Nick Hornby

Nicholas Peter John Hornby (born 17 April 1957) is an English writer and lyricist.

Addressing similar themes as his earlier novel High 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.

He is best known for his memoir Fever Pitch (1992) and novels High Fidelity and About 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.

Hornby published his first book in 1992, a collection of essays about American writers such as Tobias Wolff and Ann Beattie, titled Contemporary American Fiction.

Hornby's second book, Fever Pitch, also published in 1992, is an autobiographical story detailing his fanatical support for Arsenal Football Club.

As a result, Hornby received the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award.

High Fidelity — his third book and first novel — was published in 1995.

In 1997, the memoir was adapted for film in the UK, and in 2005 an American remake was released, following Jimmy Fallon's character's obsession with the Boston Red Sox, a baseball team.

With the book's success, Hornby began to publish articles in the Sunday Times, Time Out and the Times Literary Supplement, in addition to his music reviews for the New Yorker.

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.

In 1999, Hornby received the E. M. Forster Award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

The novel, about a neurotic record collector and his failed relationships, was adapted into a 2000 American film starring John Cusack, a Broadway musical in 2006, and a television show High Fidelity starring Zoë Kravitz in 2020.

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 the Man Booker Prize in 2001 and won the W.H. Smith Award for Fiction in 2002.

Hugh Grant and Nicholas Hoult starred in the 2002 film version.

Part of the money he earned with his next book, Speaking with the Angel in 2002, was donated to TreeHouse, 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".

In 2003, Hornby wrote a collection of essays on selected popular songs and the emotional resonance they carry, called 31 Songs (known in the US as Songbook).

Also in 2003, Hornby was awarded the London Award 2003, an award that was selected by fellow writers.

Hornby has also written essays on various aspects of popular culture and, in particular, he has become known for his writing on pop music and mix tape enthusiasts.

Since 2003, he has written a book review column, "Stuff I've Been Reading", for the monthly magazine The Believer; all of these articles are collected between The Polysyllabic Spree (2004), Housekeeping vs. The Dirt (2006), Shakespeare Wrote for Money (2008), and More Baths Less Talking (2012).

In a 2004 poll for the BBC, Hornby was named the 29th most influential person in British culture.

Hornby's novel A Long Way Down was published in 2005, with a film version of this book released in 2014.

It was on the shortlist for the Whitbread Novel Award.

Hornby has also edited two sports-related anthologies: My Favourite Year and The Picador Book of Sports Writing.

Hornby's book Slam was published on 16 October 2007; it is his first novel for young adults and was recognised as a 2008 ALA Best Books for Young Adults.

The protagonist of Slam is a 16-year-old skateboarder named Sam, whose life changes drastically when his girlfriend gets pregnant.

He has received two Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay nominations for An Education (2009), and Brooklyn (2015).

Hornby was born in Redhill, Surrey, the son of Sir Derek Hornby, the chairman of London and Continental Railways, and Margaret Audrey Withers.

He was brought up in Maidenhead, and educated at Maidenhead Grammar School and Jesus College, Cambridge, where he read English.

His parents divorced when he was eleven.

Prior to his career as a novelist, Hornby worked for a time as a secondary-school English teacher.

Hornby's following novel, titled Juliet, Naked, was published in September 2009.

In 2010, Hornby co-founded the Ministry 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.

Hornby discussed his bouts of depression in 2012 on the BBC Radio 4 broadcast of "Fever Pitched: Twenty Years On".

Hornby's most recent novels are Funny Girl (2014), about a 1960s beauty queen determined to make her mark upon television comedy, State of the Union (2019) and Just Like You (2020).

His books have sold more than 5 million copies worldwide as of 2018.