„Nick Hornby” – książki

'I decided that I wanted to write a little book of essays about songs I loved ... Songs are what I listen to, almost to the exclusion of everything else.' In his first non-fiction work since Fever Pitch, Nick Hornby writes about 31 songs that either have some great significance in his life - or are just songs that he loves. He discusses, among other things, guitar solos and losing your virginity to a Rod Stewart song and singers whose teeth whistle and the sort of music you hear in Body Shop. 'The soundtrack to his life ... a revealing insight into one of Britain's most popular writers' Evening Standard

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. For Nick Hornby, his devotion to the game has provided one of the 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.

WYCZEKIWANA Z NIECIERPLIWOśCIĽ NOWA POWIEśĆ AUTORA BESTSELLEROWYCH KSIĽŻEK WIERNOśĆ W STEREO I BYŁ SOBIE CHŁOPIEC Osadzona w Londynie lat 60. żywiołowa opowieść o przygodach nieustraszonej Sophie Straw, która z prowincjonalnej trzpiotki przeistacza się w gwiazdę telewizji, świecącą jasno w konstelacji innych intrygujących postaci. Z właściwą sobie wnikliwością i ogromną dozą humoru Hornby zachwyca czytelników galerią zabawnych, dalekich od doskonałości postaci i czyni ich towarzyszami wzlotów i upadków bohaterów Jak przystało na powieść o popularnym sitcomie, książka jest nafaszerowana humorem, ale też zdecydowanie głębsza, niż mogliby się tego spodziewać fani twórczości Nicka Hornby’ego. THE NEW YORK TIMES

'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. There's no ice. Life is ticking along nicely for Sam; his Mum's got rid of her rubbish boyfriend, he's thinking about college and he's met someone. Alicia. Then a little accident happens. One with big consequences for someone just finding his way in life. Sam can't run (let alone skate) away from this one. He's a boy facing a man's problems and the question is - has he got what it takes to confront them? Slam is a novel about a boy who has to grow up in big, big hurry. It is The Catcher in the Rye for the 21st century.

Hornby never seems quite at his ease with his subject. Having raised the issues of depression and suicide, he then devotes much of the book to backing away from them, attempting to retreat to the arenas of social comedy where he feels secure. This is a shame because he is capable of great empathy: `A man who wants to die feels angry and full of life and desperate and bored and exhausted, all at the same time,` JJ the disillusioned guitarist tells us. `He wants to fight everyone, and he wants to curl up in a ball and hide in a cupboard somewhere. He wants to say sorry to everyone, and he wants everyone to know just how badly they`ve all let him down.` But the only real moment of darkness that is allowed to enter the narrative comes from a taxi driver from an unnamed African country whose family has been slaughtered, the narrators feel guilty, give him a `very large tip,` and he passes on into the night.

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 wants to make people laugh. So she leaves her hometown behind, takes herself to London, and overnight she becomes the lead in a new BBC comedy, 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. But when life starts imitating art, they all face a choice. How long can they keep going before it's time to change the channel?

'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.

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.

In 1986, legendary musician Tucker Crowe disappeared from the public eye and for 20 years, his rabid fans have speculated his whereabouts. Annie lives in Gooleness, the north's answer to a question nobody asked, and has put fifteen years into a safe relationship with one such "Crowe-ologist", Duncan. And she wants her money back, please. Then Tucker releases new material. Duncan thinks it's genius, Annie does not, and when she dares to go public with her dislike, there are unexpected, life-changing consequences for all three . . . Juliet, Naked is a humblingly humorous novel about music, love, loneliness, and the struggle to live up to our own potential. If you like David Nicholls, David Sedaris and Jonathan Coe, you will love this book.

Lucy 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.