Nick Hornby

In my always expensive meanderings through the bookstore not so long ago, I was delighted to find a fourth book of Nick Hornby's "Stuff I've Been Reading" columns from the Believer magazine. His previous book of columns announced his retirement from writing these and I was sad to let these appealing delights go. It turns out I don't have to. Like many a professional athlete who has announced his retirement only to stage a return to the game, Hornby is back writing his column. And unlike many show more of the athletes, Hornby remains wonderful. His columns collected here are from May 2010 to November/December 2011 and they retain the casual, accessible, personal feel that characterized his earlier columns as well.

Starting with his list of books bought versus books read each month, Hornby gives the reader an inside glimpse at his reading life, the connections he makes between books and his outside interests, and the vagaries of a reading mind which starts confidently down one path only to happily divert to another. Regardless of whether his readers tend to gravitate to the same sorts of books he does, every dedicated bibliophile the world over should be able to relate to the ways in which one book leads to another and another and another, no matter how tangential the connection might seem to the outsider.

As is policy at the Believer, Hornby only discusses those books that he can positively endorse, leaving the snarky reviews to others. But like any reader who reads extensively, this leaves him no dearth of subject matter. His choices seems slightly different than in the past books as he's discussing far more back list books and on the whole fewer recent releases. He does discuss topical non-fiction though and includes the impact of the non-bookish life going on around him as he reads any of his books, fiction or not, recently published or not. Reading his essays is a delight and feels just like listening to one of my book-loving friends discuss her recent reading, roaming far and wide, recommending and relating. And just like when I have these types of discussions in real life, Hornby has once again left me with a list of books to investigate. Whether I acquire them or not and if once acquired, I neglect to read them, as Hornby's essays reinforce, I'll be in good company. I do know, though that if Hornby writes another of these wonderful paeans to reading and books, I will most certainly acquire it as I have the previous four. show less

Questo, per me, è uno di quei libri benedetti che appaiono nella tua vita proprio nel momento in cui ne avevi bisogno.Insomma, non è che stessi vivendo chissà quale crisi pofonda, si trattava di uno di quegli attimi di smarrimento sentimental-esistenziale molto comune nella vita di una persona, ma questo libro mi sorprese...conteneva tutto ciò che avevo da sapere in quel momento, per di più esposto con lucidità e ironia. Ho imparato molto di più da Alta Fedeltà che da decine di show more conversazioni con decine di amici (in teoria) intelligentissimi, espertissimi e scaltrissimi. Non scherzo quando dico che la mia attuale visione del mondo, delle relazioni interpersonali e della mia vita non può prescindere da ciò che imparai da questo libro.
PS. se avete amici intelligentissimi, espertissimi e scaltrissimi, teneteveli stretti e non sostituiteli con libri...mi raccomando ;-)) show less

I don’t know how he does it, but there’s something about a Nick Hornby book that so hooks me that I feel part of the story – I can always identify with some of the characters.

Juliet Naked is the story of a lost rock star, a completist fan and his partner. Annie and Duncan have reached that point in their lives where their shared love of the reclusive US rock star Tucker Crowe isn’t enough any longer. Duncan, one of the world’s foremost Croweologists is obsessed by the man, his show more music, his lyrics, his concerts; Annie’s interest is waning – she needs more than this from life – a baby is at the top of the list. Meanwhile Tucker had walked out of a tour some years ago, leaving the world of rock’n'roll to his fans. He has been living quietly since, raising a brood of alienated children all by different mothers. Ever the commitment-phobe, he is gradually realising that his latest relationship with the mother of his six year old kid Jackson won’t last either.

The release of the demo sessions from Crowe’s best album ‘Juliet’ as ‘Juliet, Naked’ that is the catalyst for change in all of their lives. Duncan raves about it, Annie hates it preferring the honed final version, and unusually for her she posts a review on the net and Tucker reads it and emails her. This schism is driving a wedge ever further between Duncan and Annie and when Duncan is unfaithful they split; anyway Annie is becoming rather entranced by her growing virtual relationship with Crowe, who will come into both their lives in reality soon…

Hornby’s big themes of lives wasted, mid-life crises, that families require work, and obsession are worked out in his characteristic fluent and witty style with some moments of pathos thrown in. He is sympathetic to all of them, yet doesn’t let them get away with it, they have to suffer the consequences of their actions. He knows them, understands their needs and obsessions (as I felt do I!), and this makes for an engaging and satisfying read with all ends tied up neatly. As a companion piece to the wonderful High Fidelity, if you liked that you’ll certainly enjoy Juliet, Naked which could be seen as the next chapters in the lives of Rob and Laura. The main characters here being that bit olde,r and needing to do that last bit of growing up with their mid-life crises, make this a wistful and bittersweet book which may be of less interest to bright young things, but will surely resonate with more mature music fans!

(8.5/10) I got given this book, but would have bought it anyway! show less

Rating: 4* of five

The Book Description: “Read what you enjoy, not what bores you,” Nick Hornby tells us. That simple, liberating, and indispensable directive animates each installment of the celebrated critic and author’s monthly column in the Believer. In this delightful and never-musty tour of his reading life, Hornby tells us not just what to read, but how to read.

Whether tackling a dismayingly bulky biography of Dickens while his children destroy something in the next room, or show more getting sucked into a serious assessment of Celine Dion during an intensely fought soccer match featuring his beloved Arsenal, or devouring an entire series of children’s books while on vacation, Hornby’s reviews are rich, witty, and occasionally madcap. These essays capture the joy and ire, the despair and exhilaration of the book-lover’s life, and will appeal equally to both monocle-wearing salonnieres and people, like him, who spend a lot of time thinking about Miley Cyrus’s next role.


My Review: What fun. What a perfect way to smile and wile a few hours away. What a terrible thing to do to myself, read a book of a book-lover’s book review columns. By dint of the most severe self-talk imaginable, I held myself to requesting one—ONE—book from the liberry after reading Hornby's review of same.

A biography. Of Charles Dickens.

Yes, that's right, Nick Hornby the Book Incubus, the Boy-Siren, has convinced me, the arch-hater of Chuckles the Dick, to eat his turnips and read a book about the horrid bore. If I'm honest, which depressingly enough I am, I must say that Claire Tomalin's disparagement of several of the Great Satan's novels played a large part in my willingness to put myself through this misery.

So if you don't know me at all, let me assure you that there are several jaws now being scraped off of floors on several continents and a selection of islands. Hornby? He got the goods, my man, he got the goods if he can convince Richard to read about Dickens.

And he does. Hornby's mix of personal life, professional writing career, and lifelong reader-of-stories is perfect for a grazing read, pieces of just the right length to amuse without burdening the pleasure-seeking reader with interesting but useless information. His sharp eye for the way books work, what makes Novel X miss where Novel O works brilliantly, and why biographies only ever get fatter and fatter as a person's life is serially biographized, and how history could be improved by thinning the cast...well, all that's so much a part of his observed world that it's merely the scaffolding he hangs funny, wise, glib, snarky sentences on.

Fourteen bucks retail. Worth every one of 'em, too. show less