Books, Movies, Rhythm, Blues: Twenty Years of Writing about Film, Music and Books (Penguin Specials)

Hornby never pretends to expertise although, in some cases, he could. He doesn't sell himself short, either. Hornby manages to take shots at the adolescent core of his obsessions while acknowledging the time and thought he puts into pop culture. The result is a voice precisely poised between fanboy and professor, and it's incredibly endearing.

Hornby isn't enamoured of everything he experiences, of course. There are times when he's disappointed, or bored, or he just doesn't like whatever he's writing about.

He's an informed enough critic to articulate what didn't work, and to recognize what did, and embrace his reaction either way. And that, in the end, is what's so charming about Hornby. He jumps into pop culture and wades around, open to whatever he happens to encounter, however he happens to encounter it.

But he's aware enough to consider and evaluate, too. He uses his head and his heart, and we all get the benefit. Go out and read all of Nick Hornby's non-fiction.

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I don't care which one you start with, just start. Your life will be more enjoyable for it. Sep 12, David Bril rated it it was amazing Shelves: This was the third E-Book Nick Hornby put out in as a way to tide over his fans who were desperate for him to write a new novel. This book contains a series of hand picked pieces that Nick has written over his career, which he considers to be his very best.

As a massive fan of Nick's work this was a near masterpiece to me, as it took stuff that you can maybe only find on the internet and put it all together in one place for fans to read. Some of the stores are amazingly personal and some of This was the third E-Book Nick Hornby put out in as a way to tide over his fans who were desperate for him to write a new novel.

Some of the stores are amazingly personal and some of them are just Nick being Nick and showing his love for different forms of art. The topics covered include, Nick talking about a job he had before his first novel came out this is mentioned briefly in Fever Pitch , a piece he wrote about Abbey Road Studio, a piece about how the internet has changed music forever and how he is OK with that, a piece about how he cries in movies, a piece about Marah a band he loves to no end and is friends with, a piece about his love for the West Wing, a complete history of his work on An Education and another about bringing it to Sundance, intro's he wrote for the books Summer Times and Scenes for a Provincial Life, some of the idea's he has for books, and a piece about how the London he once knew, has changed over the course of his life.

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I can not stress enough how much I loved this book. Sure a few pieces towards the end The Goons and Humphrey Ocean did nothing for me but overall this is just a masterpiece collection. I wish more authors would put things together like this. I am not sure they understand just how much their fans love them and want to read everything.

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I hope now with the introduction of the E Readers, Hornby will have started a trend and more authors will treat their fans with pieces like this! Jun 02, Rob rated it liked it Shelves: This is a grab-bag of articles of the type that digital publishing now makes easier to bundle together: In other words, don't begin reading Nick Hornby here, but if you do, then there are some nice moments of movie in This is a grab-bag of articles of the type that digital publishing now makes easier to bundle together: Hornby is indeed "old school", but he doesn't just descend into Blimpish headshaking when faced with the new meaning: It takes about 10 minutes to read this collection, so it's a good public transport read, although it does jump around a bit between the 90s and the 00s without any real 'thread'.

The tale of An Education's trip through development and eventually to the box office is worth the price of admission, as is the autobiographical tale of his classes with South Koreans in the 80s. And the piece on 'You Send Me'. Dec 29, Kyle rated it really liked it. Hard to believe that in less than a day it will have been roughly twenty years from when Nick Hornby's first novel changed the direction of my life of course, it wasn't until the film adaptation of High Fidelity a few years later that the proverbial penny had dropped.

Reading this collection of essays, reviews and introductions is a great way to catch up with what the inspiring author has been up to during the last two decades. A little bit distressing that so much of his thirties to forties w Hard to believe that in less than a day it will have been roughly twenty years from when Nick Hornby's first novel changed the direction of my life of course, it wasn't until the film adaptation of High Fidelity a few years later that the proverbial penny had dropped.

Not being part of his past, but building from the iTunes and Internet-enabled culture that I belong to still makes me feel like we are growing up together. Will I be anywhere close to where he was in the next ten years of my life? Meaning will independent film studios like to option my collection of Goodreads write-ups?

Just a couple of tablet-taps and we can do lunch! Apr 20, Michael rated it liked it Shelves: A good collection of essays covering music, literature, screenwriting, producing and promoting a movie, writing when the author has no idea what to write. The last essay titled "London" was enjoyable as Hornby compared the London of his youth with the London he currently lives with the London of Charles Dickens's London two hundred years before.

As Hornby points out it is amazing to think that many of the homes current Londoners live in existed during Dickens time. The collection of essays is enj A good collection of essays covering music, literature, screenwriting, producing and promoting a movie, writing when the author has no idea what to write. The collection of essays is enjoyable to read but as an American some of the topics discussed fly over my head. If I was read for any other reason than pleasure I would Google or visit Wikipedia somethings to have a clearer idea.

Dec 17, Lee Broderick rated it it was ok Shelves: It's now fairly clear that I'm not a fan of Nick Hornby 's writing style. Neither insightful nor passionate it fails to engage me on any level - emotional or intellectual. This particular collection of essays is rather disparate, straddling twenty years and almost everything that might loosely be termed 'culture' from his own early writing career to commissioned pieces for exhibitions.

May 16, Stephen rated it liked it.

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If I was English, this would probably be four stars but several of the essays are so Britishcentric that it is well nigh impossible for me to evaluate them fairly. Hornby is a fine writer, deeply appreciative of his subjects, and the rest of the essays show these qualities in spades. Oct 30, Matthew rated it liked it. I'll buy any book that Hornby writes. And I'm sure I would have given this a higher rating had I been more familiar with the subject matter. His writing is probably most effective for readers around his same age with a similar taste in music.

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As it stands, a solid 3 star rating and I would recommend the book to any fan of Hornby's work. Feb 05, Meredith Walker rated it liked it. A collection of essays covering music, literature and screenwriting from the always easy-to-read Nick Hornby. His take on popular culture is at once amusing and interesting, making for an engaging and enjoyable read. Williams brought with him a song, "Earth Angel", on which he had worked with Gaynel Hodge, another member of the Hollywood Flames.

The Penguins were one of a number of doo-wop groups of the period named after birds such as The Orioles , The Flamingos , and The Crows. One of the members smoked Kool cigarettes , which, at the time, had "Willie the Penguin" as its cartoon advertising character. They considered themselves "cool", and accordingly decided to call themselves "The Penguins".

By the disc had sold four million copies. Duncan sang lead on "Earth Angel". He reprised his performance a decade later on Frank Zappa 's " Memories of El Monte ", an elegiac song in which he suddenly breaks into "Earth Angel" as one of the various songs remembered. Those groups were also emulated as part of Zappa's tribute to early days of rock and roll. In a common practice of the time, radio stations frequently featured segregated playlists.

The Crew-Cuts cover peaked at 3 on the Hot chart, five spots higher than the Penguins version. The songwriting genesis for "Earth Angel" was a matter of some dispute, eventually ending up in a split credit between Penguins baritone Curtis Williams, Gaynel Hodge, and Jesse Belvin. The song had evolved through several Los Angeles area groups, and was based on the " Blue Moon " chord changes that were so popular with many doo-wop groups. The "Will you be mine?

The coda of "Earth Angel", with the repeatedly harmonized word "You-oo Ram's primary interest was in managing The Platters , who at that point had no hit singles, but were a profitable touring group. With the Penguins in hand, Ram was able to swing a 2-for-1 deal with Mercury Records , in which the company agreed to take on the Platters as a condition for getting the Penguins the group that Mercury really wanted.

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In , Bruce Tate left the group. He was replaced by Randy Jones who would later sing with the Cadets.

Books, Movies, Rhythm, Blues: Twenty Years of Writing About Film, Music and Books

During the summer of , Jones and Tisby were briefly out of the group, and were replaced by Ray Brewster and Teddy Harper, respectively. Jones and Tisby returned shortly afterwards. Curtis Williams left in December , with Harper rejoining as his permanent replacement. The group broke up in Cleveland Duncan continued recording as "The Penguins", with new member Walter Saulsberry and a backing group, the Viceroys. Duncan and the King sisters had recorded a record as "Cleve Duncan and the Radiants" in By the late s, the group was being billed as the "Fabulous Penguins", and featured Duncan, Walker, and new member Rudy Wilson.

This was the current line up of the group until