What a delightful surprise. For some reason, I assumed Housekeeping vs The Dirt contained the last of Nick Hornby's beloved columns for the Believer. So you can imagine how pleased I was to discover that he had continued writing for the literary magazine for two more years (albeit with a little break), and thus another collection had been produced.
What I love about Nick Hornby's columns is that ultimately, he is one of us. Book lover, geek, afficionado. However you want to think of it. He is someone who gets excited about the prospect of going hunting for books, who buys far more than he ever plans to read, someone who can't help himself...just like us. It is this, along with his hilariously witty writing, that makes his columns so readable.
Shakespeare Wrote for Money is a highly enjoyable return to Hornby's wit and honesty, and wonderfully random detours into complete nonsense. Standout moments in this book are Hornby's discovery of young adult fiction, abandoning a month of reading to watch and rant about the World Cup, discovering how ants find their way home.
However, I did not find this collection quite as engaging as Hornby's previous work for the Believer. I did not find as many side-splitting laughs as before, and a lot of the books reviewed did not interest me as much. But that is personal preference of course, and I did pick up several recommendations from this collection, some of which I was already thinking of reading:
Skellig - David Almond
The Accidental - Ali Smith
Field Notes from a Catastrophe - Elizabeth Kolbert
On Chesil Beach - Ian McEwan
Poppy Shakespeare - Clare Allan
The Road - Cormac McCarthy
American Born Chinese - Gene Luen Yang
Tom's Midnight Garden - Philippa Pearce
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao - Junot Diaz
Definitely worth a read, though I recommend the other two collections even more! Nick Hornby, the worst bad bloggers of all! We'll miss your columns.
Other blog reviews:
Things Mean a Lot
(have I missed yours?)
11 comments:
He is. He really is one of us. I think I like this collection best of the three exactly because he reviewed more books that interest me than ever before! Of the ones you listed, I've read The Accidental, The Road, American Born Chinese, Tom's Midnight Garden and Oscar Wao, and I loved them all. The others I plan on reading.
Curious! That's why everyone needs to read these three collections, as they will all find so many recommendations, especially ones outside their usual comfort zone! And you must must read Skellig. Its so beautiful, I know you will love it.
I haven't yet read any of his essay books, but I have them all. :-) I should pull one off the shelf and read it an essay or two in between my regular reading. This sounds like a wonderful book. Although, I'm not sure I need too many new recommendations right now. LOL
You definitely need to check out Ali Amith, I am loving her at the moment. Glad you enjoyed this one, I am looking forward to reading the chapter on films (he had better not rubbish Juno!). Did you miss not having the book snippets like in the first two?
Literary Feline - You will love them! I rushed through the first two books, but really took my time with this last one, and I don't regret it. You could treat it like his columns and read one a week/month! I look forward to hearing what you think of it anyway.
Rhinoa - I will do! I have The Accidental on my shelf already. I had completely forgotton about the book snippets, but I did miss them, they added a nice touch. Hope you like it!
I just picked this one up! I finished the Polysyllabic Spree last week, am getting ready to do my review shortly. I came away with some books to read too. The best thing about him is that he is a book reader like us :-D and I love that he buys more than he can read! lol I really want to read Wondrous LIfe, I'm #73 on our library list for it, and I know Nymeth wants me to read Skellig too. I havent' heard about it over here....
lovely review, Mariel.
I've heard good things about this book, great review! glad you enjoyed it.
http://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/
Susan - Thanks! That's exactly why I like him so much, he is one of us. Glad you liked the Polysyllabic Spree, I hope you enjoy the new one. I think you'll love Skellig.
Naida - Thanks, I can't recommend these collections enough!
For as short as this book was and for having one chapter about movies and one about the World Cup I think you found a pretty good list of books to add to your list!
I have yet to read the second one, so only then will I truly be able to judge how they all stack up together. As you know, this was my favorite thus far but I do believe a lot of that had to do with the diversion into the world cup and the shared feelings about sports that I got from reading it as well as the chapter on films as I am a lover of films as well.
And the young adult portions of the essays were especially enjoyable. All three books, taken together, could really be combined into one volume and would no doubt be a gift that most book lovers would find some enjoyment in.
"What I love about Nick Hornby's columns is that ultimately, he is one of us." You captured it in a nutshell with that statement. That is exactly 'it' and the reason I have been so taken with him and his writing. I am reading Fever Pitch now and am finding it every bit as enjoyable even though I am not familiar with the teams and players he is referencing.
Carl V - You are right. I keep wondering now why I didn't enjoy this one quite as much, as I seem to have just as long a list of recommendations! I did love that Hornby discovered young adult fiction, as I know so many people turn their noses up at it. Glad you are enjoying Fever Pitch. I really didn't like the film, but then I don't particularly like football (or Arsenal!)...I'm a rugby fan! I hope you enjoy Housekeeping vs The Dirt.
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