Very sad that this is the last of Nick Hornby's collections of book review-essays... well, hopefully not the very last (maybe he'll put together anothVery sad that this is the last of Nick Hornby's collections of book review-essays... well, hopefully not the very last (maybe he'll put together another some day)--but he's stopped writing for The Believer, in which all of these essays were first published. I love Nick Hornby's fiction, too, but am so grateful for these nonfiction pieces about one of my favorite subjects (reading). His attitude toward books seems absolutely perfect to me: he believes reading should be Fun, first and foremost, and he has some pointed (very funny) words for policymakers and teachers and parents who forget this.
I agree with everyone who loved this book because it's the one in which Hornby describes his discovery of YA literature, and how Good it can be. Shakespeare Wrote for Money inspired me to begin reading YA books again--something I haven't done for a long time--and I'm loving it.
But really, the best thing about this book, and all the Nick Hornby I've read, is that it's so, so funny....more
I want and need to read this book again. It's very challenging, both intellectually and emotionally, but also deeply rewarding, and I suspect that it I want and need to read this book again. It's very challenging, both intellectually and emotionally, but also deeply rewarding, and I suspect that it would really reward multiple readings. Didn't have time to read it straight through, as I'd have liked, but am going to try to do this. I'm struck by the author's courage... in making a book so unlike any other I've read, in struggling visibly to tell the truth about her father's death, in not settling for any easy answers or forms....more
The five star rating is based mostly on the first essay here (about visiting and falling in love with Berlin) and the last (about Wendy Lesser's "diffThe five star rating is based mostly on the first essay here (about visiting and falling in love with Berlin) and the last (about Wendy Lesser's "difficult friendship" with the writer Leonard Michaels)--enjoyed the middle essay, too (which chronicles how WL decided not to write the biography of David Hume she'd been planning) but not nearly as much. The first and last, though: wow. WL might not be the easiest person to be friends with (she admits this herself), but as a narrator she's smart, passionately opinionated, interested in all sorts of things, and incredibly well-read and well-educated. I read this book slowly--it really does encourage you to stop and stare out the window and ponder--and with lots of pleasure, and it left me thinking about friendship, and the relationship between art and politics, and different cultures, and the joys of reading and music and thinking, and much much more....more
I did like these, but I think I'd have liked them even more if I had not read them immediately after finishing Anne Fadiman's essays--they were a hardI did like these, but I think I'd have liked them even more if I had not read them immediately after finishing Anne Fadiman's essays--they were a hard act to follow. These are thoughtful, very personal, very lyrical--maybe a bit one-noted? And not as wonderful as Season of the Body, Brenda Miller's first book, possibly because lots of the same territory gets revisited here....more
I know I have been giving all my books five stars recently... I'm starting to feel like I should stop doing that, since it looks like I'm never criticI know I have been giving all my books five stars recently... I'm starting to feel like I should stop doing that, since it looks like I'm never critical about what I read (actually the opposite is true). But, honestly, I have loved everything I've been reading lately (plus, at this point, I don't finish books that I don't enjoy unless, for some reason, I have to). Anyway: Anne Fadiman: she is so smart! Plus funny, learned, and a maker of beautiful, sometimes extraordinarily beautiful, sentences. I adored her first book of essays, Ex Libris, and this one is just as good. From her introduction, I learned the definition of a "familiar essay" (a blend of personal stories/memoir-like bits with more impersonal ruminations on a topic), and now have figured out that I love familiar essays, at least the way Anne Fadiman writes them. I learned so much in a factual way (about the history of mail, the US flag, butterfly collecting) and learned equally much about being human, though AF's wise observations about herself, her family, her topics. I was so happy to be spending time with her that I just bought a collection of essays she edited, Rereading, and am eager to dive into that....more
Things I loved about this book: Lucia Perillo's sense of humor (smart, dry, edgy); her ability to be funny about generally serious, unfunny subjects (Things I loved about this book: Lucia Perillo's sense of humor (smart, dry, edgy); her ability to be funny about generally serious, unfunny subjects (disability, poetry); her ability to move so effortlessly between those subjects, and to tie them together so thoughtfully and seamlessly. The last essay was my favorite; I can see rereading it over and over....more
I remember reading a quote once by Katherine Paterson, stating that children's books are either mirrors (showing the reader something about him or herI remember reading a quote once by Katherine Paterson, stating that children's books are either mirrors (showing the reader something about him or her self) or windows (showing the reader something about The Other)... and that, essentially, children love both kinds of stories. I think the same thing is true about books for grown-ups, and I started out reading And the Heart Says Whatever (such a great title) assuming it would be a window book for me. Emily Gould and I apparently have nothing in common, aside from being white, female, and born in the 20th century. And I was fascinated by her descriptions of what, to me, is a completely differnt sort of life... and then surprised and moved by her descriptions of her emotional life which, in spite of the outward differences, I found so easy to relate to. I guess that's the universal underlying the particular... or something like that. But it was lovely to find myself so touched, in the best sense, by this book, and also to find it so funny in some parts that I actually laughed out loud....more
I love Nick Hornby so much I get all tongue-tied trying to explain why, and end up just enthusing in what's probably kind of an embarrassing way. ThisI love Nick Hornby so much I get all tongue-tied trying to explain why, and end up just enthusing in what's probably kind of an embarrassing way. This books of essays is just as smart and funny and wonderful as The Polysyllabic Spree, both of which are collections of Hornby's reviews from "The Believer" magazine. Aside from being a great read in and of themselves, the essays have also given me some amazing recommendations for further reading, including books I'd never have heard of otherwise; Julie Orringer's How To Breathe Underwater is an excellent example. Another wonderful thing about this particular book (Hornby's, not Orringer's): the amazing introductory essay, which is all about reading and pleasure. Which seems kind of obvious, because isn't that what reading is all about? Except that I tend to forget that, and sometimes try to force myself to read things that are Good For Me. Which can be a good thing, sometimes, but Nick Hornby reminded me that we should really be getting joy out of 99% of our reading material. Otherwise, what's the point?...more
Wow. I loved, loved, loved this book. It's unusual for me to experience a nonfiction book as un-put-downable, but that was exactly how I felt about A Wow. I loved, loved, loved this book. It's unusual for me to experience a nonfiction book as un-put-downable, but that was exactly how I felt about A Field Guide to Getting Lost. As you might guess, these are meditations on lostness in its various guises, but they are so surprising, varied, beautiful and moving; Solnit's topics range from white settlers taken captive by Native Americans to the sudden death of a teenage friend to country music to the return of many native animals/birds to her native Northern California. She has a unique take on all her subjects, and her prose is lovely--graceful, honest, smart and lyrical. I found myself writing down a ton of quotes until I realized I just need to buy the book so I can reread it....more
I'm so grateful to this book, which got me to love Nick Hornby again. Not that I ever stopped loving him, exactly; it's just that I loved High FidelitI'm so grateful to this book, which got me to love Nick Hornby again. Not that I ever stopped loving him, exactly; it's just that I loved High Fidelity and About a Boy so very much that I was afraid I'd be disappointed by any of his books that came after, so I pretty much just stopped reading him. And I was further put off by some bad reviews of the novels that followed HF and AAB. But now I realize I need to start reading him again, because this book is so smart and funny and lovable and true. I loved it for the reviews of books themselves--several of which I've now read or am planning to read--and also for his musings about everything-to-do-with-books: buying them, owning them, reading and/or rereading them, thinking about reading them. Plus it seems very rare to me to actually laugh out loud when you are reading ESSAYS, and this book made me laugh out loud, a lot....more
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