About this title: In his fourth novel, Nick Hornby writes about a doctor named Katie Carr whose difficult husband, David, known as the "Angriest Man in Holloway," writes a newspaper column. Katie has had enough. But then David falls into the hands of a do-gooder mystic and becomes, suddenly, a caring, earnest person--and Katie begins to question her own life. HOW TO BE GOOD was a New York Times Notable Book for 2001.
Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Date Published: 07/2001
ISBN-13:9781573221931ISBN:1573221937
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 305 p. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Date Published: 07/2001
ISBN-13:9781573221931ISBN:1573221937
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 305 p. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Date Published: 07/2001
ISBN-13:9781573221931ISBN:1573221937
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 305 p. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Date Published: 07/2001
ISBN-13:9781573221931ISBN:1573221937
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Glued binding. Paper over boards. With dust jacket. 305 p. read more
"I always in enjoy Nick Hornby, in whatever form he comes: movies, novels, interviews. He's wry and honest, and while I get the distinct sense that he writes for men (after all, isn't he the father of what they call "lad lit"?) I nonetheless find that he understands human nature.
As How To Be Good demonstrates, Hornby writes women adequately, if we want to harp on gender, but he writes flawed, confused people--all flawed, confused people--brilliantly. How To Be Good tells the story of Katie Carr, who is in an affair at the beginning of the book because her husband is an obnoxious, angry man. But near when her husband undergoes a spiritual (not religious, mind you, but spiritual) conversion of sorts and invites a faith-healer named GoodNews to come live with them, the family goes into a tailspin and takes a good portion of the neighborhood with it.
I love the main character's honesty, her self-justifying rants, her periodic tendency to plummet into self-hatred, and her remarkable self-awareness. She'll challenge you to think about how you live your life, what you really value, and will even pose the occasional interesting ethical dilemma. While I think her closing monologue is a bit too simple, Hornby doesn't wrap things up artificially, and the final lines would provide ample fodder for any book club discussion.
All in all, I designate How To Be Good a substantive beach read."
"I recently re-read this delightful, quirky book. Hornby succeeds in creating a thoughtful parady about how to be good in our self-centered, capitalistic society -- under the guise of a breezy, familiar tale about a marriage gone sour during mid-life crisis. We find pieces of ourselves woven into highly memorable characters -- there is the narrator (Kate) a doctor and self-proclaimed "do-gooder", who is about to leave her grumpy, sarcastic jerk of a husband, David. Life turns upside down when he suddenly undergoes an overnight transformation after meeting a spiritual quack named Goodnews.
Suddenly, it is David who is "doing good" and performing minor miracles. Not only does he bring food to the homeless, but he invites a homeless man to stay in their house and convinces other neighbors to do the same. As Kate tries to navigate the waves of her husband's shocking behavior, we are forced to confront tough choices about what it means to truly "be good" in our society. Sure, most of us recycle or send an occasional check to charity, but what does that tell us our capacity to give? All decent liberals will decry homelessness until the cows come home, and rail our politicians for failing to properly address the issue, but what lengths would we go to help solve it? Would we give food to a shelter once a year? once a month? every week? Would be go the lengths, of say, fostering a child? And why do so few of us who "talk the talk" rarely give in a tangible, meaningful way on a regular basis? In a world of finite time and resources, there is an imperfect boundary between giving to others while also managing our own lives and families in a chaotic world.
While the message of the book is that none (or few) of us do enough, Hornby admirably doesn't offer us any easy answers. Just as in real life, we admire and respect the work of those who "do good", but often become annoyed in equal measure by the dose of sanctimony that often comes with it. There is a nagging feeling that charitable work often does more good for the giver than receiver, and there are no obvious answers as to who is "right" or "wrong" in this book. A thought-provoking read."
"The narrator is Katie, A British Doctor bored with her negative husband and their marriage. She wants to feel good, loved, and appreciated and thinks that a divorce and an extramarital fling might be her answer. She begins to contemplate "How good do you have to be to be 'good'?" especially when her husband befriends a healing do-good guru, whom he invites to live with them and their two children. Under the influence of Good News, David takes in the homeless, gives away his children's toys and belongings, and tries to make amends with those he previously hurt and bullied, all in an attempt to be good. Ironically, when David becomes "better," he actually becomes "worse" in Katie's eyes, and David's new-found spirituality wreaks havoc in Katie's family. Hornby introduces some interesting questions about values and morality, and I liked that. There also was some humor in the writing, and I liked that, too, although, overall, I could only rate this novel with two stars. It was just OK."
"I think "How to be Good" certainly divided fans of Hornby who were used to his musical themes in High Fidelity and 31 Songs and his style in About a Boy. He was given a lot of criticism for writing the book from the perspective of a middle aged female but this did not bother me in the slightest. In fact I thought the book was witty and well written. I found myself identifying with Katie, despite her whiny repetitive moments. I loved her inner voice - I found things written on the page that I have never heard expressed before and believed only existed in the deepest recesses of peoples supressed innner life. I think Hornby is a master at capturing these secret inner lives we lead. The book was not predictable or trite or a simple comedy of manners and it dealt with a subject I have been very interested in, and have been reevaluating of late. So in short - I loved it."
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