Hornby was born in Redhill, Surrey, England. He was brought up in Maidenhead, and educated at Maidenhead Grammar School and Jesus College, Cambridge, where he read English. His parents divorced when he was 11.
Hornby's first published book, 1992's Fever Pitch, is an autobiographical story detailing his fanatical support for Arsenal Football Club. As a result, Hornby received the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award. In 1997, the memoir was adapted for film in the UK, and in 2005 an American remake was released, following Jimmy Fallon's character's obsession with the Boston Red Sox, a baseball team. With the book's success, Hornby began to publish articles in the Sunday Times, Time Out and the Times Literary Supplement, in addition to his music reviews for the New Yorker.
High Fidelity — his second book and first novel — was published in 1995. The novel, about a neurotic record collector and his failed relationships, was adapted into a 2000 film starring John Cusack, and a Broadway musical in 2006.
His second novel, About a Boy, published in 1998, is about two "boys" — Marcus, an awkward yet endearing adolescent from a single-parent family, and the free-floating, mid-30s Will Freeman, who overcomes his own immaturity and self-centeredness through his growing relationship with Marcus. Hugh Grant and Nicholas Hoult starred in the 2002 film version. In 1999, Hornby received the E. M. Forster Award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.
Hornby's next novel, How to Be Good, was published in 2001. The female protagonist in the novel explores contemporary morals, marriage and parenthood. It won the W.H. Smith Award for Fiction in 2002.
Part of the money he earned with his next book, Speaking with the Angel in 2002, was donated to TreeHouse, a charity for children with autism, the disorder that affects Hornby's own son. He was editor of the book, which contained twelve short stories written by his friends. He also contributed to the collection with the story "NippleJesus".
In 2003, Hornby wrote a collection of essays on selected popular songs and the emotional resonance they carry, called 31 Songs (known in the US as Songbook). Also in 2003, Hornby was awarded the London Award 2003, an award that was selected by fellow writers.
Hornby has also written essays on various aspects of popular culture, and in particular, he has become known for his writing on pop music and mix tape enthusiasts. Since 2003, he has written a book review column, "Stuff I've Been Reading", for the monthly magazine The Believer; all of these articles are collected between The Polysyllabic Spree (2004), Housekeeping vs. The Dirt (2006), Shakespeare Wrote for Money (2008), and More Baths Less Talking (2012).
Hornby's novel A Long Way Down was published in 2005, with a film version of this book set to be released in 2014. It was on the shortlist for the Whitbread Novel Award. Hornby has also edited two sports-related anthologies: My Favourite Year and The Picador Book of Sports Writing.
Hornby's book Slam was released on 16 October 2007; it is his first novel for young adults and was recognized as a 2008 ALA Best Books for Young Adults. The protagonist of Slam is a 16-year-old skateboarder named Sam whose life changes drastically when his girlfriend gets pregnant.
Hornby released his latest novel titled Juliet, Naked in September 2009. On the same wavelength as his first novel High Fidelity, the book is about a reclusive '80s rock star who is forced out of isolation when the re-release of his most famous album brings him into contact with some of his most passionate fans. This synopsis was revealed to The Guardian newspaper as part of "What not to miss in 2009: books".
In 2010, Hornby co-founded the Ministry of Stories, a non-profit organisation in East London dedicated to helping children and young adults develop writing skills and to helping teachers inspire their students to write.
Hornby discussed his bouts of depression in 2012 on the BBC Radio 4 broadcast of "Fever Pitched: Twenty Years On".
Several of Hornby's books have made the jump from page to screen. Hornby wrote the screenplay for the first, a 1997 British adaptation of Fever Pitch, starring Colin Firth. It was followed by High Fidelity in 2000, starring John Cusack; this adaptation was notable in that the action was shifted from London to Chicago. After this success, About a Boy was quickly picked up, and released in 2002, starring Hugh Grant. An Americanized Fever Pitch, in which Jimmy Fallon plays a hopelessly addicted Boston Red Sox fan who tries to reconcile his love of the game with that of his girlfriend (Drew Barrymore), was released in 2005. Johnny Depp purchased film rights to the book A Long Way Down before it was published.
In 2009, Hornby adapted an autobiographical memoir by the journalist Lynn Barber for the screen as An Education, a feature film starring Peter Sarsgaard and Carey Mulligan. He was nominated for an Oscar for writing the screenplay.
High Fidelity was also the basis for a 2006 eponymous musical that shifted the action to Brooklyn; its book is by David Lindsay-Abaire, with lyrics by Amanda Green and music created by Tom Kitt. The production ran for a month in Boston, then moved to Broadway, closing after 18 previews and 14 regular performances.
The importance of music in Hornby's novels, and in his life, is evidenced by his long-standing and fruitful collaborations with the rock band Marah, fronted by Dave and Serge Bielanko. Hornby has even toured in the United States and Europe with the band, joining them on stage to read his essays about particular moments and performers in his own musical history that have had a particular meaning for him.
Hornby's music criticism (most notably for The New Yorker and in his own Songbook) has been widely criticised by writers such as Kevin Dettmar (in his book Is Rock Dead), Curtis White (in an essay at www.centreforbookculture.org, titled "Kid Adorno"), Barry Faulk and Simon Reynolds for his embrace of rock traditionalism and conservative take on post-rock and other experimental musics (exemplified in Hornby's negative review of the Radiohead album Kid A).
Hornby has also had extensive collaboration with American singer/songwriter Ben Folds. Their album Lonely Avenue was released in September 2010. Folds wrote the music, with Hornby contributing lyrics. Prior to the album's release, "Picture Window", was released on Ben Folds' website. A bootleg version of a song about Levi Johnston written by Hornby and Folds and performed by Folds, appeared on the internet.
Hornby has been married twice. He and his first wife have one son, born in 1992, who has autism. Hornby's second wife is producer Amanda Posey. They have two sons, born in 2003 and 2005. Hornby's sister, writer Gill Hornby, is married to writer Robert Harris.
Nick Hornby was directly involved in the creation of the charity Ambitious about Autism, then known as TreeHouse Trust, and its school TreeHouse School, as a result of trying to find specialist education for his son Danny. Hornby remains a major donor to the charity and is still involved as a vice president.
Nick proudly supports Arsenal.
Doc Pomus
Nick Hornby Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Lobby of the forest
With freighters, hustlers, hard up millionaires
Mobsters, cops,
Whores, pimps, and Marxists
All human life is there
In the forest all you need is eyes and ears
Man in a wheelchair listens to the chatter
Writes down all the insane crap he hears.
He can't move around but it doesn't really matter
In the farthest stall you needed his eyes and ears
And out they pour the hits and the misses
Turn me loose, lonely avenue
And down in Nashville, Elvis sings "Suspicion"
Pomus, Shuman, 1962
And he could never be one of those happy cripples
The kind that smile and tell you life's okay.
He was mad as hell.
Frightened and bitter,
He found a way to make his feelings pay.
Back at the forest in the steakhouse of a lobby
A diner gets 3 bullets in the head.
Doc looks down eating his linguine
Thinking up a lyric for the dead.
And out they pour the hits and the misses
Turn me loose, lonely avenue
And down in Nashville, Elvis sings "Suspicion"
Pomus, Shuman, 1962
1962
Friendly Jack Benny, crazy Phil Spector
? and Eydie Gorme
Damon Runyon Junior and the ? orchestra
All super human life is there
In the forest all you need is eyes and ears
And he could never be one of those happy cripples
The kind that smile and tell you life's okay
He was mad as hell, frightened and bitter.
He found a way to make his isolation pay.
And out they pour the hits and the misses
Turn me loose, lonely avenue
And down in Nashville, Elvis sings "Suspicion"
Pomus, Shuman, 1962
And out they pour the hits and the misses
Turn me loose, lonely avenue
And down in Nashville, Elvis sings "Suspicion"
Pomus, Shuman, 1962
The lyrics of Nick Hornby's song Doc Pomus are a tribute to the legendary songwriter Jerome Solon Felder, better known by his stage name, Doc Pomus. The song is about the life and work of Pomus, who is depicted as a man in a wheelchair listening to the hustle and bustle of the lobby of the forest. The forest is a metaphor for the entertainment industry, a place where all sorts of people come together - freighters, hustlers, hard-up millionaires, mobsters, cops, whores, pimps, Marxists, and more.
Despite his disability, Pomus was able to make a significant impact on the music industry by writing hits such as "Turn Me Loose" and "Lonely Avenue." The lyrics of the song highlight Pomus's acute observation skills, as he writes down all the insane crap he hears in the forest. He was not a happy cripple, and the lyrics suggest that he was mad as hell, frightened, and bitter. However, he found a way to make his isolation pay by channeling his observations and emotions into his songwriting. The song ends with a reference to Elvis singing "Suspicion" in Nashville in 1962, a hit song that Pomus co-wrote with Mort Shuman.
Line by Line Meaning
Man in a wheelchair
A disabled man who cannot move around without a wheelchair
Lobby of the forest
An area where a diverse group of people, including hustlers and millionaires, gather
With freighters, hustlers, hard up millionaires
The people in the lobby consist of a mixture of individuals from different social classes and professions
Mobsters, cops,
The group includes criminals and law enforcement agents
Whores, pimps, and Marxists
The people here are sex workers, pimps, and political leftists
All human life is there
The group is diverse and includes a variety of people
In the forest all you need is eyes and ears
Observing and listening is essential to understanding the people in this group
Man in a wheelchair listens to the chatter
The disabled man listens carefully to the conversations of those around him
Writes down all the insane crap he hears.
He takes note of the absurd and interesting things he hears from others
He can't move around but it doesn't really matter
Despite his physical disability, he is still able to observe and learn from others using his hearing and vision
In the farthest stall you needed his eyes and ears
He could provide valuable information from his observations, even from a distance
And out they pour the hits and the misses
From these experiences, he is inspired to write successful and not-so-successful songs
Turn me loose, lonely avenue
Examples of some of the songs he writes are 'Turn me loose' and 'Lonely avenue'
And down in Nashville, Elvis sings "Suspicion"
Elvis Presley also contributes to his success by performing one of his songs, 'Suspicion'
Pomus, Shuman, 1962
The collaboration of Doc Pomus and Mort Shuman in 1962 marks an important time for his career
And he could never be one of those happy cripples
Despite his success, he is still resentful his disability and cannot pretend to be happy about it
The kind that smile and tell you life's okay.
He cannot maintain a positive facade despite his success
He was mad as hell.
He is angry about his condition
Frightened and bitter,
His disability has left him with negative emotions
He found a way to make his feelings pay.
Despite his emotions, he was able to turn his thoughts into successful songs
Back at the forest in the steakhouse of a lobby
He returns to the location where he would observe and take notes of the people around him
A diner gets 3 bullets in the head.
A shooting occurs, in which someone is killed
Doc looks down eating his linguine
Despite the violent event occurring, Doc continues to eat his food
Thinking up a lyric for the dead.
He is inspired to write a song about the person who lost their life
Friendly Jack Benny, crazy Phil Spector
The forest is a location where eclectic and notable figures are present, including Jack Benny and Phil Spector
? and Eydie Gorme
Another notable figure present in the lobby is Eydie Gorme
Damon Runyon Junior and the ? orchestra
Damon Runyon Junior and his orchestra are yet another group present in the lobby
All super human life is there
The people in the lobby are successful and excellent at what they do
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management
Written by: BEN FOLDS, BENJAMIN SCOTT FOLDS, NICHOLAS PETER JOHN HORNBY, NICK HORNBY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind