New Releases by Nick Hornby

“An ardent fan letter from Hornby that makes you want to re-read Great Expectations while listening to Sign o’ the Times.” —Vogue "This pairing -- two magnificent creatives, centuries and genres apart -- makes stunning sense in the hands of their wisest, wittiest fan." -- People From the bestselling author of Just Like You, High Fidelity, and Fever Pitch, a short, warm, and entertaining book about art, creativity, and the unlikely similarities between Victorian novelist Charles Dickens and modern American rock star Prince Every so often, a pairing comes along that seems completely unlikely—until it’s not. Peanut butter and jelly, Dennis Rodman and Kim Jong Un, ducks and puppies, and now: Dickens and Prince. Equipped with a fan’s admiration and his trademark humor and wit, Nick Hornby invites us into his latest obsession: the cosmic link between two unlikely artists, geniuses in their own rights, spanning race, class, and centuries—each of whom electrified their different disciplines and whose legacy resounded far beyond their own time. When Prince’s 1987 record Sign o’ the Times was rereleased in 2020, the iconic album now came with dozens of songs that weren’t on the original— Prince was endlessly prolific, recording 102 songs in 1986 alone. In awe, Hornby began to wonder, Who else ever produced this much? Who else ever worked that way? He soon found his answer in Victorian novelist and social critic Charles Dickens, who died more than a hundred years before Prince began making music. Examining the two artists’ personal tragedies, social statuses, boundless productivity, and other parallels, both humorous and haunting, Hornby shows how these two unlikely men from different centuries “lit up the world.” In the process, he creates a lively, stimulating rumination on the creativity, flamboyance, discipline, and soul it takes to produce great art.

”[A] charming, funny, touching, and relevant comedy.” —The Boston Globe “A provocative yet sweet romantic comedy.” —People, Best of Fall 2020 From the beloved author of Dickens and Prince, About A Boy, and High Fidelity, this warm, wise, highly entertaining twenty-first century love story is about what happens when the person who makes you happiest is someone you never expected Lucy used to handle her adult romantic life according to the script she’d been handed. She met a guy just like herself: same age, same background, same hopes and dreams; they got married and started a family. Too bad he made her miserable. Now, two decades later, she’s a nearly divorced, forty-one-year-old schoolteacher with two school-aged sons, and there is no script anymore. So when she meets Joseph, she isn’t exactly looking for love—she’s more in the market for a babysitter. Joseph is twenty-two, living at home with his mother, and working several jobs, including the butcher counter where he and Lucy meet. It’s not a match anyone one could have predicted. He’s of a different class, a different culture, and a different generation. But sometimes it turns out that the person who can make you happiest is the one you least expect, though it can take some maneuvering to see it through. Just Like You is a brilliantly observed, tender, but also brutally funny new novel that gets to the heart of what it means to fall surprisingly and headlong in love with the best possible person—someone you didn’t see coming.

A heartbreaking, funny, and honest look inside of a marriage falling apart and the lengths a couple would go to in order to fix it from the bestselling author of Dickens and Prince, About a Boy and High Fidelity Now an Emmy award winning SundanceTV series starring Rosamund Pike and Chris O''Dowd Tom and Louise meet in a pub before their couple''s therapy appointment. Married for years, they thought they had a stable home life--until a recent incident pushed them to the brink. Going to therapy seemed like the perfect solution. But over drinks before their appointment, they begin to wonder: what if marriage is like a computer? What if you take it apart to see what''s in there, but then you''re left with a million pieces? Unfolding in the minutes before their weekly therapy sessions, the ten-chapter conversation that ensues is witty and moving, forcing them to look at their marriage--and, for the first time in a long time, at each other.

En Rob Fleming té una botiga de discos antics tronada però cool on només ven la música que li agrada a ell. I només vinils, és clar, encara que el negoci, destinat a un públic de col·leccionistes de frivolitats molt seriosos, està sempre a punt de fer fallida. I ara, a més, la Laura l’ha deixat. És perquè en Rob s’entossudeix a perpetuar l’adolescència fins a la decrepitud? O bé –això creu ell– perquè la seva col·lecció de discos i la de la Laura són incompatibles? En Rob es refugia en la companyia d’en Barry i en Dick, els seus inefables còmplices a la botiga, i junts fan innombrables i molt masculines llistes dels top del pop: les cinc millors pel·lícules, en què sempre hi ha Reservoir Dogs, els cinc millors capítols de Cheers i les cinc millors cançons d’Elvis Costello... I també comença a sortir amb la Marie, una cantant americana. Sembla que finalment farà realitat un dels seus somnis, tenir una nòvia amb un contracte discogràfic, però llavors reapareix la Laura. I en Rob aviat començarà a fer-se preguntes de difícil resposta sobre la família, la monogàmia, l’amor, el desamor i la maduresa. Pot ser que a la fi descobreixi que també hi ha vida, i música, després de l’adolescència?

"How often do you begin reading a book that makes you—immediately, urgently, desperately—want to read more books?” (Booklist). Nick Hornby has managed to write just such a book in this hilarious, insightful, and infectious volume. Ten Years in the Tub chronicles Hornby''s journey through a decade’s worth of books, as related in his wildly popular Believer column “Stuff I’ve Been Reading.” Ten Years in the Tub is a one-way ticket into the mind of one of the most beloved contemporary writers on his favorite pastime, but it''s also a meditation on what Celine Dion can teach us about ourselves, a warning about how John Updike can ruin our sex lives, and a recommendation for the way Body Shop Vanilla Shower Gel can add excitement to our days. This "decade-long addiction for many... makes standing in line at the bank a blessed interval for snorting another page.” (the New York Times Book Review)

A brilliant novel about a woman determined to make a name for herself as a sitcom star in 1960''s London from the bestselling author of Dickens and Prince, High Fidelity and About a Boy Funny Girl is a lively account of the adventures of the intrepid young Sophie Straw as she navigates her transformation from provincial ingénue to television starlet amid a constellation of delightful characters. Insightful and humorous, Funny Girl does what Nick Hornby does best: endears us to a cast of characters who are funny if flawed, and forces us to examine ourselves in the process.

Stuff I''ve Been Reading by Nick Hornby - the bestselling novelist''s rich, witty and inspiring reading diary''Read what you enjoy, not what bores you,'' Nick Hornby tells us. And in this new collection of his columns from the Believer magazine he shows us how it''s done. From historical tomes to comic books, literary novels to children''s stories, political thrillers to travel writing, Stuff I''ve Been Reading details Nick''s thoughts and experiences on books by George Orwell, J.M. Barrie, Muriel Spark, Claire Tomalin, Charles Dickens, Mark Twain, Jennifer Egan, Ian McEwan, Cormac McCarthy and many, many more. This wonderfully entertaining journey in reading differs from all other reviews or critical appreciations - it takes into account the role that books actually play in our lives.This book, which is classic Hornby, confirms the novelist''s status as one of the world''s most exciting curators of culture. It will be loved by fans of About a Boy and High Fidelity, as well as readers of Will Self, Zadie Smith, Stewart Lee and Charlie Brooker.

Dans les Swinging Sixties la nation tout entiere est sous le charme de Sophie Straw, la nouvelle star de la comedie a succes de la BBC. Ca tombe bien, cette ancienne Miss Blackpool n a qu une ambition dans la vie: faire rire les gens. En studio comme a l ecran, l equipe du feuilleton vit de grands moments. Les scenaristes, pour qui le genre comique est une religion, cachent tous deux un secret. Pur produit d Oxbridge, le producteur est devoue corps et ame a l equipe en general et a Sophie en particulier. Quant a Clive, le premier role masculin, il a la tenace intuition que ce n est qu une parenthese dans sa carriere Lorsque la fi ction rejoint la realite de trop pres et que le scenario epouse les peripeties de la vie, chacun doit faire un choix. Continuer ou changer de chaine ? Une defense et illustration de la pop culture et du ivertissement, pleine de fous rires et de tendresse.Traduit de l anglais par Christine Barbaste- Hornby est une des voix les plus droles et les plus subtiles de la fiction contemporaine. -Chicago Tribune- Hornby est un ecrivain qui ose tout, a la fois l humour, l intelligence et la generosite. -The New York Times Book Review- Son roman le plus ambitieux. -The Times- Un roman poignant et plein d esprit sur la comedie, les classes, les mutations sociales sans doute son meilleur. -The Irish Times- Une defense sincere et une illustration reussie de ce que le divertissement populaire peut accomplir. -The Daily Telegraph- Une lettre d amour a la revolution culturelle de la TV des annees 1960 et a quelques-uns des auteurs preferes deHornby Funny Girl est son roman le plus lumineux. - Metro- Sujet oblige, ce roman est plein de fous rires mais aussi plus profond qu il n y parait. - The New York Times- Funny Girl ricoche allegrement, tel un caillou sur l eau. Impossible a lacher. - Newsweek"

A wise, affecting novel from the beloved, award-winning author of Dickens and Prince, High Fidelity, and About A Boy. New York Times-bestselling author Nick Hornby mines the hearts and psyches of four lost souls who connect just when they''ve reached the end of the line. A Long Way Down is now a major motion picture from Magnolia Pictures starring Pierce Brosnan, Toni Collette, Aaron Paul, and Imogen Poots. Meet Martin, JJ, Jess, and Maureen. Four people who come together on New Year''s Eve: a former TV talk show host, a musician, a teenage girl, and a mother. Three are British, one is American. They encounter one another on the roof of Topper''s House, a London destination famous as the last stop for those ready to end their lives. In four distinct and riveting first-person voices, Nick Hornby tells a story of four individuals confronting the limits of choice, circumstance, and their own mortality. This is a tale of connections made and missed, punishing regrets, and the grace of second chances. Intense, hilarious, provocative, and moving, A Long Way Down is a novel about suicide that is, surprisingly, full of life.

Set in 1960's London, Funny Girl is a lively account of the adventures of the intrepid young Sophie Straw as she navigates her transformation from provincial ingenue to television starlet amid a constellation of delightful characters. Insightful and humorous, Nick Hornby's latest does what he does best: endears us to a cast of characters who are funny if flawed, and forces us to examine ourselves in the process.

“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 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.

''Good fun, fresh vulnerable . . . fans of Hornby''s novels will be happy'' Andrew Motion, THE TIMES ''Smart, entertaining and moving. A manifesto on why pop is so glorious, beautiful and important'' SUNDAY EXPRESS Through thirty-one songs that he either loves or has loved, Nick Hornby tells us what music means to his life. These personal and passionate pieces - refreshingly free of pretension - are a celebration of the joy that certain songs have given him. Together with additional writings on music from his column in the New Yorker - seen in the UK for the first time - 31 Songs is for Hornby what many of us have always wanted: a soundtrack to accompany life. ''Funny, provocative, immensely readable. It is not simply about music . . . it is about Hornby, and us, and about being alive. His enthusiasm is such that he makes me want to be a better listener - and I can offer no better compliment. A triumph'' Tim Lott, EVENING STANDARD ''Original, well written and wholly lacking in pretension . . . as good a book about pop music as I have read in many years and the most accomplished of Hornby''s books so far'' SPECTATOR ''Refreshing, candid, very moving. Reminds you why you loved music before you knew enough to explain your love away'' UNCUT

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE STARRING ETHAN HAWKE AND ROSE BYRNE From the beloved New York Times bestselling author, a quintessential Nick Hornby tale of music, superfandom, and the truths and lies we tell ourselves about life and love. Annie finds herself caught in the web of a relationship with Duncan, who adores Tucker Crowe, a reclusive singer-songwriter who vanished from the music scene years ago. As Annie''s love for Duncan fades, an unexpected email correspondence with Tucker sparks a connection between two searching souls. What happens when a washed-up musician looks for another chance? And miles away, a restless, childless woman looks for a change? Juliet, Naked is a powerfully engrossing, humblingly humorous novel about music, love, loneliness, and the struggle to live up to one’s promise.

In these two stories from bestselling author Nick Hornby revelations are at hand. In "Not a Star", Lynn has always thought her son, Mark, was a little, well, unremarkable. Until the day a neighbor drops off a porn video at her house, with a note telling her to watch it. Turns out, Mark is rather remarkable in one specific area of his life (and anatomy). Lynn and her husband, Dave, don’t quite know what to think. The revelation of their son’s talent ripples through Lynn’s life as she alternately encounters humor, horror, and unexpected emotional reactions. What do you do in the face of impending doom? In "Otherwise, Pandemonium," you lose your virginity with the hottest girl in the Little Berkeley Big Band… Here, the world is a different place; the future is uncertain; the choices one makes are the only thing standing between a semblance of order or utter chaos. And the TV’s been acting funny. This is a story that makes you think and feel, and reminds us of the fleeting nature of time.

From the New York Times bestselling author—the shooting script to his award-winning film, with an original Introduction and vivid stills from the movie. Jenny is a 16-year-old girl stifled by the tedium of adolescence; she can’t wait for her sophisticated adult life to begin. One rainy day her suburban existence is upended by the arrival of David, a much older suitor who introduces her to a glittering new world of concerts, art, smoky bars, urban nightlife, and his glamorous friends, replacing her traditional education with his own version. It could be her awakening—or her undoing. This edition of Hornby’s adapted screenplay, which includes stills from the film, is a perfect accompaniment to the highly anticipated movie, which stars Carey Mulligan as Jenny, Peter Sarsgaard, Emma Thompson, Dominic Cooper, and Alfred Molina. It is a must-have for fans of Hornby’s novels, featuring his signature pitch-perfect dialogue, mordant wit, and the resonant humanity of his writing. Watch a Video

The final collection from Nick Hornby''s column "Stuff I''ve Been Reading" in the Believer magazine.

Gerade als alles richtig gut läuft für Sam, lässt seine Ex-Freundin die Bombe platzen: Sie teilt ihm mit, dass sie schwanger ist. Eine Katastrophe für den 18-jährigen Sam. Er kann sich nur an eine Person wenden, an seinen Helden, die Skater-Legende Tony Hawk. Aber sogar der scheint diesmal nicht weiterhelfen zu können ... Und so hängt es in dieser witzigen, bewegenden Geschichte allein von Sam ab, die richtigen Entscheidungen zu treffen. Mit jugendlicher Ausstrahlung liest Matthias Schweighöfer souverän diesen neuen Wurf von Nick Hornby und verströmt ganz nebenbei noch reichlich Charme. (Laufzeit: 5h 50).

The Complete Polysyllabic Spree is Nick Hornby''s wickedly funny journey through reading This is not a book of reviews. This is not a book that sneers at other books. This is a book about reading - about enjoying books wherever and however you find them. Nick Hornby, author of the bestsellers About a Boy and Fever Pitch - takes us on a hilarious and perceptive tour through the books he bought, the books he read and his thoughts on literature. He is first and foremost a reader and he approaches books like the rest of us: hoping to pick up one he can''t put down. The Complete Polysyllabic Spree is a diary of sorts, charting his reading life over two years. It is a celebration of why we read - its pleasures, its disappointments and its surprises. And above all, it is for you - the ever hopeful reader. For fans of Bill Bryson and Stephen Fry, and for bookworms everywhere, this witty, passionate book will make you cherish the world of letters anew. ''An engaged and engaging ramble around one reader''s mind'' The Times ''Not only does it make you want to read more but, like all great books, it''s also terrific company'' Metro ''For anyone whose idea of a good time is arguing with friends about their favourite books...amusing and contagiously enthusiastic'' Big Issue

Fourteen months of Hornby''s warm, incisive, and hilarious chronicles of the books he buys and the books he reads.In this latest collection of essays following ''The Polysyllabic Spree,'' critic and author Nick Hornby continues the feverish survey of his swollen bookshelves, offering a funny, intelligent, and unblinkered account of the stuff he''s been reading. Ranging from the middlebrow to the highbrow (with unrepenting dips into the lowbrow), Hornby''s dispatches from his nightstand table serve as useful guides to contemporary letters, with revelations on contemporary culture, the intellectual scene, and English football, in equal measure.

THE MILLION COPY NO. 1 BESTSELLER THAT BECAME AN ACCLAIMED FILM STARRING HUGH GRANT AND NICOLAS HOULT ''A very entertaining and endearing read'' The Times ___________________ Thirty-six-year-old Londoner Will loves his life. Living carefree off the royalties of his dad''s Christmas song, he''s rich, unattached and has zero responsibilities - just the way he likes it. But when Will meets Marcus, an awkward twelve-year-old who listens to Joni Mitchell and accidentally kills ducks with loaves of bread, an unlikely friendship starts to bloom. Can this odd duo teach each another how to finally act their age? Hugely funny and equally heartfelt, Nick Hornby''s classic proves you''re never too old to grow up. Perfect for fans of David Nicholls and Mike Gayle. ___________________ ''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

THE MILLION-COPY NO.1 BESTSELLER ''Enormously powerful'' Guardian ''Hilarious, sophisticated, compulsive'' The Times ___________________ ''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 it''s 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 and 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

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

*WINNER OF THE WILLIAM HILL SPORTS BOOK OF THE YEAR* Fever Pitch is Nick Hornby''s million-copy-selling, award-winnning football classic ''A spanking 7-0 away win of a football book. . . inventive, honest, funny, heroic, charming'' Independent For many people watching football is mere entertainment, to some it''s more like a ritual; but to others, its highs and lows provide a narrative to life itself. But, for Nick Hornby, his devotion to the game has provided one of few constants in a life where the meaningful things - like growing up, leaving home and forming relationships, both parental and romantic - have rarely been as simple or as uncomplicated as his love for Arsenal. Brimming with wit and honesty, Fever Pitch, catches perfectly what it really means to be a football fan - and in doing so, what it means to be a man. ''Hornby has put his finger on truths that have been unspoken for generations'' Irish Times ''Funny, wise and true'' Roddy Doyle

" Un roman hilarant, voilà l'événement ! [...] II y a de quoi faire dans cette histoire destinée aux individus coincés et mal coincés entre la trentaine et tout ce qui suit. Rob, bientôt trente-six ans, est mal en point : "Qu'ai-je fait de ma vie ?" se demande ce sempiternel adolescent qui craint de vieillir (même bien), au lendemain d'une rupture, en contemplant les bacs de son magasin de disques pop paumé dans une ruelle de Londres. [...] Pour notre plus grand plaisir, Rob, qui se demande in fine s'il ne serait pas un nul, décide d'entamer la falaise. II récapitule ses amours, depuis le premier, à douze ans, qui dura trois fois deux heures, jusqu'au dernier, une nuit correcte avec une chanteuse américaine, et dresse un inventaire hilarant de ses états d'âme. [...] Tous ceux qui considèrent comme vertige nécessaire le fait de savoir à un moment donné faire durer une relation monogame, se délecteront à la lecture de ce roman post-mélancolique qui célèbre les vertus du rire. " Catherine Argand, Lire.

“All I have to say about these songs is that I love them, and want to sing along to them, and force other people to listen to them, and get cross when these other people don’t like them as much as I do.” —Nick Hornby, from Songbook A wise and hilarious collection from the bestselling author of Dickens and Prince, Just Like You, Funny Girl and About a Boy. Songs, songwriters, and why and how they get under our skin… Songbook is Nick Hornby’s labor of love. A shrewd, funny, and completely unique collection of musings on pop music, why it’s good, what makes us listen and love it, and the ways in which it attaches itself to our lives—all with the beat of a perfectly mastered mix tape.

Roman personnel. Roman psychologique.