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The Polysyllabic Spree
by Nick Hornby

The Polysyllabic Spree Cover

About This Book

ISBN13: 9781932416244
ISBN10: 1932416242
All Product Details

Powells.com Staff Pick

"What works for Hornby is his easy-going voice, his enthusiasm and passion. It is not irritatingly earnest, but it is genuine. You just can't help but like the guy. Which is why the collection of essays on literature compiled from his articles written for the Believer magazine is so good!....I would, if I could, impress upon you my love for this book as convincingly as Hornby does for his favorites. Even if you don't go on to read what Hornby reads, you'll have a great time reading what Hornby writes." Georgie Lewis, Powells.com (read the entire Powells.com review)

Name one other book critic that consistently makes you laugh out loud without denigrating the work of his subject. Right, you can't. (If you can, please, let me know.) Hornby's monthly "What I've Been Reading" columns for the Believer magazine (collected through November 2004 in The Polysyllabic Spree) offer the most astute, entertaining commentary on books and reading being published today. Recommended by Dave Weich

Review-a-Day   (What is Review-a-Day?)

"What Hornby does so beautifully here is to assume the intelligence of his readers, and to obliterate the literature/pleasure divide by acting, sensibly, as if it didn't exist. The implicit message of these columns is that nothing that is not pleasurable has a right to be considered art. It certainly doesn't have a right to your time." Charles Taylor, Salon.com (read the entire Salon.com review)

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

The Polysyllabic Spree collects fourteen installments of Nick Hornby's celebrated monthly column "Stuff I've Been Reading" from The Believer magazine.

A finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award for his music criticism, Nick Hornby now turns his unerring gaze to books. Here, in his monthly accounts of what he's read — along with what he bought and may one day read — Nick Hornby ably explores everything from the classic to the graphic novel, as well as poems, plays, and sports-related exposes. And if he occasionally implores a biographer for brevity, or abandons a literary work in favor of an Arsenal soccer match, then all is not lost. His warm and riotous writing, full of all the joy and surprise and despair that books bring him, reveals why we still read, even when there's soccer on TV, a pram in the hall, and a good band playing at our local bar.

All proceeds from this book will be split between 826NYC, a writing center in Brooklyn offering free classes to students between the ages of 8 and 18, and Treehouse, a London-based charity for kids with autism.

Review:

"Both playful and profound, The Polysyllabic Spree is a literary smorgasbord that insatiable bibliophiles will devour with delight." Allison Block, San Francisco Chronicle

Review:

"If you love to read, or like to read, or you're in that vast category of those wishing for more time to read, here is a book that will have you saying "yes" and "so true," or just have you smiling in knowing amusement at most pages....A reading diary of sharp and thoughtful musings on literature that ultimately asks: Why do we read, anyway?" Carol Iaciofano, Boston Globe

Review:

"[The Polysyllabic Spree] will give you a remarkable opportunity to spend some time in conversation with a guy who will almost certainly make you go out and buy what he reads." John Freeman, The St. Petersburg Times

Review:

"Hornby is the rare writer who can say a whole hell of a lot without coming off as smugly proud of himself for being able to say so much." PopMatters

Synopsis:

"Books are, let's face it, better than everything else," writes Nick Hornby in his "Stuff I've Been Reading" column in The Believer. "If we played cultural Fantasy Boxing League, and made books go 15 rounds in the ring against the best that any other art form had to offer, then books would win pretty much every time. Go on, try it. The Magic Flute v. Middlemarch? Middlemarch in six. The Last Supper v. Crime and Punishment? Fyodor on point. And every now and again you'd get a shock, because that happens in sports, so Back to the Future III might land a lucky punch on Rabbit, Run; but I'm still backing literature 29 times out of 30." This book collects Hornby's popular columns in a single, artfully illustrated volume with selected passages from the novels, biographies, collections of poetry, and comics under discussion.
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About the Author

Nick Hornby is the author of Fever Pitch, High Fidelity, About a Boy, and How to be Good. Songbook, his collection of essays on music, was a finalist for the 2003 National Book Critics Circle Award.
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Series Description

The Polysyllabic Spree is the first title in the Believer Book series, which collects essays by and interviews with some of our favorite authors — George Saunders, Zadie Smith, Michel Houellebecq, Janet Malcolm, Jim Shepard, and Haruki Murakami, to name a few. These attractive books combine material previously published in The Believer with new, shockingly good material. In addition, Believer Books is happy to introduce our audience to titles from around the non-English-speaking world (places like Sweden, Portugal, and Madagascar), translated and published in English for the first time. These jacketed paperbacks will feature a recognizable and cohesive style and will be affordably priced.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9781932416244
Subtitle:
A Hilarious and True Account of One Man's Struggle with the Monthly Tide of the Books He's Bought and the Books He's B
Author:
Hornby, Nick
Publisher:
McSweeney's Books
Subject:
Books & Reading
Subject:
LITERARY CRITICISM / Books & Reading
Copyright:
2004
Edition Number:
1st
Publication Date:
December 10, 2004
Binding:
Paperback
Language:
English
Pages:
230
Dimensions:
8.50x5.70x.41 in. .47 lbs.
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