Friday, August 5, 2011

Housekeeping vs. The Dirt

Oh, Nick Hornby.  My copy of High Fidelity is a mess with highlighted passages and underlined phrases.  About A  Boy was one of the funniest, most acutely written books about boys (and men who behave like them) I've read.  And don't even get me started on An Education, of which he co-wrote the script.  He's put out an album with Ben Folds, another swoon-worthy art crush.  Even though a couple of his latest books have been "meh" in my opinion, there is a special place in my heart for him.
Did you know that he writes book reviews for monthly lit magazine The Believer?  Well, he does, and those reviews have been collected in a series of three books.  I missed the first one, but Housekeeping vs. The Dirt, which came out in 2006, is so much fun to read that I feel as though I have to pick up the other two as soon as I'm in need of a good book to read.
Hornby starts off each of his columns with two lists: Books Bought and Books Actually Read.  He's completely honest about judging books based on his mood, and even read a biography of Motley Crue band members!  There's no place for snobbery in his columns, although his feelings toward the state of literature today varies by month.  The reviews are witty, concise, and thoroughly enjoyable to read.  It's also a very slim volume, so you can get through it quickly.

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