What You Like, Not What You Are Like

Earlier, I wrote about how badly I wanted to be Chuck Klosterman- I thought his life was suitably different from my own to warrant a fantasy of living in his shoes. I have long suspected, on the other hand, that I may in some small way already be Nick Hornby. Now, I well aware I am not an incredibly famous novelist and screenwriter, I am not British or middle-aged, I don't have an autistic son, and I don't even like Arsenal very much. Most importantly, I love and respect Nick Hornby's writing, and would never presume to compare my halting prose (most especially on this blog) with his astute, witty, observational style. In spite of all that, there is just too much in his ouvere (and I have read almost everything he has published, from my all time favorite, High Fidelity to the almost indefensible How to Be Good) that reasonates with me- more than feeling like it was written for me, it seems like I could have written it, if I had been given the talent and opportunity and life experience described above. These two books are perhaps the best examples...one is the final collection of his Believer articles under the heading "What I've Been Reading" and the other is a collection of short essays about 31 songs he likes.

Shakespeare Wrote For Money, like the two books that preceded it, is actually a very close relative to this blog. Every montly column begins with two lists, Books I Bought and Books I Read (rarely do these lists overlap as much as one thinks they should, though any experienced reader knows this experience). Ostensibly a book review, these columns are mostly about the joy of reading, and how the books Hornby reads affects or reflect his life. Reading it is reading about a man reading. Hornby, as always, writes with humor and wit, although (to borrow from an av club review) frustration sets in when Horby refuses to name books he disliked. This is done under the pretense that the people who run the Believer (who Hornby refers to as the Pollysylabic Spree) refuse to let him say anything bad about any book, and punish him when he does.

Songbook is much nearer and dearer to my heart. The 31 essays are much less about the songs than about a life spent listening to music, with each song serving as a lens into a period or feeling in Hornby's life. Some of the essays spend less than a paragraph actually discussing the songs they are about, but spend their time disucssing what its like to be a father, or how growing up makes you appreciate certain music more and certain music less. It really could be a memoir, a life of a music listener, but having the songs there gives you an insight into exactly what Hornby was listening to and whne. The original pressing (which i have, naturally) even comes with a mix CD containing 12 or so of the 31 songs. I kept marking passages I wanted to include here, but there ended up being too many to pick just one. So I'll just say if you love music, if it colors your life even half as much as mine, this book is about you.