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How to Be Good by Nick Hornby
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How to Be Good (original 2001; edition 2002)

by Nick Hornby

MembersReviewsPopularityAverage ratingMentions
7,6971111,159 (3.16)92
According to her own complex moral calculations, Katie Carr has earned her affair. She's a doctor, after all, and doctors are decent people, and on top of that, her husband David is the self-styled angriest man in Holloway. But when David suddenly becomes good Katie's sums no longer add up, and she asks herself some very hard questions.… (more)
Member:alpha_005
Title:How to Be Good
Authors:Nick Hornby
Info:Riverhead Trade (2002), Edition: 1st Thus., Paperback, 320 pages
Collections:Your library
Rating:***
Tags:Mysticism, defiance

Work Information

How to Be Good by Nick Hornby (2001)

  1. 10
    This Book Will Save Your Life by A. M. Homes (ellengryphon)
    ellengryphon: Opposite sides of the same mid-life crisis coin, both books are witty, imaginative while raising those big, capital 'Q' life questions. Ironically Hornby does a great job of giving voice to a bewildered, soul-searching woman while Holmes brilliantly pens her book in the male voice. I highly recommend both -- fun reads with some depth.… (more)
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» See also 92 mentions

English (104)  French (2)  German (2)  Spanish (2)  Italian (1)  All languages (111)
Showing 1-5 of 104 (next | show all)
My first Nick Hornby (how did I avoid for so long?!). Actually quite enjoyed it, although I'm sure I've come across very similar plots before (spouse starts acting different, family cant cope, lots of struggles, then everything rights itself - almost - in the end), so it's not exactly unique.
  nordie | Oct 14, 2023 |
Hornby doesn't write bad novels. This is not my favorite of his, and I did skim thru some chapters, but a good story non the less. ( )
  mykl-s | Dec 17, 2022 |
The ending felt so rushed and out of place based on the rest of the book. ( )
  kayfeif | Jul 7, 2022 |
It is difficult to believe Hornby is not a menopausal woman. Wry, dry, utterly honest and self-deprecating, with no great attempt at prettifying reality. ( )
  SwatiRavi | Jun 27, 2022 |
My first Nick Hornby book (sad to admit, hard to believe), but I found him to be a breezy writer who could mingle humor and pathos without ever pulling you out of the story to do so.

This is apparently his first book with a female protagonist, and I thought he did a great job with his newfound 'feminine' voice. Eager to read "High Fidelity" next, being a music fan and having heard so much about the book over the years.

Viva! Good stuff, Nick! ( )
  TommyHousworth | Feb 5, 2022 |
Showing 1-5 of 104 (next | show all)
Readers of ''High Fidelity'' will remember that Hornby wrapped up that sharp tale of modern love with a disingenuously bright bow of a last scene. Here, the pattern's reversed, and 305 pages of treacle (cut, it must be said, with acid humor) build to a final paragraph bearing more truth about marriage and family than all that preceded it.
 
"How to Be Good" is partly a wry marital comedy about how a spouse's change of heart invariably destabilizes his longtime partner's own identity, but it's also a thorny parable about the dangers of complacent, conventional self-satisfaction. It's also a very funny and shrewd novel, like Hornby's others, full of acerbic observations about book-buying habits, the virtues of friends who don't really listen to what you say, the tactlessness of children, movies that all seem to "involve spacecraft or insects or noise" and the poisonous bitchiness of those dissatisfied souls who hover in the margins of the creative life.
added by stephmo | editSalon.com, Laura Miller (Jul 25, 2001)
 
A generation ago, Western society held an informal plebiscite to decide whether the common good would be better served by sane, decent people like Katie or lollapaloozas like GoodNews. The holy fools lost, and the vote wasn't close. It's anyone's guess why Hornby felt it was time for a recount.
added by stephmo | editNew York Times, Joe Queenan (Jul 1, 2001)
 
You might say that, by the end, the questions this engaging book opens are too big for the lives it describes; but then, as Katie concludes, aren't they always?
added by stephmo | editThe Observer, Tim Adams (May 27, 2001)
 
Hornby's prose is artful and effortless, his spiky wit as razored as a number-two cut. There are some delightful comic set-ups, and his dialogue sings with empathy for the discordant voices of ordinary, struggling humanity
 

» Add other authors (14 possible)

Author nameRoleType of authorWork?Status
Nick Hornbyprimary authorall editionscalculated
Øverås, LinnTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Chapman, IsabelleTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Drechsler, ClaraTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Hellmann, HaraldTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Jesmin, RiinaTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Viviani, StefanoTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Zulaika Goicoechea, JesúsTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
Zulaika, JesúsTranslatorsecondary authorsome editionsconfirmed
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I am in a car park in Leeds when I tell my husband I don't want to be married to him anymore.
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(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)
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According to her own complex moral calculations, Katie Carr has earned her affair. She's a doctor, after all, and doctors are decent people, and on top of that, her husband David is the self-styled angriest man in Holloway. But when David suddenly becomes good Katie's sums no longer add up, and she asks herself some very hard questions.

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Penguin Australia

An edition of this book was published by Penguin Australia.

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