Not a Star (Open Door) (Paperback)

~ (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

A funny and frank story about a mother and her colorful son. It's bad enough for a mother to discover that her son is a porn star, even worse when the nosy neighbors know first. When Lynn sees her son Mark in an adult film she is forced to ask many difficult questions. How well does she know her son? Where did he get his obvious talent? And how will she tell his father? There are some things a mother should never know...

About the Author

"The New Yorker" calls bestselling author Nick Hornby the maestro of the male confessional. His bestselling adult novels include" High Fidelity" and "About a Boy," both of which were made into highly successful movies. He lives in the UK.

Product Details

• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: GemmaMedia (October 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1934848220
• ISBN-13: 978-1934848227
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #32,292 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #8 in

  Books > Literature & Fiction > Authors, A-Z > ( H ) > Hornby, Nick

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Being an adult means treating adults like adults, October 9, 2009

By	Charles S. Houser (Binghamton, NY) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

First, I'm a Nick Hornby fan. He has a way of probing the minds of contemporary characters who imperfectly face the challenges life throws their way that I find both odd and credible. NOT A STAR is a short story (cleverly typeset to run exactly 69 pages) about a married woman in her forties who discovers that her adult son is a performer in adult videos. Within the course of a few days this bit of news manages to alter not only her relationship with and perception of her son, but all the other key relationships in her life as well, including her relationships with her dead father and the "porn star's" twin who died at birth. The story is very much about the weight and relative importance we assign to the events in our lives and where we turn to discover comfort, peace, and meaning.

This book is one volume from the Gemma Open Door series, "an innovative program of original works by some of our most beloved modern writers and important new voices." The Open Door books are written for adults learning to read. Unlike some materials prepared for adult literacy programs, the Open Door series (if NOT A STAR can be considered representative) does not rely on restricted vocabulary and simplified sentence structure to create a text new readers can read without discouragement. Horby gives the reader an engaging, thought-provoking narrative, believable characters, authentic dialogue, and exposes the reader to inventive word plays. He makes his prose sparkle. He does not "write down" to the reader or oversimplify in any way. He does what every reading teacher should do: he shows the student that reading can be fun and can make you think about things you might not necessarily think about on your own. As the Open Door series editors assert, "[this book affirms] the truth that a story doesn't have to be big to open the world." I guess that's one reason why people who've been reading "all their life" can enjoy NOT A STAR as well.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Hornby For Beginners, November 1, 2009

By	S. Rosen (NJ USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amazon Verified Purchase

This is, apparently, one book in a series by well-known authors to be read by beginning adult readers, which is an absolutely fantastic idea. It's a short, short story about a mother who learns that her son is an adult film star. It's a nice little story, but make no mistake, it's a little story with large print. It'll take you less than an hour to read it, if you're not a beginning reader.

Hornby always sounds like, well, Hornby, and that's a great thing. The story here doesn't really add up to much - it's a few well-drawn scenes, and before you know it, it's over.

This is a book for Hornby completists, but those who want to read his best work are advised to look elsewhere (including his latest, the wonderful Juliet, Naked).

3.0 out of 5 stars Entertaining, December 7, 2009

By	Herv (Harrison, NY USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

Hornby is entertaining in all forms, which is lucky because he seems to publish just about everything other than his shopping lists. This very short story gave a few chuckles and left me smiling. Had it been printed in a standard page size, I am not sure the page count would have exceeded 30. Nonetheless, it was a tickle.