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The Polysyllabic Spree: 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
 
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The Polysyllabic Spree: 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 (Paperback)

by Nick Hornby (Author)
4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)

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Product details

  • Paperback: 230 pages
  • Publisher: McSweeney's Books (31 Dec 2004)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1932416242
  • ISBN-13: 978-1932416244
  • Product Dimensions: 21.4 x 13.6 x 1.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 382,799 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #37 in  Books > Fiction > Authors, A-Z > H > Hornby, Nick

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Customer Reviews

11 Reviews
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3 star:    (0)
2 star:
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Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (11 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Light reading, 26 May 2005
By The Fisher Price King "Straight from the gut" (London) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
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.
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14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars The fine print, 25 Oct 2007
By perkster (cuckfield uk) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Complete Polysyllabic Spree (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.
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12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars There's no cure for the Polysyllabic Spree...., 18 Jul 2007
This review is from: The Complete Polysyllabic Spree (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.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars 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 7 months ago by M. W. Hatfield

2.0 out of 5 stars Nick Hornby
Nick Hornby's my fav author but this book is painful and slow, not my favourite book of his
Published 8 months ago by Mr. T. W. Westwater

5.0 out of 5 stars 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 16 months ago by Mr. M. O. Penrose

4.0 out of 5 stars 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 16 months ago by Jeremy Walton

4.0 out of 5 stars 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 17 months ago by SJSmith

5.0 out of 5 stars Reading books about books isn't for everyone but if you do so, read this one.
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

4.0 out of 5 stars 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

4.0 out of 5 stars It made me get on the 'order now' button
For me one way of assessing how good a book is, is the length of time it takes me to finish it (I exclude War and Peace etc. from this sort of judgment). Read more
Published on 2 April 2007 by H. M. Kingston

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