31 Songs [Paperback]

Nick Hornby (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd (2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0141013400
• ISBN-13: 978-0141013404
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #853,934 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Nick Hornby is the author of the novels A Long Way Down, How to Be Good (a New York Times bestseller), High Fidelity, and About a Boy, and of the memoir Fever Pitch. He is also the author of Songbook, a finalist for a National Book Critics Circle Award, and editor of the short-story collection Speaking with the Angel. He is also the recipient of the American Academy of Arts and Letters E. M. Forster Award, and the Orange Word International Writers London Award 2003.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I wonder how come I am the first to rate this book..., November 10, 2005

By 

pulteney - See all my reviews

This review is from: 31 Songs (Paperback)

31 chapters, 31 or 32 (or more?) songs, 31 occasions to think about how beautiful, tragic, absurd, cosy the life can be.

I strongly recommend that you read this book, whether you are a music-addicted whose life is framed by the sounds you listen to or not. Wheter music speaks from a deeper part of you to the more conscious part of yourself or you haven't ever felt that, yet, read this book.

It will make you laugh, it will make you cry, it will take you to so many places, faces, life moments. It is so sweet and witty, so delicate and touchy. Brilliant. One of Hornby's best, if not the best (to me).

P.S. And if you're a fan of Mr. Robert Zimmermann from Duluth, Minnesota (USA), you can't help laughing at the author's solution to his "Dylan vs. the England national football team match" dilemma... Hilarious!!!

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars High Felicity, January 26, 2011

By 

Moochie (Cranford, NJ United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: 31 Songs (Paperback)

If you are a serious lover of pop music, you'll love this book. I've been listening to a lot of music of all kinds for more than forty years, but Hornby managed to introduce me to a number of songs I knew nothing about. His take on each song is always interesting, and he often uses the song as a springboard to say something profound about popular music in general. His views on the pre-processed, mass-produced garbage that passes for music these days are especially trenchant. As with other books by Hornby that I've read, the tone is always modest and unassuming, the writing graceful, insightful and witty.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love this book, February 21, 2009

By 

B. Werner (Portland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 31 Songs (Paperback)

As a Nick Hornby fan and as a lover of music, I couldn't help but love this book. If you're into music or like Hornby's books, you'll like this one too.

Highly recommend it.