Definitely not your average coming-of-age novel, but a rewarding read nonetheless. Hornby does a great job of fleshing out characters, pointing out their flaws without laying blame and their good points without overly favoring any one figure. What could be a formulaic teen pregnancy novel is engaging and even surprising at points. I'm glad I chose to read this. ( )

Despite its dry humor, Nick Hornby's Slam presents a dead-on picture of how easily teenagers can slide into the problems of adulthood without understanding quite how they got there. Sam's single mother talks him into going to a party with her so he can meet Alicia, the daughter of an acquaintance. Sam and Alicia seem to click and one thing leads to another. What makes this narrative so interesting and funny is that it's all told from Sam's point of view. Sam is a skateboarder living with divorced mother whose hero, Tony Hawk (aka T. H.), becomes something of a father-figure in his life. Sam has read T. H.'s autobiography so many times he imagines Tony is conversing with him when Sam talks to the poster of Tony hanging in his bedroom. So Tony is the one Sam consults when he learns his girlfriend is pregnant. No one else in Sam's life seems to understand his problems like Tony. So Sam keeps up a constant dialogue with the reader and with Tony. Sam's observations and assessments of the people and events as they occur produce an understanding of just how confusing human interaction can become. How he works through the conflicts and issues of teenage fatherhood will keep you reading to the last word.

I found the story funny, sad, heartwarming and, most of all, true.

This review is based on the audible.com free version. ( )

Another really good read from Nick Hornby ( )

A perfect airport/transport book. For those who went off Hornby a bit with his last two novels, this one in tone and narrator is closer to About A Boy and High Fidelity. Soon to be a major movie near you. To bad the kid from About A Boy is probably too old by now to play this part.

Likable teenage boy, single mom, lower-class family gets a girl pregnant in convincing circumstances--and she decides to keep the kid with no apparently no hand wringing and futzing. Again, convincing reasoning, tho I wondered why the option of open adoption never came up. Maybe they don't have it in England?

Not sure the device of periodically shooting the kid into the future works too well, though I'm already figuring out how it would work in the movie. (Only go to *one* future place and maybe work back how we got here). Also, Hornby doesn't have his heart in skateboarding the way he did with pop music and soccer. I think he was trying really hard not to rely on music or (traditional) sports as the thing for the kid to be fanatical about but, jeez, regardless,any story about kids this age ... should have little more music in it.

Hornby is no deep thinker, which is fine. What I like best about him is how lightly he drops in the little truths that we knew so well in adolescence yet rarely seem to surface in grown-up lit and media and public ranting arenas.

Like: sometimes it's the girl that's pushing the boy for sex. And: Some idiot girls want a baby in high school. The reason a boy (or het man) won't see Brokeback Mountain--or risk being seen at a movie theater showing said movie--is because in the opinion of his peers, there's only one reason he would want to see such a thing. Kids often realize that one parent is a total loser they don't want to emulate even if said parent is kind of fun. It can be embarrassing to have a mother that's too young and pretty. Older and fatter would be better.

A perfect airport/transport book. For those who went off Hornby a bit with his last two novels, this one in tone and narrator is closer to those of About A Boy and High Fidelity. Soon to be a major movie near you. Too back the kid from About A Boy is probably a too old by now.

Likable teenage boy, single mom, lower class family gets a girl pregnant in convincing circumstances--and she decides to keep the kid with no apparently no handwringing and futzing. Again, convincing reasoning, tho I wondered why the option of open adoption never came up. (Maybe they don't have it in England?)

Not sure the device of periodically shooting the kid into the future works too well, though I'm already figuring out how it would work in the movie. (Only go to *one* future place and maybe work back how we got here). Also didn't sense that Hornby had his heart in skateboarding. I think he was trying really hard not to rely on music or (traditional) sports as the thing for the kid to be fanatical about but, jeez, kids this age ... there should be more music in it.

Hornby is no deep thinker, which is fine. What I like best about him is how lightly he drops in little truths that we know from adolescence but somehow get nearly erased in grown-up lit and media and public ranting arenas.

Like: sometimes it's the girl that's pushing the boy for sex. Some idiot girls want a baby in high school. The reason boys (and men) don't want to see Brokeback Mountain--or risk being seen a movie theater showing said movie--is because to his peers there's only one reason he could be seeing such a thing. Kids often realize that one parent is a total loser they don't want to emulate even if he's kind of fun. It can be embarrassing to have a mother that's too young and pretty..

know from adolescence but somehow get nearly erased in grown-up lit and media and public ranting arenas.

Like: sometimes it's the girl that's pushing the boy for sex. Some idiot girls want a baby in high school. The reason boys (and men) don't want to see Brokeback Mountain--or risk being seen a movie theater showing said movie--is because to his peers there's only one reason he could be seeing such a thing. Kids often realize that one parent is a total loser they don't want to emulate even if he's kind of fun. It can be embarrassing to have a mother that's too young and pretty.. ( )

Stopped halfway through. I just didn't connect with the characters.