Nick Hornby, página 2 de 8

Ci sono coppie in perenne calma piatta. Annie e Duncan lo sanno bene. Convivono da quindici anni a Gooleness, torpida cittadina inglese sul mare, e la loro esistenza è scandita da qualche lettura in comune, l'uscita di un nuovo film, ogni tanto un concerto a Londra. Non hanno figli e nemmeno rischiano di averne, vista l'evanescenza della loro vita sessuale. Ma da un po' di tempo Annie prova un impellente desiderio di maternità, mentre Duncan non fa che coltivare la sua unica, ossessiva passione: Tucker Crowe, cantante cult americano sparito dalla scena musicale intorno alla metà degli anni Ottanta. La venerazione per Tucker, condivisa via Internet da qualche centinaio di adepti sparsi per il mondo, assorbe ogni istante delle sue giornate; e Annie comincia a chiedersi che senso abbia continuare una relazione che forse è stata solo una perdita di tempo. In questa quiete inamovibile, a Duncan arriva per posta una versione inedita dell'album più famoso di Tucker. È la scintilla che innesca una serie di eventi inaspettati, che porterà l'insoddisfatta Annie a conoscere Tucker in persona... Il nuovo romanzo di Nick Hornby si snoda sotto il binomio amore e musica, ma coglie anche in modo inatteso, originale, il tema della creatività e dei suoi alti e bassi, incarnato da questo ex musicista squattrinato in perpetua crisi, titanico esempio di fallito sentimentale.

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

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).

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.

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.

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.