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Slam [Paperback]

Nick Hornby (Author)
3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
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Book Description

Publication Date: 1 July 2010

Slam is a hilarious coming-of-age novel by bestselling author Nick Hornby

'There was this time when everything seemed to have come together. And so obviously it was time to go and screw it all up.'

Sam is sixteen and a skater. Just so there are no terrible misunderstandings: skating = skateboarding. There's no ice. Life is ticking along nicely for Sam; his Mum's got rid of her rubbish boyfriend, he's thinking about college and he's met someone. Alicia.

Then a little accident happens. One with big consequences for someone just finding his way in life. Sam can't run (let alone skate) away from this one. He's a boy facing a man's problems and the question is - has he got what it takes to confront them?

Slam, from the acclaimed author of About a Boy and High Fidelity is a teenage novel about a boy who has to grow up in big, big hurry. It is The Catcher in the Rye for the 21st century.

'Very funny...very real' Daily Telegraph

'Hornby gets his point across with the subtlety and skill of a born novelist who always deserves to be read' Independent

'A moving read for anyone' Elle

Nick Hornby has captivated readers and achieved widespread critical acclaim for his comic, well-observed adult novels About a Boy, A Long Way Down, Juliet, Naked, How to be Good and High Fidelity. His three works of non-fiction, 31 Songs (shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award), Fever Pitch (winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award) and The Complete Polysyllabic Spree are also available from Penguin.

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Product details

  • Paperback: 304 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin; Re-issue edition (1 July 2010)
  • Language: Unknown
  • ISBN-10: 0241950287
  • ISBN-13: 978-0241950289
  • Product Dimensions: 12.9 x 1.8 x 19.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 570,889 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

Review

Truthful and funny (Sunday Times )

Hornby takes the raw ironies of life and gently rubs away at them to reveal gems of bittersweet truth (Observer )

A moving read for anyone (Elle )

Touching, very funny (Guardian )

Hornby gets his point across with the subtlety and skill of a born novelist who always deserves to be read (Independent )

Warm, witty and wise (Arena )

Hornby's writing is hilarious (Cosmopolitan ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

About the Author

Nick Hornby was educated at Cambridge and began his career as an English teacher before going on to write the internationally bestselling novels High Fidelity, About a Boy, How to be Good and A Long Way Down. He has written three works of non-fiction: the hugely popular Fever Pitch, 31 Songs and The Complete Polysyllabic Spree. Fever Pitch, High Fidelity and About a Boy have all been made into successful films. Nick has won many awards and is a huge pop-music fan. He lives and works in Highbury, north London. Slam is his first teenage fiction novel. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
40 of 43 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars Too Much Too Young 17 Oct 2007
By A. Ross TOP 500 REVIEWER
Format:Hardcover
I've been a huge fan of Hornby's since the early days, including his non-fiction, and this step into YA lit feels totally natural. After all, so many of his protagonists (including himself) are young men struggling to come to terms with adulthood and the responsibilities of "growing up." Here, the dilemma is much the same, however it's much more direct, and instead of a young man grappling adulthood, it's a teenage boy grappling with the implications of a monumental adult responsibility.

I'm guessing there have been a number of good YA books about teen pregnancy -- and if that's the case, add this one to the list. The simple story is narrated by 18-year-old North London lad Sam, reflecting back over the past two years. While it's pretty bare bones -- the cast doesn't really extend beyond Sam, his girlfriend, their respective parents, and two skater acquaintances -- things are made livelier though the device of having Sam discuss his problems with a poster of legendary pro skater Tony Hawk (whose responses are passages Sam has memorized from Hawk's autobiography). There are also a few jumps into dream sequence/time-travel which break up the straightforward narrative, although they don't actually add up to that much.

The book's real strength comes from Hornby's ability to capture the inner life of a teenage boy while avoiding all the usual pitfalls. Sam is neither too articulate nor too dense, and he's basically a well-adjusted, pleasant teen who hasn't gotten into any trouble -- until now. His narrative is full Hornby's trademark observational wit, although without nearly as many pop culture trappings as usual. The book certainly carries a cautionary message about teen sex, but it's never hectoring or reductionist. There's a strong sense of hopefulness for Sam, despite the deep hole he's dug himself. It's not an amazing book, but certainly a cut above the average.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Teenage Kicks 18 Jan 2008
By Ian Wood, Author of 'Here's 2 Absent Fathers'
Format:Hardcover
I wasn't particularly looking forward to reading Nick Hornby's `Slam', his first teenage novel. It was nineteen years since I was last a teenager and even then I think I was probably too old for the term to really stick. However this was a novel by Nick Hornby whose `High Fidelity' is my favourite novel; whose `Fever Pitch' is my favourite memoir; I think you get the idea, I like Nick Hornby, I don't however like teenagers. Anyway there was nothing for it, I had to roll up my sleeves, grit my teeth, grasp the nettle and take the book by the spine.

I'm so glad I did, what a fantastic and painfully funny book. Certainly Hornby's best since `About a Boy' with which it sets a fairly consistent tone. This is quite remarkable as `Slam' is written in the first person as a teenage boy. Although `About a Boy' was very insightful into the mind of an adolescent boy and his relationship with the adults around him it didn't have to do it in the boy's voice. `Slam' is written in a very convincing voice of a fifteen year old boy, although the language and passions for music and skating very much tie the novel to the present the spirit in which it is written ties it to teenagers of any generation and consequently I can feel a certain empathy for a teenager I could obviously have fathered.

I don't want to tell you anything of the plot as it would spoil the book to hear about it in my voice rather than `Sam's', trust me it's better than the blurb which relies too heavily on the Tony Hawks fandom to give a balanced appreciation of the book.

I think that the reason that Sam's voice in `Slam' works is that it still resonates with the same passion as Rob's did in `High Fidelity'. Perhaps the reason Hornby and even I can understand this character so well is that we belong to the first generation that never grew up, we are still essentially teenagers. The four hundred or so middle aged men jumping up and down to `Teenage Kicks' at a recent Undertones concert I attended possibly suffer from the same malaise.
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19 of 23 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars Nick Hornby could write this in his sleep. And it seems that he did 24 Jun 2008
By I Read, Therefore I Blog TOP 1000 REVIEWER VINE™ VOICE
Format:Paperback
I expected more from Nick Hornby in his first YA book. The subject of teen pregnancy has been done to death but there isn't a great deal out there that looks at it from the father-to-be's angle and it's something that ties in with Hornby's perennial theme of men (read: teenage boys) finally being forced to take responsibility and display maturity. A writer of Hornby's talent could write a book about that in his sleep and it seems that he did.

Sam has a stereotypical background (raised by a single mother who had him whilst herself a teenager and emotionally distant from his father). The central character device of having him talk to a Tony Hawk poster reminded me of BEND IT LIKE BECKHAM but Hornby has researched skater terminology and slang and Sam's relationship with his friends is entertaining.

However the book suffers because Hornby wants Sam to be a bit of everything. He's inarticulate about his own feelings but is perceptive as to the emotions of those around him and explains them. It's a tension that does not come off. Hornby makes a lot of Sam's wanting to be a good dad, but it comes too late in the text for it to have the emotional impact it needs.

I didn't believe in his relationship with the middle-class Alicia as it's unclear what she saw in him other than that he was there and a way of getting at her snobby parents. Alicia is two-dimensional (all we learn is that she wants to be a model and is a little arrogant) and it's disappointing that Hornby avoids any discussion of her aborting the baby as this could have led to some interesting emotional development on both her and Sam's part.

Hornby's time-travel device is a problem. He hedges on whether it is actually happening, which makes it difficult to suspend disbelief in these scenes. Although he uses them to move the story forward, the fact that we later have Sam reliving them (albeit slightly differently) makes them too repetitive.

The book's events feel clichéd. Sam runs the checklist of fleeing his problems, reluctantly confronting them and having everything turn out all right in the end and it's dull reading. Hornby throws in some funny lines and scenes but it's not enough to salvage a blah novel that fails to innovate on the subject matter.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars About a Baby
This is standard Hornby fare - the middle classes of modern England. Sam Jones is 16, he is an average to bright London kid, he likes skateboarding, he meets the dishy Alicia, his... Read more
Published 1 month ago by gerardpeter
5.0 out of 5 stars Slam
well told and with a vital twist! Really enjoyed seeing the world through his eyes. Reccommended for young and old.
Published 3 months ago by Clare Bell
1.0 out of 5 stars daft
Teenage pregnancy lost its shock value forty years ago..... the young couple are the ONLY unmarried youngsters at pre-natal sessions, spend a bit of time in the real world Nicko! Read more
Published on 20 May 2011 by diane
2.0 out of 5 stars Was it worth it? Not Really!
I picked this up cheap in a charity shop mainly on the basis of having seen the Fever Pitch and About A Boy films which I quite liked and I'd been aware that Hornby seemed to have... Read more
Published on 6 Mar 2011 by M. A. Cossins
4.0 out of 5 stars IT ONLY TAKES A MOMENT....
Sam Jones, 16 - the age of his mother when he was born. Skateboarding is his passion - champion Tony Hawk his guru, autobiography his much thumbed Bible. Read more
Published on 4 Mar 2011 by Mr. D. L. Rees
5.0 out of 5 stars Paired Reading
I bought 2 copies of this book to do paired reading with my teenage grandson. Books in excellent condition and enjoyed.
Published on 22 Jan 2011 by Mrs. M. R. Rowe
4.0 out of 5 stars Sympathetic and funny depiction of teenage disasters...
Hornby's last novel before this one, "How To Be Good", was startlingly bleak, so it's a relief to find him in a more positive mood this time. Read more
Published on 15 Sep 2010 by Jason Mills
1.0 out of 5 stars Hornby's worst
I usually really enjoy reading Nick Hornby. Fever Pitch and High Fidelity are in my top 10 books ever. Read more
Published on 9 July 2010 by Erich
5.0 out of 5 stars A great insight into teen pregnancy from a boy's point of view
Things are finally going right for 15-year-old Sam; it looks likely he'll go to college, his Mum has dumped her crap boyfriend, and he now has a gorgeous girlfriend, Alicia. Read more
Published on 4 Mar 2010 by Jo
4.0 out of 5 stars It's good but is it good enough?
Nick Hornby is an uneven writer. His talent is in writing teenaged characters, and yet he also insists on writing adult fiction. Read more
Published on 1 July 2009 by N. Mott
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