Shakespeare Wrote for Money

I should preface this review by admitting that I am totally in love with Nick Hornby. I have never met the man, or even seen him in a picture (unless the stylized guy on the covers of the three collections of The Believer essays is him) but I have a raging crush on him anyway and it's all because of books like this one.

This is the third in the collection of essays Hornby wrote for The Believer magazine, following The Polysyllabic Spree and Housekeeping Versus the Dirt. They all start off with a list of books he's bought and books he's read that month. The lists never match up, which is true for most reading addicts I know and is endearing as get out to this addict, who loves to know she is not alone. Then the essays range over the books show more he's read that month, sometimes touching on their connections to life and other times entertaining digressions from the world of books entirely. As per magazine policy, he only discusses books he's enjoyed but occasionally mentions, without identifying features, books he's set aside as unreadable. The essays read like a conversation you might have with Hornby while walking down a street together, easy and comfortable, smart and engaging. This is truly a wonderful book for other book lovers, and especially those of us who take some measure of enjoyment from writing about what we've read. Unfortunately, this is the last of the collections of this type as Hornby has left the magazine to spend more time with his family. A sad event for his readers although probably a happy one for his family (darn them anyway). Highly recommended. show less

For years Nick Hornby (author of High Fidelity) has written a column for Believer Magazine about the books he is currently reading. In the hands of another author the column could have been condescending or intimidating, but Hornby’s casual style and honest approach made it fun.

This isn’t my favorite collection of the columns. I think he comes off as a bit more jaded and frustrated with the editorial staff at Believer here. But there are still some wonderful gems about his love of reading. I also discovered a few books that I immediately added to my TBR. Hornby and I don’t have the same taste in books, but at this point I’m pretty sure I know where our tastes overlap.

Hornby has always been a vocal advocate for reading being show more fun, not work. That enthusiasm comes through in his writing and I can’t help feeling a bit more passionate about it myself after reading one of his columns.

“I now see that dismissing YA books because you’re not a young adult is a little bit like refusing to watch thrillers on the grounds that you’re not a policeman or a dangerous criminal, and as a consequence, I’ve discovered a previously ignored room at the back of the bookstore that’s filled with masterpieces I’ve never heard of.”

Each chapter represents one month’s column and begins with a list of “Books Bought” and “Books Read” that month. This collection contains his first “What are you watching” column too. It was a fun deviation from the norm to read about shows or movies he was enjoying.

BOTTOM LINE: If you’re new to these columns I would recommend starting with The Polysyllabic Spree. It’s the first collection and my personal favorite. If you already love them then this one is a must for you!

“Yes, it’s the job of artists to force us to stare at the horror until we are on the verge of passing out. But it’s also the job of artists to offer warmth and hope and maybe even an escape from lives that can occasionally seem unendurably drab.”

“There have always been relentless and empty-headed self-promoters, although in the good old days we used to ignore them, rather than give them their own reality show.”

“Maybe the best thing to do with favorite films and books is to leave them be: to achieve such an exalted position means that they entered your life at exactly the right time, and precisely the right place, and those conditions can never be re-created.” show less

The last in his collection of article written for The Believer, Shakespeare Wrote for Money is just as funny as the first two. The dates on the articles are from August 2006 to September 2008, and include a wide range of books read from YA titles to a biography of Shakespeare.

I love getting the perspective of someone that's intelligent and interesting and humorous and feels like a real reader telling a friend what they liked or didn't like about the books they've read lately. That's the main reason these books appeal to me. Even when I'm not all that interested in the books he's talking about, I enjoy reading about his experiences as a reader instead of reading a more objective, professional review that tells me lots about a book but show more little about someone's experience reading it. show less

Shakespeare Wrote for Money is the third collection of the columns Mr. Hornby wrote for Believer magazine about the books he read each month. This is the column that almost got me to subscribe to Believer; a popular author with eclectic reading tastes, writing about the books he's reading every month--sounds like the perfect thing for every incurable biblioholic to me.

Shakespeare Wrote for Money, the final collection, covers Mr. Hornby's reading from August 2006 to September 2008 and includes September 2006 when Mr. Hornby read not a single book, due to his obsession with watching the World Cup. It's nice to know that even a devoted reader takes a month off now and then.

Each entry begins with a list of the books Mr. Hornby read that show more month along side a list of the books he bought. The lists never match. Book bloggers tend to love lists of books and I freely admit that these added greatly to my own enjoyment of Shakespeare Wrote for Money. (What is it about list of books that we all like so much? Are we really closeted librarians?) The articles/chapters are breezily written and tend to wonder off on whatever tangents Mr. Hornby's reading suggest, though never in an uninteresting way. One month he reads several books about East Germany's police force the Stasi and a couple on mental illness, while in another he discovers the world of Young Adult fiction. He claims that his editors, whom he calls the Polyphonic Spree, won't allow him to write bad reviews so he ends up recommending almost everything he reads. (This does have the side effect of adding titles to ones TBR list. Consider yourself warned.)

Though not as eclectic as I am, since he freely admits his complete lack of interest in fantasy and science fiction, Mr. Hornby reads a wide range of material. His reviews cover non-fiction, some popular, some more serious, and fiction ranging from literature in translation, to graphic novels, to classics, to Young Adult fiction, to best sellers. There is something for almost everyone in Shakespeare Wrote for Money. (Except, of course, people who read only fantasy and science fiction.)

While Mr. Hornby is a successful author, he reads more like an everyman. You won't find an esoteric critique of literature in these columns, but you will find an honest and open reflection on what one man's reading experience was like. When something moves him in an embarrassing way, he admits it. When something begins to bore him, he admits that as well. At least, as much as his editors who do not like negative reviews will allow. He does not recommend books that are good for you or that should be read, but books that he enjoyed reading. A useful distinction that makes Shakespeare Wrote for Money a useful and entertaining read. show less

Everything this man writes entertains me. This is the third and final compilation of his column "Stuff I've Been Reading" in which he lists the books he buys each month and the books he actually reads. In comparing the lists he talks, not only about the books, but about the process of being a reader: how he chooses books and what they have to do with his own life. I particularly enjoyed this collection because after having written a young adult novel and attended an ALA conference Hornby "discovered" young adult fiction. He says it was if he'd suddenly found a whole room in the book store he didn't know about with all these amazing titles in it. At one point he decides he might only read Alex Award winners from now on, (a yearly award show more presented to adult novels that will also appeal to teens) suggesting the award could be re-named "The excellent AND NOT BORING award". I'm sorry there won't be any more of these books, I've loved this whole series. show less

What a delightful surprise. For some reason, I assumed Housekeeping vs The Dirt contained the last of Nick Hornby's beloved columns for the Believer. So you can imagine how pleased I was to discover that he had continued writing for the literary magazine for two more years (albeit with a little break), and thus another collection had been produced.

What I love about Nick Hornby's columns is that ultimately, he is one of us. Book lover, geek, afficionado. However you want to think of it. He is someone who gets excited about the prospect of going hunting for books, who buys far more than he ever plans to read, someone who can't help himself...just like us. It is this, along with his hilariously witty writing, that makes his columns so show more readable.

Shakespeare Wrote for Money is a highly enjoyable return to Hornby's wit and honesty, and wonderfully random detours into complete nonsense. Standout moments in this book are Hornby's discovery of young adult fiction, abandoning a month of reading to watch and rant about the World Cup, discovering how ants find their way home.

However, I did not find this collection quite as engaging as Hornby's previous work for the Believer. I did not find as many side-splitting laughs as before, and a lot of the books reviewed did not interest me as much. But that is personal preference of course, and I did pick up several recommendations from this collection, some of which I was already thinking of reading:

Skellig - David Almond
The Accidental - Ali Smith
Field Notes from a Catastrophe - Elizabeth Kolbert
On Chesil Beach - Ian McEwan
Poppy Shakespeare - Clare Allan
The Road - Cormac McCarthy
American Born Chinese - Gene Luen Yang
Tom's Midnight Garden - Philippa Pearce
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot Diaz

Definitely worth a read, though I recommend the other two collections even more! Nick Hornby, the worst bad bloggers of all! We'll miss your columns. show less

I don't know why I enjoy reading about someone's reading habits so much, but I do. Nick Hornby's humor, great observations, and excellent book recommendations is part of it , of course. This is the final installment of books collecting Hornby's "Stuff I've Been Reading" column from Believer magazine. Plain and simple: it's just fun to read. I did have one disagreement with Hornby. He said that Cormac McCarthy's The Road was good, but depressing. He said that he didn't think anyone should feel that they have to read it. I say it should be required reading for all human beings. I think that people tend to not read enough books that make us look at how depraved and selfish we can get. I firmly believe reading books like The Road or dark show more satire like Kurt Vonnegut makes us better people. We don't want to be like the sick, selfish, idiotic people in those books. If all we read is tripe that makes us feel good without thinking too much about ourselves, we tend to do things like shoot people in shopping malls simply because we're bored and want to get on the news. show less