Through twenty-eight monthly accounts of books bought and books read, Nick Hornby explores the how and when and why and what of reading.
From classic midlife crisis ('OK, I should have read David Copperfield before, and therefore deserve to be punished …') to the realization that his lovely, highbrow friends rarely recommend books that have him bumping into lamp-posts, Hornby does battle with the big literary biography (613 pages long - 'Have mercy!'), pursues newly discovered writers to the outermost reaches of their oeuvres, instructs the young Flaubert to get a life, forgets every book he's ever read, and explains the theory behind literary family trees - the way great books give birth to one another.
A testament to the joy and surprise and despair that books bring, The Complete Polysyllabic Spree covers debuts, blockbusters, poems and comics, self-help ('how to stop smoking and stay stopped for good'), sports biographies and literary letters, classics and science (read through panicked tears). Hornby is the perfect guide to this cornucopia of books, engaging the reader with wonderful conversation pieces, hilarious one-liners, lists, ideas, admissions and autobiography. He introduces the magnificent concept of a Cultural Fantasy Boxing League. And includes bonus material - excerpts from works by Chekhov, Charles Dickens, Patrick Hamilton, and many more.
Smart, funny, unruly and utterly readable, Hornby's columns reveal why we read, even when there's a pram in the hall, Arsenal to support, jobs, DVD players, and a good band playing in the local pub. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Nick talks to Brendan Bernhar about the book
http://www.laweekly.com/ink/05/07/books-bernhard.php
Nick's Recommended Reads
Claire Tomalin's Invisible Woman
http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,0_0140121366,00.html
Ed Smith's On and Off the Field
http://www.penguin.co.uk/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,0_0141015896,00.html
Powell's Book Review of The Polysyllabic Spree
http://www.powells.com/review/2004_12_17.html
The Believer
http://www.believermag.com/
Salon review
http://www.salon.com/books/review/2004/12/09/hornby
Pop Matters review
http://www.popmatters.com/books/reviews/p/polysyllabic-spree.shtml
Boston Globe review
http://www.boston.com/ae/books/articles/2005/01/19/ |
|
|
