Nick Hornby | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Hornby in 2009 | |
| Born | (1957-04-17)17 April 1957 (age 67) Redhill, Surrey, England |
| 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) |
Nicholas Peter John Hornby[1][2] (born 17 April 1957) is an English writer and lyricist. He is best known for his memoirFever Pitch (1992) and novelsHigh Fidelity andAbout a Boy, all of which were adapted into feature films. Hornby's work frequently touches upon music, sport, and the aimless and obsessive natures of his protagonists. His books have sold more than 5 million copies worldwide as of 2018.[3] In a 2004 poll for theBBC, Hornby was named the 29th most influential person inBritish culture.[4][5] He has received twoAcademy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay nominations forAn Education (2009), andBrooklyn (2015).
Hornby was born inRedhill, Surrey, the son ofSir Derek Hornby, the chairman ofLondon and Continental Railways, and Margaret Audrey Withers.[1][6] He was brought up inMaidenhead, and educated atMaidenhead Grammar School andJesus College, Cambridge, where he readEnglish.[7] His parents divorced when he was eleven.[8]
Before becoming a novelist, Hornby worked for a time as asecondary-school English teacher.
Hornby published his first book in 1992, a collection of essays about American writers such asTobias Wolff andAnn Beattie, titledContemporary American Fiction. Hornby's second book,Fever Pitch, also published in 1992, is an autobiographical story detailing his fanatical support forArsenal Football Club.[9] As a result, Hornby received theWilliam Hill Sports Book of the Year Award. In 1997, the memoir was adapted forfilm in the UK, and in 2005 anAmerican remake was released, followingJimmy Fallon's character's obsession with theBoston Red Sox, a baseball team. With the book's success, Hornby began to publish articles in theSunday Times,Time Out and theTimes Literary Supplement, in addition to his music reviews for theNew Yorker.
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 a2000 American film starringJohn Cusack, aBroadway musical in 2006, and a television showHigh Fidelity starringZoë 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 andNicholas Hoult starred in the2002 film version. In 1999, Hornby received theE. M. Forster Award of theAmerican Academy of Arts and Letters.
Hornby's next novel,How to Be Good, was published in 2001. The female protagonist in the novel explores contemporary morals, marriage and parenthood. It was longlisted for theMan Booker Prize in 2001 and won theW.H. Smith Award for Fiction in 2002.
Part of the money he earned with his next book,Speaking with the Angel in 2002, was donated toTreeHouse, a charity for autistic children: Hornby's own son is autistic. He was editor of the book, which contained twelve short stories written by his friends. He also contributed to the collection with the story "NippleJesus".[10]
In 2003, Hornby wrote a collection of essays on selected popular songs and the emotional resonance they carry, called31 Songs (known in the US asSongbook). 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 andmix tape enthusiasts. Since 2003, he has written a book review column, "Stuff I've Been Reading", for the monthly magazineThe Believer; all of these articles are collected betweenThe Polysyllabic Spree (2004),Housekeeping vs. The Dirt (2006),Shakespeare Wrote for Money (2008), andMore Baths Less Talking (2012).
Hornby's novelA Long Way Down was published in 2005, witha film version of this book released in 2014.[12] It was on the shortlist for theWhitbread Novel Award. Hornby has also edited two sports-related anthologies:My Favourite Year andThe Picador Book of Sports Writing.
Hornby's bookSlam was published on 16 October 2007; it is his first novel for young adults and was recognised as a 2008ALA Best Books for Young Adults. The protagonist ofSlam is a 16-year-old skateboarder named Sam, whose life changes drastically when his girlfriend gets pregnant.
Hornby's following novel, titledJuliet, Naked, was published in September 2009. Addressing similar themes as his earlier novelHigh 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 theMinistry 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 areFunny Girl (2014), about a 1960s beauty queen determined to make her mark upon television comedy,State of the Union (2019) andJust Like You (2020).
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 hisBAFTA andBFI Screenwriters' Lecture he said: "once you get to a certain point in your novelistic career, unless you screw up very badly the book is going to come out. With a screenplay there are all these hurdles that seem to have some kind of objectivity to them. The screenplay has to work and I love that."[16]
In 2009, Hornby adapted an autobiographical memoir by the journalistLynn Barber for the screen asAn Education, a feature film starringPeter Sarsgaard andCarey Mulligan.[17] He was nominated for theAcademy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay and for twoBAFTAs.
In 2014, Hornby adapted another autobiographical memoir,Cheryl Strayed'sWild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail.Wild, which starredReese Witherspoon andLaura Dern, was nominated forBest Actress for Witherspoon andBest Supporting Actress for Dern. Speaking on the challenge of adapting such a packed book, Hornby said it was really a case of boiling everything down and making the realisation that he could have made a two-hour film without mentioning walking at all.[16]
In 2015, he wrote the script for the filmBrooklyn, an adaptation ofColm Tóibín's novelof the same name. Tim Robey ofThe Daily Telegraph said it was "his strongest work ever as a screenwriter".[18] According to Metacritic, the film is on eighty "top 10" lists for 2015.[19] He was nominated for his secondOscar for writing the screenplay and received two BAFTA nominations, winning one.
In 2016, Hornby adapted Nina Stibbe's bookLove, 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]
Several of Hornby's books have made the jump from page to screen. Hornby wrote the screenplay for the first, a 1997 British adaptation ofFever Pitch, starringColin Firth. It was followed byHigh Fidelity in 2000, starringJohn Cusack, with the action shifted from London to Chicago. After this success,About a Boy was quickly picked up, and released in 2002, starringHugh Grant. AnAmericanizedFever Pitch, in whichJimmy Fallon plays a hopelessly addictedBoston Red Sox fan who tries to reconcile his love of the game with that of his girlfriend (Drew Barrymore), was released in 2005.Johnny Depp purchased film rights to the bookA Long Way Down before it was published. The book was made into the 2014 film of the same name starringPierce Brosnan,Aaron Paul,Toni Collette andImogen Poots. The film adaptation ofJuliet, Naked was released in 2018 starringRose Byrne,Ethan Hawke andChris O'Dowd.
High Fidelity was also the basis for a 2006eponymous musical that shifted the action toBrooklyn; its book is byDavid Lindsay-Abaire with lyrics byAmanda Green, and music created byTom Kitt. The production ran for a month inBoston, then moved toBroadway, closing after 18 previews and 14 regular performances.
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 ofHigh Fidelity starringZoë Kravitz on 14 February 2020.
The importance of music in Hornby's novels, and in his life, is evidenced by his long-standing and fruitful collaborations with the rock bandMarah, 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 forThe New Yorker and in his ownSongbook) has been widely criticised by writers such asKevin Dettmar (in his bookIs Rock Dead),Curtis White (in an essay at www.centreforbookculture.org, titled "Kid Adorno"),[21] Barry Faulk andSimon Reynolds for his embrace of rock traditionalism and conservative take onpost-rock and other experimental musics (exemplified in Hornby's negative review of theRadiohead albumKid A).[22]
Hornby has also had extensive collaboration with American singer/songwriterBen Folds. Their albumLonely Avenue was released in September 2010. Folds wrote the music, with Hornby contributing lyrics. Prior to the album's release, the single "Picture Window" was released on Ben Folds' website.[23] A bootleg version of a song aboutLevi Johnston written by Hornby and Folds and performed by Folds, appeared on the internet.[24] Remaining Hornby lyrics provided the title song of the 2012Ben Folds Five reunion album,The Sound of the Life of the Mind.
In 2022, Hornby released the bookDickens and Prince, where he makes connections between the musicianPrince and authorCharles Dickens.
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 producerAmanda Posey. They separated in 2021. They have two sons, born in 2001 and 2004. Hornby's sister, writer Gill Hornby, is married to writerRobert Harris.[26]
Nick Hornby was directly involved in the creation of the charityAmbitious about Autism, then known as TreeHouse Trust, and its schoolTreeHouse 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-foundedMinistry of Stories, a writing charity based in Hoxton, east London.[28] The charity was inspired byDave 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 supportsArsenal Football Club.[30]
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| Preceded by | William Hill Sports Book of the Year winner 1992 | Succeeded by |
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