Nick Hornby
Nick Hornby | |
---|---|
Born | Redhill, Surrey, England | 17 April 1957
Occupation | Writer, editor, screenwriter |
Alma mater | Jesus College, Cambridge |
Period | 1992–present |
Genre | Fiction, non-fiction |
Notable work | High Fidelity About a Boy |
Spouse | |
Children | 3 |
Relatives | Derek Hornby (father) Johnny Hornby (half-brother) Robert Harris (brother-in-law) |
Website | |
nickhornbyofficial |
Nicholas Peter John Hornby
Early life and education
Hornby was born in
Prior to his career as a novelist, Hornby worked for a time as a secondary-school English teacher.
Career
Hornby published his first book in 1992, a collection of essays about American writers such as
High Fidelity — his third book and first novel — was published in 1995. The novel, about a neurotic record collector and his failed relationships, was adapted into a 2000 American film starring John Cusack, a Broadway musical in 2006, and a television show High Fidelity starring Zoë Kravitz in 2020.
His second novel, About a Boy, published in 1998, is about two "boys" — Marcus, an awkward yet endearing adolescent from a single-parent family, and the free-floating, mid-30s Will Freeman, who overcomes his own immaturity and self-centredness through his growing relationship with Marcus. Hugh Grant and Nicholas Hoult starred in the 2002 film version. In 1999, Hornby received the E. M. Forster Award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Hornby's next novel,
Part of the money he earned with his next book,
In 2003, Hornby wrote a collection of essays on selected popular songs and the emotional resonance they carry, called 31 Songs (known in the US as Songbook). Also in 2003, Hornby was awarded the London Award 2003, an award that was selected by fellow writers.[11]
Hornby has also written essays on various aspects of popular culture and, in particular, he has become known for his writing on pop music and
Hornby's novel
Hornby's book
Hornby's following novel, titled Juliet, Naked, was published in September 2009. Addressing similar themes as his earlier novel High Fidelity, the book is about a reclusive 1980s rock star who is forced out of isolation, after the release of demo recordings of the songs on his most famous album brings him into contact with some of his most passionate fans.[13]
In 2010, Hornby co-founded the Ministry of Stories, a non-profit organisation in East London dedicated to helping children and young adults develop writing skills and to helping teachers inspire their students to write.[14]
Hornby discussed his bouts of depression in 2012 on the BBC Radio 4 broadcast of "Fever Pitched: Twenty Years On".[15]
Hornby's most recent novels are Funny Girl (2014), about a 1960s beauty queen determined to make her mark upon television comedy, State of the Union (2019) and Just Like You (2020).
Screenwriting
Hornby has also developed a career as a screenwriter, and has said that he enjoys the challenge of working in film as opposed to writing novels. In his
In 2009, Hornby adapted an autobiographical memoir by the journalist
In 2014, Hornby adapted another autobiographical memoir,
In 2015, he wrote the script for the film
In 2016, Hornby adapted Nina Stibbe's book Love, Nina: Despatches from Family Life into a television series. Love, Nina received its debut on BBC One on 20 May 2016, and ran for five episodes.[20]
Adaptations
Film
Several of Hornby's books have made the jump from page to screen. Hornby wrote the screenplay for the first, a 1997 British adaptation of
Stage
High Fidelity was also the basis for a 2006
Television
About a Boy was adapted for television and aired on NBC from 22 February 2014 to 17 February 2015. The show was developed by Jason Katims and it is the second adaptation based on the 1998 novel. The series stars David Walton, Minnie Driver and Benjamin Stockham.
Hulu premiered a 10-episode reboot of High Fidelity starring Zoë Kravitz on 14 February 2020.
Music
The importance of music in Hornby's novels, and in his life, is evidenced by his long-standing and fruitful collaborations with the rock band Marah, fronted by Dave and Serge Bielanko. Hornby has even toured in the United States and Europe with the band, joining them on stage to read his essays about particular moments and performers in his own musical history that have had a particular meaning for him.
Hornby's music criticism (most notably for The New Yorker and in his own Songbook) has been widely criticised by writers such as Kevin Dettmar (in his book Is Rock Dead), Curtis White (in an essay at www.centreforbookculture.org, titled "Kid Adorno"),[21] Barry Faulk and Simon Reynolds for his embrace of rock traditionalism and conservative take on post-rock and other experimental musics (exemplified in Hornby's negative review of the Radiohead album Kid A).[22]
Hornby has also had extensive collaboration with American singer/songwriter
In 2022, Hornby released the book Dickens and Prince, where he makes connections between the musician Prince and author Charles Dickens.
Personal life
Hornby has been married twice. He and his first wife have one son, born in 1993, who is autistic.[25] Hornby's second wife is producer Amanda Posey. They separated in 2021. They have two sons, born in 2001 and 2004. Hornby's sister, writer Gill Hornby, is married to writer Robert Harris.[26]
Nick Hornby was directly involved in the creation of the charity Ambitious about Autism, then known as TreeHouse Trust, and its school TreeHouse School, as a result of trying to find specialist education for his son Danny. Hornby remains a major donor to the charity and is still involved as a vice-president.[27]
In 2010, Nick Hornby co-founded Ministry of Stories, a writing charity based in Hoxton, east London.[28] The charity was inspired by Dave Eggers' 826 Valencia model in San Francisco and aims to offer young people a chance to develop writing and literacy skills and develop a love of writing for pleasure.[29]
Hornby supports Arsenal Football Club.[30]
Awards and honours
- 1993 William Hill Sports Book of the Year, Fever Pitch
- 1999 E. M. Forster Award
- 2002 WH Smith Literary Award, How to be Good
- 2002 National Book Critics Circle Award, shortlist, 31 Songs
- 2003 London Award
- 2005 Whitbread Novel Award, shortlist, A Long Way Down
- 2008 ALA Best Books for Young Adults, Slam
- 2012 British Sports Book Awards, Outstanding Contribution to Sports Writing[31][32]
Bibliography
Novels
- (1995) High Fidelity
- (1998) About a Boy
- (2001) How to Be Good
- (2005) A Long Way Down
- (2007) Slam
- (2009) Juliet, Naked
- (2014) Funny Girl
- (2019) State of the Union
- (2020) Just Like You
Short stories
- (1998) "Faith"
- (2000) "Nipple Jesus"
- (2005) "Not a Star"
- (2005) "Small Country"
- (2005) "Otherwise Pandemonium"
- (2012) "Everyone's Reading Bastard"
Non-fiction
- Books
- (1992) Contemporary American Fiction ISBN 0-312-04213-2
- (1992) ISBN 0-14-029344-2
- (2003) ISBN 1-57322-356-5)
- (2004) ISBN 1-932416-24-2
- (2006) ISBN 1-932416-59-5
- (2008) ISBN 1-934781-29-0
- (2012) More Baths Less Talking ISBN 978-1-938073-05-2
- (2013) Ten Years in the Tub ISBN 978-1-938073-73-1
- (2013) Stuff I've Been Reading[33]
- (2022) Dickens and Prince ISBN 9780593541821
- Essays
- (2014) "The Artists We Deserve" (in Let's Talk About Love: Why Other People Have Such Bad Taste, new and expanded edition by ISBN 978-1-1111-0000-1
- Stuff I've Been Reading columns in The Believer
Date | Column details | Books read | Books bought |
---|---|---|---|
2017 | Volume 14 Issue 3 (Dec 2017–Jan 2018) : 62–65 |
|
|
Anthologies edited
- (1993) My Favourite Year: A Collection of Football Writing ISBN 0-7538-1441-2
- (1996) The Picador Book of Sportswriting ISBN 0-330-33133-7
- (2000) ISBN 0-14-029678-6
- (2005) Otherwise Pandemonium ISBN 0-14-102251-5
- (2013) Ten Years in the Tub: A Decade Soaking in Great Books ISBN 978-1-938073-73-1
Screenplays
- Film
- (1997) Fever Pitch — directed by David Evans
- (2009) An Education — directed by Lone Scherfig
- (2014) Wild — directed by Jean-Marc Vallée
- (2015) Brooklyn — directed by John Crowley
- Television
- (2016) Love, Nina
- (2019) State of the Union
(2022) State Of The Union season 2
Film adaptations
- 1997 Fever Pitch — directed by David Evans; screenplay by Nick Hornby
- 2000 High Fidelity — directed by Stephen Frears
- 2002 About a Boy — directed by Chris and Paul Weitz
- 2005 Fever Pitch — directed by Bobby and Peter Farrelly
- 2012 È nata una star? — Italian-language adaptation of Not a Star directed by Lucio Pellegrini
- 2014 About a Boy — television series
- 2014 A Long Way Down — directed by Pascal Chaumeil
- 2016 Slam – Tutto per una ragazza — Italian-language adaptation of Slam directed by Andrea Molaioli
- 2018 Juliet, Naked — directed by Jesse Peretz
References
- ^ a b Barratt, Nick (26 January 2008). "Family detective: Nick Hornby". The Telegraph. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
- ^ Albert, Melissa. "Nick Hornby (British writer)". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
- ^ "Nick Hornby • First Editions Second Thoughts • English Pen". fest.englishpen.org. Retrieved 28 September 2016.
- ^ "iPod designer leads culture list". BBC. 17 November 2016.
- ^ "iPod's low-profile creator tops cultural chart". The Independent. 18 March 2017. Archived from the original on 20 June 2022.
- ^ Brewerton, David (5 January 2014). "Sir Derek Hornby obituary | Business". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
- ^ "Nick Hornby's Official Website - Biography". 29 October 2011. Archived from the original on 29 October 2011. Retrieved 16 August 2020.
- ^ "Nick Hornby: 'My kids think the world is fucked'". 20 December 2020.
- ^ Watts, Charles (20 May 2022). "'I hoped fans would recognise themselves in it' - Why Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch remains as popular as ever | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
- ^ Interview. "f a i l b e t t e r . c o m". Failbetter.com. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
- ^ "Entertainment | Hornby wins London literary award". BBC News. 10 December 2003. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
- ^ "A Long Way Down (2014)". IMDb.com. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
- ^ Armitstead, Claire (30 September 2015). "What not to miss in 2009: books | Books". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
- ^ Stratton, Allegra (18 November 2010). "Nick Hornby opens Ministry of Stories to get Britain's kids writing again". The Guardian. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
- ^ "BBC Radio 4 - Fever Pitched: Twenty Years On". BBC. 5 March 2012. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
- ^ a b "Nick Hornby: Screenwriters' Lecture". BAFTA Guru. 23 September 2015.
- ^ Hornby, Nick (23 October 2009). "Nick Hornby on An Education". Daily Telegraph.
- ^ Robey, Tim (5 November 2015). "Brooklyn review: 'pulse-quickeningly good'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 11 November 2015.
- ^ Dietz, Jason (6 December 2015). "Best of 2015: Film Critic Top Ten Lists". Metacritic. Retrieved 3 January 2016.
- ^ Love, Nina, 20 May 2016, retrieved 28 September 2016
- ^ "CONTEXT: Curtis White". Archived from the original on 16 January 2013. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
- ^ Hornby, Nick (30 October 2000). "Beyond the Pale". The New Yorker. Retrieved 19 March 2013.
- ^ "Ben Folds". Ben Folds. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
- ^ "Ben Folds' Levi Johnston Song [VIDEO]". Buzzfeed.com. 19 April 2013. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
- ^ Seaton, Matt (8 November 2000). "Nick Hornby on his autistic son | Books". The Guardian. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
- ISBN 978-0-670-91666-5.
- ^ "President and Vice Presidents". Ambitious about Autism. Retrieved 9 December 2015.
- ^ Stratton, Allegra (18 November 2010). "Nick Hornby opens Ministry of Stories to get Britain's kids writing again". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
- ^ "Ministry of Stories Business Model Case Study | CultureHive". www.culturehive.co.uk. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
- ^ "'I hoped fans would recognise themselves in it' - Why Nick Hornby's Fever Pitch remains as popular as ever | Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 19 October 2022.
- ^ "British Sports Book Awards to honour Hornby". Arsenal. May 2012. Archived from the original on 15 March 2014. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
- ^ "Previous winners". British Sports Book Awards. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
- ^ Cummins, Anthony (30 November 2013). "Stuff I've Been Reading by Nick Hornby – review". The Guardian.
Further reading
- "Inarticulate Expression of Love" [radio transcript]. 2008. In Talking to Kinky and Karlheinz – 170 musicians get vocal on The Music Show ed. Anni Heino, 186–193. Sydney: ABC Books. ISBN 978-0-7333-2008-8.
- O'Brien, C. (1 October 2001). "About a teenager". Men. The Times. Retrieved 3 October 2007.
- "Nick Hornby, Fever Pitch". 2008. In Nick Bentley, Contemporary British Fiction, 117–124. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press. ISBN 978-0-7486-2420-1.
External links
- Official site from publisher Penguin Books
- Nick Hornby at IMDb
- 2007 audio interview with Hornby on Public Radio International program The Sound of Young America
- BBC News 2002: "Movie hype helps Hornby"
- Interview with Hornby on NPR's Fresh Air(15 June 2005)
- 2003 Q&A with author
- Interview with Hornby on NPR's Fresh Air(26 September 1995)
- Nick Hornby at British Council: Literature