From Powells.com
"Hornby is adept at the humorous everyday observation, and there are enough wry grins to be found here. However, where his previous narrators have been hapless but not altogether hopeless, here Hornby is saying 'There are no happy endings, there is just making do.' Where Rob Fleming's (High Fidelity) progress is coming to terms with what it means to commit to a relationship, Katie and David appear to have lived out Robs fears of what that commitment may lead to. He was right to be afraid!" Georgie Lewis, Powells.com (read the entire Powells.com review)
Synopses & Reviews
Katie Carr is a good person. She recycles. She's against racism. She's a good doctor, a good mom, a good wife....well, maybe not that last one, considering she's having an affair and has just requested a divorce via cell phone. But who could blame her? For years her husband's been selfish, sarcastic, and underemployed, writing the "Angriest Man in Holloway" column for their local paper.
But now David's changed. He's become a good person, too really good. He's found a spiritual leader. He has become kind, soft-spoken, and earnest. He's even got a homeless kid set up in the spare room. Katie isn't sure if this is a deeply-felt conversion, a brain tumor or David's most brilliantly vicious manipulation yet. Because she's finding it more and more difficult to live with David and with herself.
Review
"Hilarious... a darkly funny and thought-provoking ride... The book examines what it means to be good to oneself, one's family and the world at large. While this could be sanctimonious fare, Hornby infuses it with wit and a sense of the absurd." USA Today
Review
"A bitingly clever novel of ideas, on a subject almost no one else has written about.... How to Be Good leaves you not knowing whether to laugh or cry... [a] profound, worrying, hilarious, sophisticated, compulsive novel." The Sunday Times (London)
Review
"Seriously spiked with humor... a page-turner." The Washington Post
Review
"The pleasure of Hornby's amiably dyspeptic fiction lies in his sharp eye for the absurdities of contemporary culture.... The result is a farce that manages to be breezily hilarious and thought-provoking at the same time." New York magazine
Review
"How to Be Good? How to be bloody marvelous, more like." The Mail on Sunday (UK)
Synopsis
A wise and hilarious novel from the bestselling author of Funny Girl, High Fidelity, and About a Boy.
A brutally truthful, compassionate novel about the heart, mind, and soul of a woman who, confronted by her husband s sudden and extreme spiritual conversion, is forced to learn how to be good whatever that means, and for better or worse
Katie Carr is a good person sort of. For years her husband s been selfish, sarcastic, and underemployed.
But now David s changed. He s become a good person, too really good. He s found a spiritual leader. He has become kind, soft-spoken, and earnest. Katie isn t sure if this is deeply felt conversion, a brain tumor or David s most brilliantly vicious manipulation yet. Because she s finding it more and more difficult to live with David and with herself."
Synopsis
Katie Carr is a good person. She recycles. She's against racism. She's a good doctor, a good mom, a good wife...well, maybe not that last one, considering she's having an affair and has just requested a divorce via cell phone. But who could blame her? For years her husband's been selfish, sarcastic, and underemployed, writing the "Angriest Man in Holloway" column for their local paper.
But now David's changed. He's become a good person, too—really good. He's found a spiritual leader. He has become kind, soft-spoken, and earnest. He's even got a homeless kid set up in the spare room. Katie isn't sure if this is a deeply-felt conversion, a brain tumor—or David's most brilliantly vicious manipulation yet. Because she's finding it more and more difficult to live with David—and with herself.
About the Author
Nick Hornby is the author of six internationally bestselling novels (
High Fidelity, About a Boy, How to be Good, A Long Way Down, Slam and
Juliet, Naked) and several works of non-fiction including
Fever Pitch, Songbook and
Ten Years In The Tub, a collection of his 'Stuff I've Been Reading' columns from the
Believer. His screenplay for the film
An Education was nominated for an Academy Award. He lives in Highbury, north London.