Nick Hornby

«Me enamoré del fútbol tal como más adelante me iba a enamorar de las mujeres: de repente, sin explicación, sin hacer ejercicio de mis facultades críticas, sin ponerme a pensar para nada en el dolor

Nick Hornby conecta la vida y obra de dos genios a los que adora. ¿Qué diantre tienen que ver Charles Dickens y Prince, un escritor británico del siglo XIX y un músico estadounidense del XX? De entrada, que Nick Hornby siente pasion por ambos. Pero hay mas. Coincidencias tal vez curiosas, acaso significativas que los conectan.Por ejemplo: antes de cumplir los treinta ambos tenian ya una solida carrera, habian dado a luz unas cuantas obras maestras y eran muy influyentes. Por ejemplo: ambos vivieron una infancia marcada por la pobreza, mostraron un decidido sentido del negocio y en algun momento se sintieron estafados. Por ejemplo: ambos murieron a los cincuenta y ocho años. Por ejemplo: ambos estaban obsesionados con el trabajo y eran hiperproductivosNacidos en dos continentes distintos con mas de un siglo de diferencia Dickens en Portsmouth en 1812, Prince en Mineapolis en 1958, estos dos genios comparten mas puntos de conexion de lo que pueda parecer a simple vista. Hay en sus vidas y sus carreras paralelismos que le permiten al autor trazar un sugestivo, apasionante doble retrato.Con el dinamismo y el entusiasmo habituales en Nick Hornby, este es un ensayo a un tiempo ameno y enjundioso, divertido y profundo, ludico y serio. Y sobre todo: una lectura apasionante.

Rob Fleming está a punto de cumplir treinta y seis años y tiene una tienda de discos antiguos en el norte de Londres; una tienda entre cutre y chic donde sólo vende la música que le gusta a él. Y nada mas que vinilos, claro esta, aunque su negocio, destinado a un publico de serios coleccionistas de frivolidades, este siempre al borde de la bancarrota. Y ahora, ademas, Laura, su ultima y fantastica novia, le ha dejado. ¿Sera porque Rob parece empeñado en prolongar su adolescencia hasta la decrepitud o, como piensa el, porque su coleccion de discos y la de Laura eran incompatibles? Para consolarse, Rob se refugia en la compañia de Barry y Dick, sus inefables complices en la tienda, y juntos hacen innumerables y muy masculinas listas de los top del pop: las cinco mejores peliculas (que siempre incluyen Reservoir Dogs), los cinco mejores episodios de Cheers y las cinco mejores canciones de Elvis Costello... Y tambien comienza a salir con Marie, una cantante americana.Pareciera que por fin va a cumplir uno de sus sueños, tener una novia contratada por una discografica, hasta que reaparece Laura. Y aunque Rob creyera al principio o fingiera creer que esta ruptura sentimental no estaba entre las mas cruentas de su vida, que Laura no era digna de figurar en la lista de las cinco principales que le habian roto el corazon, muy pronto comenzara a hacerse preguntas, preguntas muy arduas, y las listas de los top del pop no bastaran para darles respuesta: preguntas sobre la familia, la monogamia, el amor y el desamor, la madurez. ¿Sera que por fin va a descubrir que tambien hay vida, y musica, despues de la adolescencia?

Como sabemos, la Nochevieja tiene dos variantes: alegría dionisíaca ante un nuevo comienzo o caída en picado en el inventario de los proyectos abandonados. Quizá la Nochevieja y la vida merecen ser pensadas con mayor sutileza, pero eso es algo que las cuatro personas que coinciden en la terraza del altisimo edificio del norte de Londres conocido como la torre de los suicidas deberan aprender. Siempre y cuando resistan el impulso de lanzarse al vacio. Martin era un famoso presentador de television hasta que lo descubrieron liado con una jovencita de quince años. Maureen, catolica devotisima, ya no puede soportar su solitaria vida. A Jess, malhablada y en plena angustia adolescente, la ha dejado su novio, y ella quiere dejarlo todo. Y JJ es un joven americano con pinta de estrella del rock, que ahora reparte pizzas y no lo soporta. Pero como suicidarse es un acto intimo, y cuatro son multitud, postergan matarse. Y para matar el tiempo ?o tal vez aprender a vivir? crean un peculiar, imprevisible y altamente inflamable grupo de ayuda mutua. Posiblemente la novela mas divertida, mas comica sobre un suicidio colectivo (A. Barra, The Village Voice); La mejor novela de Nick Hornby; resulta imposible no leerla de un tiron (Ruth Rendell)

A charming - and sharp - love story about what it means to fall for someone who is your polar opposite' Sunday TelegraphLucy married just the sort of man you might expect: a university graduate who runs his own business. Unfortunately he turned out to have serious dependency issues.Joseph is shaking off the memory of his last date, a girl who ticked all the right boxes and also drove him up the wall.On an average Saturday morning in a butcher's shop in North London, Lucy and Joseph meet on opposite sides of the counter. She is a teacher and mother of two, with a past she is trying to forget; he is an aspiring DJ with a wide-open future that maybe needs to start becoming more focused. Lucy and Joseph are opposites in almost all ways. Can something life-changing grow from uncommon ground?Nick Hornby's brilliantly observed, tender and brutally funny new novel gets to the heart of what it means to fall headlong in love with the best possible person - someone who may not be just like you at all.

Nick Hornby's internationally bestselling first novel, available as a Penguin Essential for the first time. 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

Rob is a pop music junkie who runs his own semi-failing record store. His girlfriend, Laura, has just left him for the guy upstairs, and Rob is both miserable and relieved. After all, could he have spent his life with someone who has a bad record collection? Rob seeks refuge in the company of the offbeat clerks at his store, who endlessly review their top five films (Reservoir Dogs...); top five Elvis Costello songs ("Alison"...); top five episodes of Cheers (the one where Woody sang his stupid song to Kelly...). Rob tries dating a singer whose rendition of "Baby, I Love Your Way" makes him cry. But maybe it's just that he's always wanted to sleep with someone who has a record contract. Then he sees Laura again. And Rob begins to think (awful as it sounds) that life as an episode of thirtysomething, with all the kids and marriages and barbecues and k.d. lang CD's that this implies, might not be so bad.

Nick Hornby's How To Be Good - part of the limited edition Pengiun Street Art series: timeless writing, enduring design. '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 its 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 ad 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).

Contains: Fever Pitch, A Long Way Down, High Fidelity, Juliet Naked, How to Be Good and About A Boy.

Funny Girl - the much-anticipated new novel by Nick Hornby, the million-copy bestselling author of About a Boy.Make them laugh, and they''re yours forever...It''s the swinging 60s and the nation is mesmerized by unlikely comedy star Sophie Straw, the former Blackpool beauty queen who just wants to make people laugh, like her heroine Lucille Ball. Behind the scenes, the cast and crew are having the time of their lives. But when the script begins to get a bit too close to home, and life starts imitating art, they all face a choice. The writers, Tony and Bill, comedy obsessives, each harbour a secret.The Oxbridge-educated director, Dennis, loves his job but hates his marriage. The male star Clive, feels he''s destined for better things. And Sophie Straw, who''s changed her name and abandoned her old life, must decide whether to keep going, or change the channel. Nick Hornby''s new novel is about popular culture, youth and old age, fame, class and teamwork. It offers a wonderfully captivating portrait of youthful exuberance and creativity, and of a period when both were suddenly allowed to flourish.Fans of Hornby will love this book, as will readers of David Nicholls, Mark Haddon and William Boyd.Nick Hornby is the author of five bestselling novels (High Fidelity, About a Boy, How To Be Good, A Long Way Down and Juliet, Naked), a novel for young adults, Slam, and four works of acclaimed non-fiction: Fever Pitch, 31 Songs, The Complete Polysyllabic Spree and Stuff I''ve Been Reading. A Long Way Down, About a Boy, High Fidelity and Fever Pitch have all been made into major films. He also wrote the screenplay for the Oscar-nominated An Education, and is currently writing screenplays for Cheryl Strayed''s Wild, starring Reese Witherspoon, and Colm Toibin''s Brooklyn.

A Long Way Down - Nick Hornby s hilarious bestseller now a major motion picture starring Pierce Brosnan. Can I explain why I wanted to jump off the top of a tower block? For disgraced TV presenter Martin Sharp the answer s pretty simple: he has, in his own words, pissed his life away . And on New Year s Eve he s going to end it all .but not, as it happens, alone. Because first single-mum Maureen, then eighteen-year-old Jess and lastly American rock-god JJ turn up and crash Martin s private party. They ve stolen his idea - but brought their own reasons. Yet it s hard to jump when you ve got an audience queuing impatiently behind you. A few heated words and some slices if cold pizza later and these four strangers are suddenly allies. But is their unlikely friendship a good enough reason to carry on living? Shortlisted for the 2005 Whitbread Award and the Commonwealth Writers Prize, A Long Way Down is a darkly hilarious and moving novel by bestselling author Nick Hornby. If you like Jonathan Coe, David Sedaris and David Nicholls, you will love this book. A page-turning plot and rich, funny characters with several big laughs on every page.Hornby s best yet . (Literary Review). Hornby s best novel to date, impossible to put down.how can an examination of four people s anguish be so enthralling? (Ruth Rendell, Guardian). Masterful.some of the finest writing, and some of the most outstanding characters I ve ever had the pleasure of reading . (Johnny Depp). Nick Hornby has captivated readers and achieved widespread critical acclaim for his comic, well-observed novels About a Boy, How to be Good, Juliet, Naked, Slam and High Fidelity.

31 Songs is best-selling author Nicky Hornby s ultimate desert island disks. 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. Winner of The National Book Critics Circle award, this funny and touchingly personal book, from the author of the million-copy number one bestseller About A Boy , is a must for music fans everywhere. 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 ). 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 ). Refreshing, candid, very moving. Reminds you why you loved music before you knew enough to explain your love away . (Uncut). Nick Hornby has captivated readers and achieved widespread critical acclaim for his brilliantly observed comic books High Fidelity , How to be Good , A Long Way Down (shortlisted for the Whitbread Award), Slam , Juliet , Naked and his autobiographical Fever Pitch (winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award).

This title presents a famous account of growing up to be a fanatical football supporter. Told through a series of match reports, "Fever Pitch" has enjoyed enormous critical and commercial success since it was first published in 1992. It has helped to create a new kind of sports writing, and established Hornby as one of the finest writers of his generation.

Nick Hornby demuestra en pequeñas piezas de orfebrería como esta hilarante NippleJesus que sus historias funcionan con la precisión de un reloj suizo a la vez que con el presunto descuido de aquel que esta contando una anecdota que sabe tan profunda como un pozo sin fondo. En este caso, la historia de un rudo tipo cualquiera enamorado de un cuadro. El segundo relato, Strangers When We Meet , es una pequeña joya del magnifico escritor britanico Hanif Kureishi que pone a prueba a su autor, especialista en radiografiar la sociedad inglesa contemporanea, en las distancias cortas con una adi

Whoever invented skateboarding is a genius. There's only one skater, and his name's Tony Hawk. It doesn't matter if you don't know who he is, just trust me. Not only is Hawk the world's best skater, he's also good to talk to. So I talk to Tony Hawk, and Tony Hawk talks back. Because just when it seemed like everything had come together for me, I had to go and screw it all up. It only took two seconds. But all of me knew. One risk. One mistake and my life would never be the same. Hawk had a few things to say. And a few things to show me. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to see your own future?

Whoever invented skateboarding is a genius. There's only one skater, and his name's Tony Hawk. It doesn't matter if you don't know who he is, just trust me. Not only is Hawk the world's best skater, he's also good to talk to. So I talk to Tony Hawk, and Tony Hawk talks back.