- Hardcover: 288 pages
- Publisher: Viking (7 Sep 2006)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0670916668
- ISBN-13: 978-0670916665
- Product Dimensions: 21.8 x 14 x 3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 337,705 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
The Complete Polysyllabic Spree
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
'So this is supposed to be about the how, and when, and why, and what of reading - about the way that, when reading is going well, one books leads to another and to another, a paper trail of theme and meaning; and how, when it's going badly, when books don't stick or take, when your mood and the mood of the book are fighting like cats, you'd rather do anything but attempt the next paragraph, or reread the last one for the tenth time'. In his monthly accounts of what he's read - along with what he 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 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.
About the Author
Nick Hornby is the bestselling author of High Fidelity, About a Boy, How to Be Good and A Long Way Down (shortlisted for the 2005 Whitbread Novel of the Year Award), as well as the non-fiction Fever Pitch and 31 Songs. He is the recipient of the E. M. Forster Award, the W. H. Smith Award for Fiction and the Writers' Writer Award at the Orange International Writers' Festival. He lives in Highbury, North London.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I read through this book at my usual pace, walking the dog , on the train to work , waiting in the pub for friends, in the bath, waiting for pizza, basically the usual haunts of the book addict. This book articulated my relationship with books from the tendancy to over buy books given the constraints on my time to read them, to my hatred for plot-divulging revues (the irony isnt lost). Hornby's key critical capabilities are boosted by the limitations put on him by the editors of the magazine he writes the column for,i.e. no direct criticism of the writer or writing allowed. This makes for a really wonderful discourse on his relationship with the books he reads and his enthusiasm for the books he chooses to read is infectious. Beyond this though the humour is what makes this book special. I think even if you took away my constant empathy with the author (I walked around nodding my head as I walked into lamposts) the humour alone would have kept me captivated. Ironically enough the first lesson of the book is that life is too short to read books that you dont like , put them down, move on - a great piece of advice that I intend to keep with. However I must say the first pages of this book took a while to get going while the rapport and standing jokes matured. If I had followed the advice in that first chapter I would have missed out on one of the most enjoyable books I have ever read. Dont be put off by the fact that it is a book of articles (this was almost enough to turn me away from the start), but being a fan of the author's novels I decided to give it a go, absolutely no regrets.
29 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This is a slim volume collecting essays Nick Hornby wrote from Dave Eggers's magazine the Believer. In these essays, produced monthly, Hornby chronicles his reading, telling us about books he's enjoyed and books he's struggled with, keeping a detailed record of what he's bought and what he's read (not always the same), and reflecting on the way life and reading interrelate. It's a fairly slight book, but there are some characteristically neat observations, and it's touched with Hornby's usual humanity. To me this is basically a bathroom book - something to read in five-page chunks - and it shouldn't be seen as either a literary manifesto or an important extension of Hornby's oeuvre. But it has made me check out writers I either wouldn't otherwise have read or hadn't even heard of, and that's always a pleasure.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Put simply this is about the travails of a book addict writing about his 'addiction' for an American magazine, and emerging from the task with an understanding about the nature of buying, reading and criticizing books. This is very sharp and snappy stuff and makes you realize just how smart the ever humble Nick Hornby is.
One of the other great things about 'The Spree' of course is that it justifies every book addict's addiction and as such will act as a key piece of evidence when your book shelves finally collapse onto some poor soul and you need to defend yourself in a Tort case. Great stuff.
One of the other great things about 'The Spree' of course is that it justifies every book addict's addiction and as such will act as a key piece of evidence when your book shelves finally collapse onto some poor soul and you need to defend yourself in a Tort case. Great stuff.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Enjoyable read - up to a point
I write this review having woken up at 5.30 this morning and analysed the World Cup winners and doing my stats of which country won the most cups (Brazil obviously), what... Read more
Published 23 months ago by Bacchus
Complete Reading Spree
"The Complete Polysyllabic Spree" collects together the monthly "Stuff I've Been Reading" columns that Hornby wrote in The Believer magazine from September 2003 to June 2006. Read more
Published on 24 May 2010 by Sam Quixote
Book
Product arrived on time and in good order. As it was a present I cannot comment any further.
Published on 22 Dec 2009 by Mrs. Celia A. Kemp
For all lovers of books, this is the best book of the year
This is a collection of book reviews Nick Hornby wrote for an American magazine, which works on the principle that no snide or negative reviews are ever allowed. Read more
Published on 9 April 2009 by M. W. Hatfield
Nick Hornby
Nick Hornby's my fav author but this book is painful and slow, not my favourite book of his
Published on 3 Mar 2009 by Mr. T. W. Westwater
A Gold Mine
I just finished reading this book and it is brilliant! Obviously having been written by Nick Hornby it would be but the idea of compiling a selection of book reviews makes a great... Read more
Published on 7 July 2008 by Mr. M. O. Penrose
Reading about reading
This book was bought for me as a birthday present shortly after I'd added it to my wish-list on Amazon. Read more
Published on 1 July 2008 by Jeremy Walton
Highly enjoyable
I enjoyed reading this novel about all the books Hornby had read over the course of two years. The book is presented as a series of magazine articles with each article being just... Read more
Published on 27 Jun 2008 by SJSmith
Reading books about books isn't for everyone but if you do so, read...
Do my favourite authors enjoy the same books as me? Are they more erudite, and more Catholic in their reading taste? Nick Hornby's book gave me the chance to find out. Read more
Published on 22 Oct 2007 by Mum of the animals
Great book about books
This is a great book about books and about the whole process of reading and a bit about the process of writing. It made me curious about many books. Read more
Published on 24 Aug 2007 by Pedro Silva Ramos
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