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Nick Hornby was born in 1957, and is the author of Fever Pitch, High Fidelity, About a Boy and How to be Good. He also edited the collection of short stories Speaking With the Angel. He is the pop music critic for the New Yorker. In 1999, he was awarded the E.M.Forster award by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He lives and works in Highbury, North London.
May 2015 Book of the Month. I would like to say ‘classic’ Hornby but the thing I most like about his writing is that the stories are all different, so one can hardly say ‘classic’. But it is all one would expect. Light but entertaining, a story about people. It’s about an inspiring actress-cum-comedian from Blackpool who wins a beauty contest but really doesn’t want to spend a year opening supermarkets! We are in the early 1960s. She gives back her crown and flees to London. We follow her through early struggles and on into falling on her feet in a ‘ground breaking’ series for the BBC. A Lancashire accent, a working-class character and dealing with man/woman becoming husband/wife and eventually baby issues. Years later, at the 50 year celebration, a young producer gets the idea of putting on a play about “what happened next”. We, of course, have followed the main players all the way through in a clever slice of cultural history. Utterly enthralling and highly recommended. ~ Sarah Broadhurst One of our Books of the Year 2014.
One of our Books of the Year 2014. November 2014 MEGA Book of the Month. I would like to say ‘classic’ Hornby but the thing I most like about his writing is that the stories are all different, so one can hardly say ‘classic’. But it is all one would expect. Light but entertaining, a story about people. It’s about an inspiring actress-cum-comedian from Blackpool who wins a beauty contest but really doesn’t want to spend a year opening supermarkets! We are in the early 1960s. She gives back her crown and flees to London. We follow her through early struggles and on into falling on her feet in a ‘ground breaking’ series for the BBC. A Lancashire accent, a working-class character and dealing with man/woman becoming husband/wife and eventually baby issues. Years later, at the 50 year celebration, a young producer gets the idea of putting on a play about “what happened next”. We, of course, have followed the main players all the way through in a clever slice of cultural history. Utterly enthralling and highly recommended.
A Long Way Down - Nick Hornby's hilarious bestseller now a major motion picture starring Pierce Brosnan. ' Can I explain why I wanted to jump off the top of a tower block?' For disgraced TV presenter Martin Sharp the answer's pretty simple: he has, in his own words, 'pissed his life away'. And on New Year's Eve he's going to end it all ...but not, as it happens, alone. Because first single-mum Maureen, then eighteen-year-old Jess and lastly American rock-god JJ turn up and crash Martin's private party. They've stolen his idea - but brought their own reasons. Yet it's hard to jump when you've got an audience queuing impatiently behind you. A few heated words and some slices if cold pizza later and these four strangers are suddenly allies. But is their unlikely friendship a good enough reason to carry on living? Shortlisted for the 2005 Whitbread Award and the Commonwealth Writers Prize, A Long Way Down is a darkly hilarious and moving novel by bestselling author Nick Hornby. If you like Jonathan Coe, David Sedaris and David Nicholls, you will love this book. A page-turning plot and rich, funny characters with several big laughs on every page...Hornby's best yet . (Literary Review). Hornby's best novel to date, impossible to put down...how can an examination of four people's anguish be so enthralling? (Ruth Rendell, Guardian). Masterful...some of the finest writing, and some of the most outstanding characters I've ever had the pleasure of reading . (Johnny Depp). Nick Hornby has captivated readers and achieved widespread critical acclaim for his comic, well-observed novels About a Boy, How to be Good, Juliet, Naked, Slam and High Fidelity. His three works of non-fiction, 31 Songs (shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award), Fever Pitch (winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award) and The Complete Polysyllabic Spree are also available from Penguin.
Featured on The TV Book Club on More4 on 7 February 2010. As you would expect in a book about relationships revolving around a music obsession Nick Hornby manages to get in his musical references and loves in to the pages throughout this book. The story is about a relationship where the characters are facing middle age and wondering if they have wasted years not really achieving anything in their lives. If it sounds a little bit depressing don’t worry, as always, Hornby injects his humour throughout the story and creates interesting and memorable characters.
A book that many a football fan can, no doubt, relate too. Hornby tells the story of his fanatical love of football from the age of 11. The amazing recall of every match, every player, every goal, every touch of the ball that some fans manage to have Nick Hornby certainly has. It’s a miracle he manages to find time to write his fiction!
Gripping and funny this novel will appeal to all those who have ever picked up a skateboard and even those who haven't. From the author who brought you High Fidelity and Fever Pitch comes a new novel written for the teenage audience.
From the author who brought you ‘High Fidelity’ and ‘Fever Pitch’ comes a new novel written for the teenage audience. It is gripping, funny and will appeal to all those who have ever picked up a skateboard.
Shortlisted for the Whitbread Novel Award. Narrated in turns by Martin, Maureen, Jess and JJ, four strangers with absolutely nothing in common - save where they end up that night - Nick Hornby’s A Long Way Down is a funny, sad and deeply moving new novel which asks some of the big questions: about life and death, strangers and friendship, love and pain, and whether a group of losers, and pizza, can really see you through a long, dark night of the soul.
A Long Way Down - Nick Hornby's hilarious bestseller now a major motion picture starring Pierce Brosnan. ' Can I explain why I wanted to jump off the top of a tower block?' For disgraced TV presenter Martin Sharp the answer's pretty simple: he has, in his own words, 'pissed his life away'. And on New Year's Eve he's going to end it all ...but not, as it happens, alone. Because first single-mum Maureen, then eighteen-year-old Jess and lastly American rock-god JJ turn up and crash Martin's private party. They've stolen his idea - but brought their own reasons. Yet it's hard to jump when you've got an audience queuing impatiently behind you. A few heated words and some slices if cold pizza later and these four strangers are suddenly allies. But is their unlikely friendship a good enough reason to carry on living? Shortlisted for the 2005 Whitbread Award and the Commonwealth Writers Prize, A Long Way Down is a darkly hilarious and moving novel by bestselling author Nick Hornby. If you like Jonathan Coe, David Sedaris and David Nicholls, you will love this book. A page-turning plot and rich, funny characters with several big laughs on every page...Hornby's best yet . (Literary Review). Hornby's best novel to date, impossible to put down...how can an examination of four people's anguish be so enthralling? (Ruth Rendell, Guardian). Masterful...some of the finest writing, and some of the most outstanding characters I've ever had the pleasure of reading . (Johnny Depp). Nick Hornby has captivated readers and achieved widespread critical acclaim for his comic, well-observed novels About a Boy, How to be Good, Juliet, Naked, Slam and High Fidelity. His three works of non-fiction, 31 Songs (shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award), Fever Pitch (winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award) and The Complete Polysyllabic Spree are also available from Penguin.
Nick Hornby's second bestselling novel is about sex, manliness and fatherhood. Will is thirty-six, comfortable and child-free. And he's discovered a brilliant new way of meeting women - through single-parent groups. Marcus is twelve and a little bitnerdish: he's got the kind of mother who made him listen to Joni Mitchell rather than Nirvana. Perhaps they can help each other out a little bit, and both can start to act their age.
A book that many a football fan can, no doubt, relate too. Hornby tells the story of his fanatical love of football from the age of 11. The amazing recall of every match, every player, every goal, every touch of the ball that some fans manage to have Nick Hornby certainly has. It’s a miracle he manages to find time to write his fiction!
Featured on The TV Book Club on More4 on 7 February 2010. As you would expect in a book about relationships revolving around a music obsession Nick Hornby manages to get in his musical references and loves in to the pages throughout this book. The story is about a relationship where the characters are facing middle age and wondering if they have wasted years not really achieving anything in their lives. If it sounds a little bit depressing don’t worry, as always, Hornby injects his humour throughout the story and creates interesting and memorable characters.
How to be Good is Nick Hornby's hilarious bestselling novel on life, love and charity 'I am in a car park in Leeds when I tell my husband I don't want to be married to him any more. . . ' London GP Katie Carr always thought she was a good person. With her husband David making a living as 'The Angriest Man in Holloway', she figured she could put up with anything. Until, that is, David meets DJ Goodnews and becomes a good person too. A far-too-good person who starts committing crimes of charity like taking in the homeless and giving their kids' toys away. Suddenly Katie's feeling very bad about herself, and thinking that if charity begins at home, then maybe its time to move. . . This laugh-out-loud novel, from the bestselling author of About a Boy and High Fidelity, will have you gripped from start to finish and will appeal to fans of David Nicholls and Jonathan Coe, as well as readers in need of a moral compass everywhere. 'Pins you in your armchair ad won't let go . . . How to be Good? How to be bloody marvellous, more like' Mail on Sunday 'It does exactly what it says on the cover. Hornby's prose is artful and effortless, his spiky wit as razored as a number-two cut' Independent 'The writing is so funny, and the set-pieces so brilliant...Hornby's best book since Fever Pitch' Lynn Truss, The Times
'I decided that I wanted to write a little book of essays about songs I loved ... Songs are what I listen to, almost to the exclusion of everything else.' In his first non-fiction work since Fever Pitch, Nick Hornby writes about 31 songs that either have some great significance in his life - or are just songs that he loves. He discusses, among other things, guitar solos and losing your virginity to a Rod Stewart song and singers whose teeth whistle and the sort of music you hear in Body Shop. 'The soundtrack to his life ... a revealing insight into one of Britain's most popular writers' Evening Standard
A Long Way Down - Nick Hornby's hilarious bestseller about strangers and secrets 'Can I explain why I wanted to jump off the top of a tower block?' For disgraced TV presenter Martin Sharp the answer's pretty simple: he has, in his own words, 'pissed his life away'. And on New Year's Eve he's going to end it all . . . but not, as it happens, alone. Because first single-mum Maureen, then eighteen-year-old Jess and lastly American rock-god JJ turn up and crash Martin's private party. They've stolen his idea - but brought their own reasons. Yet it's hard to jump when you've got an audience queuing impatiently behind you. A few heated words and some slices if cold pizza later and these four strangers are suddenly allies. But is their unlikely friendship a good enough reason to carry on living? Shortlisted for the 2005 Whitbread Award and the Commonwealth Writers Prize, A Long Way Down is a darkly hilarious and moving novel by bestselling author Nick Hornby. If you like Jonathan Coe, David Sedaris and David Nicholls, you will love this book. 'A page-turning plot and rich, funny characters with several big laughs on every page. . . Hornby's best yet' Literary Review 'Hornby's best novel to date, impossible to put down. . . how can an examination of four people's anguish be so enthralling?' Ruth Rendell, Guardian 'Masterful. . . some of the finest writing, and some of the most outstanding characters I've ever had the pleasure of reading' Johnny Depp
About a Boy is Nick Hornby's comic and heart-warming million-copy bestseller 'How cool was Will Freeman?' Too cool! At thirty-six, he's as hip as a teenager. He's single, child-free, goes to the right clubs and knows which trainers to wear. He's also found a great way to score with women: attend single parents' groups full of available (and grateful) mothers, all hoping to meet a Nice Guy. Which is how Will meets Marcus, the oldest twelve-year-old on the planet. Marcus is a bit strange: he listens to Joni Mitchell and Mozart, looks after his mum and has never owned a pair of trainers. But Marcus latches on to Will - and won't let go. Can Will teach Marcus how to grow up cool? And can Marcus help Will just to grow up? This astonishing novel, now a modern classic, was adapted for the acclaimed 2002 film About A Boy, starring Hugh Grant and Nicholas Hoult. Fans of One Day by David Nicholls and Any Human Heart by William Boyd will devour this book, as will lovers of fiction everywhere. 'A stunner of a novel. Utterly read-in-one-day, forget-where-you-are-on-the-tube-gripping' Marie Claire 'About the awful, hilarious, embarrassing places where children and adults meet, and Hornby has captured it with delightful precision' Irish Times 'It takes a writer with real talent to make this work, and Hornby has it - in buckets' Literary Review
'There was this time when everything seemed to have come together. And so obviously it was time to go and screw it all up.' Sam is sixteen and a skater. Just so there are no terrible misunderstandings: skating = skateboarding. There's no ice. Life is ticking along nicely for Sam: his mum's got rid of her rubbish boyfriend, he's thinking about college and he's met someone. Alicia. Then a little accident happens. One with big consequences for someone just finding his way in life. Sam can't run (let alone skate) away from this one. He's a boy facing a man's problems and the question is - has he got what it takes to confront them?
Gripping and funny this novel will appeal to all those who have ever picked up a skateboard and even those who haven't. From the author who brought you High Fidelity and Fever Pitch comes a new novel written for the teenage audience.
'Extremely funny . . . and wise' Sunday Times NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE __________________________ 'Can I explain why I wanted to jump off the top of a tower block?' For disgraced TV presenter Martin Sharp the answer's pretty simple: he has, in his own words, 'pissed his life away'. And on New Year's Eve he's going to end it all . . . but not, as it happens, alone. Because first single-mum Maureen, then eighteen-year-old Jess and lastly American rock-god JJ turn up and crash Martin's private party. They've stolen his idea - but brought their own reasons. Yet it's hard to jump when you've got an audience queuing impatiently behind you. A few heated words and some slices if cold pizza later and these four strangers are suddenly allies. But is their unlikely friendship a good enough reason to carry on living? Shortlisted for the 2005 Whitbread Award and the Commonwealth Writers Prize, A Long Way Down is a darkly hilarious and moving novel by bestselling author Nick Hornby. __________________________ 'Hornby's best yet' Literary Review 'Impossible to put down' Ruth Rendell, Guardian 'Some of the finest writing I've ever had the pleasure of reading' Johnny Depp
High Fidelity is Nick Hornby's hilarious and heart-breaking first novel bestseller Do you know your desert-island, all-time, top five most memorable split-ups? Rob does. He keeps a list, in fact. But Laura isn't on it - even though she's just become his latest ex. He's got his life back, you see. He can just do what he wants when he wants: like listen to whatever music he likes, look up the girls that are on his list, and generally behave as if Laura never mattered. But Rob finds he can't move on. He's stuck in a really deep groove - and it's called Laura. Soon, he's asking himself some big questions: about love, about life - and about why we choose to share ours with the people we do. A million-copy bestseller, and adapted into a 2000 film starring John Cusack, High Fidelity explores the world of break-ups, make-ups and what it is to be in love. This astutely observed and wickedly funny book will be enjoyed by readers of David Nicholls and William Boyd, and by generations of readers to come. 'It will give enormous pleasure at the same time as expanding in a small but worthwhile way, the range of English literature' Independent on Sunday 'Leaves you believing not only in the redemptive power of music but above all the redemptive power of love. Funny and wise, sweet and true' Independent 'A triumphant first novel. True to life, very funny and moving' Financial Times
Books, Movies, Rhythm, Blues is the companion volume to Fan Mail, Nick Hornby's collection of writings on football. This second collection brings together the best of his other non-fiction pieces, on film and tv, writers and painters and music, and including one exceptional fragment of autobiography. With subject matter ranging from the Sundance Festival to Abbey Road Studios, from P.G. Wodehouse to The West Wing, these are pieces that 'were written for fun, or because I felt I had things to say and time to say them, or because the commissions were unusual and imaginative, or because ... I was being asked to go somewhere I had never been before.'
A new collection of nonfiction writing on culturefrom the bestselling author of High Fidelity.Books, Movies, Rhythm, Blues brings together the best of Nick Hornby's non-fiction pieces on film and tv, writers and painters and music, and including one exceptional fragment of autobiography. With subject matter ranging from the Sundance Festival to Abbey Road Studios, from P.G. Wodehouse to The West Wing, these are pieces that were written for fun, or because I felt I had things to say and time to say them, or because the commissions were unusual and imaginative, or because I was being asked to go somewhere I had never been before.
Fan Mail: Twenty Years of Writing about Football by Nick Hornby, the bestselling author of Fever PitchAfter the phenomenal success of Fever Pitch, Nick Hornby tried to avoid writing about football, for fear that he'd be writing about it forever. But occasionally over the years he's found it impossible to turn down a particularly enticing assignment or, in the case of the 2012-13 Premier League, just unable to resist writing about that most spectacular of seasons.Fortunately for those who love great writing about football, all these fugitive pieces are collected in Fan Mail. You can follow the fortunes, as Hornby did, of a hopelessly out-of-their-depth Cambridge United in the old Second Division, discover why Perry Groves was an unlikely hero among Arsenal fans, enjoy Hornby trying to explain the World Cup to Americans, and share with him the pain of watching our national team.This Penguin Special, available exclusively as an ebook, can be read in two hours or less. It will be loved by readers of The Secret Footballer and Inverting the Pyramid, as well as fans of Hornby everywhere.'Fever Pitch is the best football book ever written' Nick Lezard, GQ
A new collection of soccer writing bythe bestselling author of Fever Pitch.After the phenomenal success ofFever Pitch, Nick Hornby tried to avoid writing about soccer, for fear that he'd be writing about it forever. But occasionally over the years hes found it impossible to turn down a particularly enticing assignment or, in the case of the 2012-13 Premier League, just unable to resist writing about that most spectacular of seasons.Fortunately for those who love great writing about soccer, all these fugitive pieces are collected inFan Mail. You can follow the fortunes, as Hornby did, of a hopelessly out-of-their-depth Cambridge United in the old Second Division, discover why Perry Groves was an unlikely hero among Arsenal fans, enjoy Hornby trying to explain the World Cup to Americans, and share with him the pain of watching his national team.