poignant and with a quirky charm all of its own, it reminds us how kind people can be

Wonderful and heartbreaking.

Hannah writes with emotional acuity. Warm, wry, thoughtful and devastating in places, this is a life-enhancing missive from death's door.

The most richly fruited post-modern novel since Jeanette Winterson’s Sexing the Cherrys

A bold, impressive debut

As a debut novel, it is truly dazzling and Hermione Eyre has proved herself an author well worth watching out for

Profoundly moving