About this title: With an affectionate introduction by Sarah Vowell, this is the third and final collection of columns by celebrated novelist Nick Hornby from "The Believer" magazine. Hornby's monthly reading diary is unlike any arts column in any other publication; it discusses cultural artifacts the way they actually exist in people's lives. Hornby is a voracious and unapologetic reader, and his notes on books -- highbrow and otherwise -- are always accessible and hilarious.
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Description: Good. Purchasing this book supports the King County Library System Foundation. Thriftbooks and KCLSF have partnered to help raise additional funds for the library system. Ex-Library book-will contain library markings. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Fair. Purchasing this book supports the King County Library System Foundation. Thriftbooks and KCLSF have partnered to help raise additional funds for the library system. Ex-Library book-will contain library markings. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Good. Purchasing this book supports the King County Library System Foundation. Thriftbooks and KCLSF have partnered to help raise additional funds for the library system. Ex-Library book-will contain library markings. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Description: Acceptable. ACCEPTABLE with noted wear to cover and pages. Binding intact. May contain highlighting, inscriptions or notations. We offer a no-hassle guarantee on all our items. Orders generally ship by the next business day. Default Text. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: MCSWEENEYS
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781934781296ISBN:1934781290
Description: New. This is the third and final collection of columns by celebrated novelist Hornby from "The Believer" magazine. Hornby's monthly reading diary discusses cultural artifacts the way they actually exist in people's lives, and his notes on books--highbrow... read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: MCSWEENEYS
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781934781296ISBN:1934781290
Description: New. This is the third and final collection of columns by celebrated novelist Hornby from "The Believer" magazine. Hornby's monthly reading diary discusses cultural artifacts the way they actually exist in people's lives, and his notes on books--highbrow... read more
Description: New. 1934781290 *NEW BOOK! * RETURNS ARE NO PROBLEM! We LOVE happy customers. All our orders sent with tracking information. ALIBRIS. read more
"Having read and thoroughly enjoyed the first two collections of Nick Hornby's columns from "The Believer," I was a bit sad to see that the third volume would be the last. Though to be totally honest, I wasn't even aware "Shakespeare Wrote For Money" even existed until I stumbled onto it while picking up Hornby's latest novel "Juliet, Naked."
Anyhow, there is really nothing new here. If you enjoyed the first two essay s , it is more of the same though I will agree with some of my fellow reviewers in that Hornby was running out of steam a bit on this one. But alas, I don't think there are many of us that could have sustained such an assignment for 5+ years (remember when people used to blog?). That said, I didn't find this any less enjoyable and any reading geek will be in nerd-vana with yet another opportunity to read about reading.
Hornby makes me feel sane-ish, when he scoffs at a friend who takes a day off between books to not suffocate the just-finished one, noting "Those of us who read neurotically read, however - to ward off boredom, and the fear of our own ignorance, and our impending deaths - can't afford the time."
The one good thing about this being the last of Hornby's reading recollections is that it will no longer add to my already mammoth to-be-read list! Though he did manage to add a few more (getting me slightly curious about YA lit) and did get me to take one of those purchased long ago but unread books off my shelf as my next read.
Alas, I read this so quickly it hardly justified the $14 spent in this tough economy, but for me Hornby always delivers and the hilariously nerdy intro by Sarah Vowell was almost worth cost alone!"
"This is the final installment of books collecting Hornby's "Stuff I've Been Reading" column from Believer magazine. Plain and simple: it's just fun to read. I did have one disagreement with Hornby. He said that Cormac McCarthy's The Road was good, but depressing. He said that he didn't think anyone should feel that they have to read it. I say it should be required reading for all human beings. I think that people tend to not read enough books that make us look at how depraved and selfish we can get. We don't want to be like the sick, selfish, idiotic people in those books. If all we read is tripe that makes us feel good without thinking too much about ourselves, we tend to do things like shoot people in shopping malls simply because we're bored and want to get on the news."
"Nick Hornby's "Stuff I've Been Reading" columns from 'The Believer' magazine are sort of a trailblazer for the GoodReads approach to talking about books. I used to devour these religiously, but I've slacked off a bit, to the point that, when I picked up this collection, I was surprised to see it described as his last because I didn't realize he'd stopped writing the column!
Fortunately, this collection is available to enjoy. I devoured the whole thing pretty quickly, and took a few notes on books I'd like to read one day. But mostly, I just enjoyed Hornby's conversational way of talking about reading, and the way that books (and music, and sports, and politics) fit into everyday life. These are more general and less obsessive (well, except the parts about sports) than his music writing in 'Songbook', but no less enjoyable."
"My sister gave me this book for Christmas and suggested that it wouldn't add to my already substantial reading burden because it was comprised of small snippets that could be easily digested before bedtime (or at some other point during the day). This is exactly how I've been reading this book over the past few weeks; however the problem is that it *has* increased my reading burden substantially because, being comprised of accounts of what Nick Hornby read over the course of a few years, it has gone ahead and piqued my interest in more than a few of the books he mentioned. So, I can now cross it off my list of books to read, but having read it, must now add about a dozen! Roar!
Beyond this complaint, the book was fun (though hardly earth shattering). It's a compilation of the columns Hornby wrote for The Believer, and his style is conversational. The content of the columns is hardly confined to the books he's read, either, which makes for fun little inside glimpses into the novelist's life that feel a bit like behind-the-scenes accounts of what it might be like to actually be a successful novelist. It definitely made me interested in reading the two compilations that precede it, though I'm certain they, too, would make my "to read" list even longer. Sigh."
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