Customer Reviews

Housekeeping vs. the Dirt

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Time spent with Nick Hornby is always time well spent. In essay mode, he is a companionable conversationalist making sparkling observations, and since he hits so often on my cultural zeitgeist list, I feel like we're having a dialogue, not that he's doing a garrulous solo riff. HOUSEKEEPING VS. THE DIRT is the second collection of his mostly monthly reading column for "The Believer" magazine, covering much of 2005, right up to the June/July 2006 edition. Hornby, an incorrigible book acquirer, begins each month with the list of books bought and those actually read. His reading is eclectic, the choices often serendipitous, as in picking up a book a small child has yanked off the shelf, and the title sums up the range, from Marianne Robinson's critically acclaimed HOUSEKEEPING to Motley Crue's sensational THE DIRT. He recognizes that we don't read in a vacuum, we read while under the influence of moods and the events of our personal lives and the world, and as such our book acquiring and reading is a part of that dynamic, part of our fiber. It's nice to sit down with a guy who gets it that reading is cool and essential, that it's not a disassociated science or a substitute for life or something that distracts us unnecessarily from doing other things someone else may deem more useful.

I've enjoyed three of Nick Hornby's books. Two were made into great movies: "About a Boy" and "High Fidelity." The third book was "The Polysyllabic Spree," a collection of fourteen months of book review columns he did for "Believer" magazine. I was initially drawn to that book because 1) I love to read, and 2) I like to write reviews on Amazon. I appreciated it for those reasons, and was happy to continue with this sequel, "Housekeeping Vs. The Dirt."

Each month gets one chapter (except for the two June/July periods, which are each compressed into one), where Mr. Hornby lists the title and author of the eclectic collection of books he bought vs. the ones he actually read. Then, he discusses the rationale for his purchases, and what he got out of the ones he managed to open. Plus, there are plenty of half-baked excuses for why he missed his reading goals (the Christmas column contains a nice running gag along those lines). Finally, there are excerpts from his top picks.

In "The Polysyllabic Spree," Mr. Hornby wrote that Amazon reviewers are of dubious parentage. Even so, I still enjoy his unique style of, well, reviewing. He has a cool way of weaving his personal life into the mix, so there's an autobiographical slant throughout the columns. For example, we find out some stuff about his family life, and follow the progress of his favorite football (i.e. soccer) team. But the best part of reading this book was finding out that I'm not the only sap who buys tons more books than I'll ever be able to read in a lifetime. Now I don't feel so alone in the world.

For those of you who love reading and are looking for a lighthearted book or two about your passion, then both "Housekeeping Vs. The Dirt," and its predecessor "The Polysyllabic Spree," are just the ticket. And if you find yourself enjoying Nick Hornby's style, then grab his other books and put them on your overflowing reading stack. Recommended (even if Mr. Hornby does insist I'm ignorant of who my father is).

This continues the great collection of Nick Hornby's Believer essays that was begun in the Polysyllabic Spree. The idea behind these essays is that Hornby will read whatever he likes and, at the end of the month, write a column about it.

What I appreciate most about Hornby's essays (besides his sense of humor) is his barely contained love of reading. He does it because he wants to - not because he thinks he should. Some of his words of wisdom that would mortify the average "literary fiction" person include: "...if you're reading a book that's killing you, put it down and read something else..." and "..if you don't read the classics, or the novel that won this year's Booker Prize, then nothing bad will happen to you; more importantly, nothing good will happen to you if you do...."

And Nick, if you're out there reading this, I know you can't stand Amazon reviewers, but I also know you constantly read them, so I'm STILL recommending your book no matter what you say. HA!

The book is great BUT...

This is merely the second half of "The Polysyllabic Spree." Both the description and numerous reviews here call it a sequel, implying that it's a collection of his columns beginning AFTER the ones collected in Spree. Not so. The columns reprinted in Housekeeping are completely contained in Spree so if you have that book, you already have the columns in Housekeeping. Apparently other reviewers aren't actually reading the books they're talking about. But the columns themselves are excellent, even though I've now spent money on this particular set twice.

This is the second collection of Hornby's essays from the magazine The Believer on what he has been reading each month and the connections between what he is reading and his actual life (it follows The Polysyllabic Spree). In this collection, Hornby really hits his stride. Not only are many of the pieces laugh-aloud funny, but there are several pithy nuggets that you will immediately want to read out loud to whoever is sitting next to you. And you will find some interesting reading recommendations to boot.

I particularly admire Hornby's advice to readers and would-be readers, as it reminds us all to only spend our time on books that are "worth reading," but that phrase--"worth reading"--differs for all of us. For you, it may be Proust's Remembrance of Things Past; for me, it may be a deliciously dark thriller like Gentlemen and Players; and for Hornby, it may be the Motley Crue biography, The Dirt. But what matters is that you are enjoying what you are reading, that the book is bringing something to the table. Because otherwise, reading will become a chore, like school, and then bam! We'll lose another one to American Idol.

Oh yes, and Hornby also has advice for writers: stop writing about writers. Enough already! To which I can only say amen, unless you happen to be Michael Chabon.

This is a book I read in 1 sitting. I love Nick Hornby's writing and, much like "The Polysyllabic Spree," (and yes, I know titles of books should be underlined or italicized, but I don't seem to be able to do that, so quotations marks it is!) this book makes me want to run to my local library and check out all the books he's talking about. Some sections of "Housekeeping..." are hilariously funny and many parts had me nodding and saying, "me too!". The introduction had me hooked when he said that sometimes it's just a lot easier to watch TV than read, but his book made me want to read more than watch television that night, and most nights since.

The Village Voice has dropped its book review column and it's good to see that the Believer magazine is still printing a book review column and that the review collection from the Believer magazine is available in print.

The believer reviews are written by Nick Hornby and are chatty and approachable and date from 2005 and 2006. Interestingly, they are almost all positive reviews, reflecting the ground rules set by The Polysyllabic Spree - which appears to be Hornby's name for the board of trustees of the Believer magazine.

The reviews either gush or they don't.

The books Hornby gushes over include "Poppy Shakespeare" by Clare Allan, "Housekeeping" by Marilynne Robinson and Bob Dylan's autobiography "Chronicles."

The books with good reviews (no gush) include "The Selected Letters of Phillip Larkin" by the poet Phillip Larkin. And here I can understand Hornby's failure to gush as Larkin sometimes comes off as a juvenile who keeps repeating a naughty word that was just learned.

This is a good read well and worth 4 stars. If Hornsby had gushed over "The Selected Letters of Phillip Larkin" I would have downgraded my rating to 3.

A wry book about reading books - most of which I did not know and most of which were novels. "Five Days in London" by John Lukacs, which is not a novel, is reviewed.
There are some good laugh-loud jokes, but some just fall flat.

Yet the author tries and is obviously addicted to books and the love of reading. The best part (and funny) was about the Amazon review in September 2005. I also appreciated that the author is not a `reading snob' type!

The third collection I've read of one of my favorite authors' columns about his monthly reading. Of course, Hornby is both hilarious and thought-provoking. Though I've added a few of his recommendations to my wish list, the important part of Hornby's criticism is the thoughts he expresses on the act of reading itself. He cuts through the snobbery and pretension of art and artifice and hits on the pure enjoyment of reading and having a friendly conversation with our books. He makes me want to read more, as well as to add more books to the insane pile in my closet. Grade: A

Maybe I'm being too harsh. Maybe I should give this three stars. I'm quite fond of Nick Hornby ("About A Boy" is one of my favorite books) but I found myself disappointed. These essays just seemed inconsistent in quality. His train of thought was too messy and all over the place. I'd get excited at the mention of a certain book in his "books read" column only to find it barely touched upon (one line each on Zadie Smith's and Hanan al-Sheikh's books, really?) Then just when I wondering whether to move onto to something more satisfying, there would be an engaging piece with all his trademark everyman humor and cynicism. I love the concept of writing about reading but unfortunately this collection didn't do it for me.