Brookline Booksmith Hosts Nick Hornby

By Matt Margolis | October 18, 2007

Tonight I attended a Nick Hornby reading and book signing, hosted by Brookline Booksmith. Nick Hornby is currently on tour promoting his latest novel, Slam (which I have reviewed here). I got in a bit early, and ended up second in line to get in … which was good because I got to grab a seat in the front row, and there was supposed to be as many as 300 people there.

I’d never been to an author reading before… Before he began reading, he held up some gel and head wipes from Bald Guyz, joking with the audience, saying if anyone ever doubted the need for the war on terror, that products like that demonstrate the kind of freedom we have. It got a good laugh.

It was an interesting experience to see Nick Hornby read from the novel. It may not sound like the most exciting thing in the world, but as the author, Hornby knows the voice of his characters and it was great to see him give life to the voice of Sam, the main character in Slam.

The Q&A session was interesting. A few people in the audience stole my thunder by asking questions similar to ones I wanted to ask. Questions ranged from what Hornby thought about the potential buyout of Arsenal, what books he’s been reading (one book he mentioned was The Abstinence Teacher by Tom Perrotta), why did he choose to write about a kid obsessed with skateboarding, has he heard from Tony Hawk (he has, he spoke to him before he wrote the novel, to get his blessing for making him a central part of the story), how it was writing from the perspective of a teenager, and what kind of advice he had for aspiring writers. In response to the latter he said, kind of jokingly to get an agent, but also said, more seriously that whether or not you can write full time and quit your day job or write while keeping your job, that you’re still a writer. Another explanation he gave which I liked was when he said that in bookstore, the only thing that is the same about the authors of all the books is that they are writers. Other than that, he said “Good luck.”

Meeting Nick Hornby was great. We talked about the High Fidelity musical. He expressed his disappointment about it not doing so well. I got to ask him his thoughts on the forthcoming movie version of A Long Way Down. I told him it was my favorite of his novels so that made me equally excited and worried about the film adaptation. He eased my concerns when he told me the script was good, which was good to hear. I didn’t know the script had been finished yet - I was under the impression it was still in the process of being written. So, knowing the that script has met his approval, I really hope production of the movie starts soon.

It was great chatting with Nick Hornby for a few minutes. I’ve read and enjoyed his work for quite a while now and there’s so much I could probably talk to him about … and it was like talking with a regular person.

It was a great event, and I was thrilled to meet Nick Hornby and get a book signed (I had him sign my copy of A Long Way Down). I hope to go to more Nick Hornby readings in the future.

UPDATE: More from another blogger who was at the reading/signing. And some video from The Phoenix of Nick Hornby jinxing the Red Sox.