Books by Nick Hornby

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Fever Pitch, by Nick Hornby read by Julian Rhind-Tutt. As a young boy, growing up in the Home Counties and watching his parents marriage fall apart, Nick Hornby had little sense of home. Then his dad took him to Highbury. Arsenals football ground would become the source of many of the strongest feelings hed ever have: joy, humiliation, heartbreak, frustration and hope. In this now-classic book, he vividly depicts his troubled relationship with his father, his time as a teacher, and his first loves (after football), all through the prism of the game, as he insightfully and brilliantly explores obsession, and the way it can shape a life.

The essential read for lovers of Prince, of Dickens and everyone in between!In Nick Hornby's completely joyous and original new book two great figures share the stage. Charles Dickens and Prince. Two wildly different artists who caught fire and lit up the world in ways no others could. Where did their magic come from? How did they work so hard and produce so much? How did they manage or give in to the restlessness and intensity of their creativity? How did they use it, and did it kill them?With wit, curiosity and deep admiration Nick Hornby traces their extraordinary lives - from their difficult beginnings to the women they fell for to their limitless energy for work, to their money and the movies - and brilliantly illuminates their very particular kind of genius.'I love this. It's smart and funny and elegantly persuasive' Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, author of Becoming Dickens

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER from the author of ABOUT A BOY'Simply unputdownable' Guardian'Hilarious' Daily Telegraph'Highly entertaining' Sunday Times_________________Make them laugh, and they're yours forever . . . Barbara Parker is Miss Blackpool of 1964, but she doesn't want to be a beauty queen. She only wants to make people laugh. So she leaves her hometown behind, takes herself off to London, and lands a life-changing audition for a new BBC comedy series. Overnight she becomes Sophie Straw: charming, gorgeous, destined to win the nation's hearts.Funny Girl is the story of a smash-hit TV show and the people behind the scenes: the writers, Tony and Bill, friends since national service and comedy obsessives; producer Dennis, Oxbridge educated, clever, mild and not-so-secretly devoted to his star actress Sophie; and dashing male lead Clive, who firmly believes he's destined for better things. The show's success continues rocketing and 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. How long can they keep going before it's time to change the channel?Funny Girl offers a captivating portrait of youthful exuberance and freedom at a time when Britain itself was experiencing one of its most enduring creative bursts. Hornby fans will love this book, as will readers of David Nicholls, Mark Haddon and William Boyd.______________'Warm, funny, touching . . . winningly perceptive about human relationships and changing social trends' Daily Telegraph'Like all Hornby's best work, it is both hugely enjoyable and deceptively artful' Spectator 'A beguiling, thoroughly enjoyable read' Sunday Times'Hugely enjoyable' Sunday Mirror 'Resolutely, winningly light-hearted' Observer 'Hornby's sunniest novel' Metro

In celebration of its 20th anniversary, Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable, audiobook edition of High Fidelity, by Nick Hornby, read by Russell Tovey. Nick Hornbys first novel, an international bestseller and instantly recognized by critics and readers alike as a classic, helps to explain men to women, and men to men. Rob is good on music: he owns a small record shop and has strong views on whats decent and what isnt. But hes much less good on relationships. In fact, hes not at all sure that he wants to commit himself to anyone. So its hardly surprising that his girlfriend decides that enough is enough.

En hudløst ærlig og medfølende roman om det, der gemmer sig i hjertet, sindet og sjælen på en kvinde, da hun konfronteres med sin ægtemands pludselige og ekstreme spirituelle omvendelse og er tvunget til at lære, hvordan man er et godt menneske – hvad end det betyder, og på godt og ondt.Katie Carr er et godt menneske … sådan da. I årevis har hendes ægtemand været selvisk, sarkastisk og på udkig efter noget at tage sig til. Men nu har David forandret sig. Han er også blevet et godt menneske – et virkelig godt menneske. Han har fundet en spirituel leder. Han er blevet venlig, blid og seriøs. Katie er ikke sikker på, om det skyldes en oprigtig omvendelse, en hjernetumor, eller om det måske er Davids hidtil mest ondskabsfulde narrestreg. For Katie finder det nemlig tiltagende svært at leve med David – og med sig selv. Hvordan man er et godt menneske er en vis og vittig roman fra den forfatteren til High Fidelity og Om en dreng.

Livet er ved at blive meget kompliceret for 16-årige Sam. Han og hans kæreste – nu ekskæreste – Alicia er stødt på problemer. For Alicia er blevet gravid, og Sam, der nu skal være far, tvinges pludselig til at blive voksen og forholde sig til virkeligheden i stedet for at stå på skateboard og dagdrømme om Tony Hawk. Nick Hornbys skarpe og vittige roman demonstrerer en sjælden og imponerende forståelse for menneskelige relationer og for, hvad det egentlig betyder at være mand.

En Nick Hornby-fortælling i en nøddeskal om musik, fankultur og om de sandheder og løgne, vi fortæller os selv om kærligheden og livet. Annie elsker Duncan – eller det tror hun, hun gør. Duncan elsker Annie, men så, lige pludselig, gør han ikke. Duncan elsker i virkeligheden Tucker Crowe, en tilbagetrukket Dylan-agtig singer-songwriter, der ikke har lavet musik i ti år. Annie stopper med at elske Duncan og begynder at leve sit eget liv. Hun indleder en korrespondance med Tucker, og en forbindelse smedes mellem de to ensomme sjæle. Tucker er sygnet hen (og er smerteligt bevidst om det) og bor i udkanten af Pennsylvania med, hvad han ser som sin eneste redning – sønnen, Jackson. Og så er der det nye materiale, han skal til at udgive: en akustisk version af hans mest populære album, Juliet – med titlen Juliet, nøgen. Hvad sker der, når en afdanket musiker leder efter en ny chance? Og når en rastløs kvinde langt væk leder efter en forandring? Den svære toer er en stærkt betagende og let lunerig roman om musik, kærlighed, ensomhed og kampen for at holde sine løfter.

I 1960’ernes England bliver Barbara Parker udnævnt til Miss Blackpool, men det går hurtigt op for hende, at titlen ikke huer hende. Hendes mål er at få folk til at grine, ligesom hendes heltinde, Lucille Ball. Derfor rejser hun fra sin familie og hjemby i det nordlige England for at finde lykken i London.Barbara får job i parfumeafdelingen i et indkøbscenter i Kensington, samtidig med at hun forsøger at finde ud af, hvordan hun kan blive opdaget. Et tilfældigt møde med en agent resulterer i, at hun får rollen i en BBC-sitcom, og alle forelsker sig i både Barbara og serien. Men efterhånden begynder samarbejdet mellem de involverede i serien at vakle, og det viser sig, at intet varer evigt, når man står ansigt til ansigt med livets prøvelser. Miss Blackpool er en roman om stjernestøv, popkultur og om at ældes med ynde.

Den fallerede studievært Martin Sharp har, ifølge sig selv – og hvilken bedre kilde kan man ønske sig? –, pisset sit liv væk. Nytårsaften bestemmer han sig for at springe ud fra et højhus og gøre en ende på det hele.Dog viser det sig, at han ikke er den eneste, som har fået den idé. Én efter én dukker de op til det, som skulle være Martins endeligt: Først ankommer alenemoren Maureen, derefter den 18-årige Jesse og endelig det amerikanske rockikon, JJ. De har plagieret Martins selvmordsplaner, men deres livshistorier er vidt forskellige.Det viser sig, at det er svært at tage springet med et publikum bag sig, og efter et heftigt skænderi og nogle kolde pizzaslices bestemmer de sig for, at de må hjælpe hinanden.Langt nede er en uforglemmelig fortælling om fire fremmede, som giver livet en chance til.

En strålende memoir fra forfatteren til High Fidelity og Om en dreng. I USA hedder det ”soccer”. Men i Storbritannien er det ”football”, det drejer sig om. Ingen beskyttelse, ingen kære mor. Og dette gælder, før spillerne overhovedet har gået deres indmarch.Nick Hornby har været fodboldfan siden sin undfangelse. Kald det forudbestemmelse. Eller kald det forskoling. Fodboldfeber er hans hyldest til en livslang besættelse. Dels en selvbiografi, dels en komedie og dels en skarpsindig analyse af vanviddet. Hornbys prisvindende memoir indfanger fankulturens febervildelse – dens smerte og ekstase, dens fællesskab og dens afgørende rolle i tusinder af unge mænds coming of age-historier. Fodboldfeber er en for holdet. Men frem for alt er det en for alle, der virkelig ved, hvad det betyder at have en dårlig sæson.

Will Freeman har det hele – og lidt til. Han lever et bekymringsfrit ungkarleliv i inderkredsen af Londons übersmarte miljøer, og pengene er intet problem, takket være farens julehit, som stadig generer en lind strøm af royalties. Og som om det ikke var nok, har han netop knækket koden til datinglivet.Enlige mødre – alle disse smukke, intelligente og ledige kvinder – er et nyt og uberørt marked, og Will har en skudsikker plan for, hvordan han kan udforske det: Han melder sig ind i en forening for enlige forældre og opdigter et fiktivt barn. Det eneste, han ikke havde regnet med, var at møde 12-årige Marcus, som hager sig fast til Will, som gjaldt det liv og død. Et umage venskab fødes i Om en dreng: En hjertegribende fortælling om en dreng, som har brug for et forbillede, og om en mand, som skal lære at elske andre end sig selv.

Lucy og Joseph er som dag og nat. Ingen af dem søger kærligheden, ingen af dem har gode erfaringer med samme – og ingen af dem ved, at de er hinandens bedste chance for at finde den igen.En hverdagsbegivenhed kan godt være livsændrende. Det er Lucy et levende bevis på. Da hun møder Joseph bag disken hos sin lokale slagter i Nord-London ved hun, at hun ikke vil kunne slippe ham. Problemet er bare, at Lucy ikke ligefrem leder efter en kæreste. Til gengæld mangler hun en kompetent babysitter, og det kunne godt være Joseph. Så hvorfor ikke invitere ham hjem?Det andet, tredje, fjerde og femte problem er, at de er hinandens diametrale modsætninger: Lucy er en 41-årig folkeskolelærer og mor til to med en fortid, som hun ihærdigt prøver at glemme; Joseph er en 21-årig aspirerende DJ, som nebengesjæft er som fodboldtræner og slagter, og som stadig bor hos sin mor og har hele livet foran sig. Forholdet er en tikkende bombe – men måske er de begge to netop det, som den anden går og mangler.Hornbys nye roman er Hornby, når han er bedst. Det er en fortælling om kærlighedens ustyrlige kræft er, dens evne til at forene fraktioner og skubbe alle vores skeletter ud af skabet i ét stort ragnarok og måske, hvis man er heldig, til at være både overraskende og overrumplende.Ingen som dig er en øm, morsom og uimodståelig roman om det der adskiller os og det, som gør at vi ikke kan holde os fra hinanden.

In this publication to accompany Nick Hornby's first solo exhibition at a public institution, the London-based artist presents a substantial new body of sculptures. Hornby explores themes of portraiture, the body, identity, sexuality and intimacy in the digital era.

An Education is Nick Hornby's Oscar-nominated screenplay of Lynn Barber's lifeBased on Lynn Barber's extraordinary memoir, An Education is set in the early 1960s and tells the story of a sixteen-year-old English girl's encounter and relationship with a charming older man who is much more, and much less, than he says he is. Taking this strange story as his starting point, Nick Hornby has scripted an Oscar-nominated film, starring Carey Mulligan and Peter Sarsgraad, which is funny and shocking in equal measure - and which brilliantly captures a Britain emerging from the sleepy 50s and on the brink of a glittering new decade.Fans of British writing and cinema alike, from Brighton Rock to Atonement will enjoy this mesmerizing book.

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.

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.

A dozen of the most successful and popular writers today including: Helen Fielding, Robert Harris, Patrick Marber, Zadie Smith, John O'Farrell, Roddy Doyle, Melissa Bank and Irvine Welsh have written 6000-word fictional monologues along the lines of Alan Bennet's Talking Heads. And Colin Firth makes his d but as a fiction writer. The result is a book of completely original stories that have heart, soul and wit. All the writers have given their work free, and Penguin is giving 1 per copy sold to the TreeHouse Trust, a charity which is setting up a unique school for autistic children

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of How to be Good by Nick Hornby, read by Claire Higgins. According to her own complex moral calculations, Katie Carr has earned her affair. Shes 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 - properly, maddeningly, give-away-all-his-money good - Katies sums no longer add up, and she is forced to ask herself some very hard questions. Nick Hornbys brilliant new novel, a No. 1 bestseller in the UK and Ireland, offers a painfully funny account of modern marriage and parenthood, and asks that most difficult of questions: what does it mean to be good?

In his monthly accounts of what he's read along with what he may one day read Nick Hornby brilliantly explores everything from the classic to the graphic novel, as well as poems, plays, sports books and other kinds of non-fiction. If he occasionally implores a biographer for brevity, or abandons a literary work in favour of an Arsenal match, then all is not lost. His writing, full of all the joy and surprise and despair that books bring him, reveals why we still read, even when there's football on TV, a pram in the hall or a good band playing at our local pub.

The unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Nick Hornbys hilarious coming-of-age novel Slam, read by Nicholas Hoult, star of the films About a Boy and Warm Bodies, as well as Channel 4s Skins. There was this time when everything seemed to have come together. And so obviously it was time to go and screw it all up. Sam is sixteen and a skater. Just so there are no terrible misunderstandings: skating = skateboarding. Theres no ice. Life is ticking along nicely for Sam; his Mums got rid of her rubbish boyfriend, hes thinking about college and hes met someone. Alicia. Then a little accident happens. One with big consequences for someone just finding his way in life. Sam cant run (let alone skate) away from this one. Hes a boy facing a mans problems and the question is - has he got what it takes to confront them? Slam, from the acclaimed author of About a Boy and High Fidelity is a teenage novel about a boy who has to grow up in big, big hurry. It is The Catcher in the Rye for the 21st century. Very funny...very real Daily Telegraph Hornby gets his point across with the subtlety and skill of a born novelist who always deserves to be read Independent A moving read for anyone Elle Nick Hornby has captivated readers and achieved widespread critical acclaim for his comic, well-observed adult novels About a Boy, A Long Way Down, Juliet, Naked, How to be Good and High Fidelity. His three works of non-fiction, 31 Songs (shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award), Fever Pitch (winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award) and The Complete Polysyllabic Spree are also available from Penguin.

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable, audiobook edition of About a Boy by Nick Hornby, read by Stephen Mangan. Nick Hornbys second bestselling novel is about sex, manliness and fatherhood. Will is thirty-six, comfortable and child-free. And hes discovered a brilliant new way of meeting women - through single-parent groups. Marcus is twelve and a little bit nerdish: hes got the kind of mother who made him listen to Joni Mitchell rather than Nirvana. Perhaps they can help each other out a little bit, and both can start to act their age.