Audiobooks by Nick Hornby

Dickens and Prince: A Particular Kind of Genius

Brought to you by Penguin. In this joyous and illuminating book, the million-copy bestselling author brings together an unlikely pairing to explore the story of their creative genius What could possibly connect Prince, the great twentieth century singer songwriter, and Charles Dickens, the great writer of classics usually stuffed into the hands of adolescents too early? What could these two geniuses, one born in 1812 in England, and the other in 1950s Minneapolis, have in common? For Nick Hornby, Dickens and Prince are two artists that compare to no others. At the young age of 24, they both had their breakthroughs, Prince with '1999' and Dickens with The Pickwick Papers. At 26, Prince released 'Purple Rain' and Dickens' Oliver Twist was published, and, by 30, both artists were huge stars. No one else had such a relentless work ethic and produced such a staggeringly original and enormous body of work. Where did their magic come from? How did they use it? And, in the end, did it kill them? Tracing their lives, from the early years to their relationships with women, their finances to their inability to stop working, Dickens and Prince is a brilliantly surprising and joyous uncovering of the essence of a very particular and unique type of genius. © Nick Hornby 2022 (P) Penguin Audio 2022

Nick Hornby (Author), Alex Jennings (Narrator)

Audiobook

Just Like You

Brought to you by Penguin. 'Hornby is the poet of the everyday' Observer Lucy married just the sort of man you might expect: a university graduate who runs his own business. Unfortunately he turned out to have serious dependency issues. Joseph is shaking off the memory of his last date, a girl who ticked all the right boxes and also drove him up the wall. On an average Saturday morning in a butcher's shop in North London, Lucy and Joseph meet on opposite sides of the counter. She is a teacher and mother of two, with a past she is trying to forget; he is an aspiring DJ with a wide-open future that maybe needs to start becoming more focused. Lucy and Joseph are opposites in almost all ways. Can something life-changing grow from uncommon ground? Nick Hornby's brilliantly observed, tender and brutally funny new novel gets to the heart of what it means to fall headlong in love with the best possible person - someone who may not be just like you at all. 'Hornby is a writer who dares to be witty, intelligent and emotionally generous at once' New York Times 'Hornby's prose is artful and effortless, his spiky wit as razored as a number-two cut' Independent 'Hornby writes with a funny, fresh voice which skewers male and female foibles with hilarious accuracy' Guardian © Nick Hornby 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020

Nick Hornby (Author), Ben Bailey Smith, Hattie Ladbury (Narrator)

Audiobook

About a Boy

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable, audiobook edition of About a Boy by Nick Hornby, read by Stephen Mangan. Nick Hornby's second bestselling novel is about sex, manliness and fatherhood. Will is thirty-six, comfortable and child-free. And he's discovered a brilliant new way of meeting women - through single-parent groups. Marcus is twelve and a little bit nerdish: he's got the kind of mother who made him listen to Joni Mitchell rather than Nirvana. Perhaps they can help each other out a little bit, and both can start to act their age.

Nick Hornby (Author), Stephen Mangan (Narrator)

Audiobook

Fever Pitch

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Fever Pitch, by Nick Hornby read by Julian Rhind-Tutt. As a young boy, growing up in the Home Counties and watching his parents' marriage fall apart, Nick Hornby had little sense of home. Then his dad took him to Highbury. Arsenal's football ground would become the source of many of the strongest feelings he'd ever have: joy, humiliation, heartbreak, frustration and hope. In this now-classic book, he vividly depicts his troubled relationship with his father, his time as a teacher, and his first loves (after football), all through the prism of the game, as he insightfully and brilliantly explores obsession, and the way it can shape a life.

Nick Hornby (Author), Julian Rhind-Tutt (Narrator)

Audiobook

How to be Good

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of How to be Good by Nick Hornby, read by Claire Higgins. According to her own complex moral calculations, Katie Carr has earned her affair. She's a doctor, after all, and doctors are decent people, and on top of that, her husband David is the self-styled Angriest Man in Holloway. But when David suddenly becomes good - properly, maddeningly, give-away-all-his-money good - Katie's sums no longer add up, and she is forced to ask herself some very hard questions. Nick Hornby's brilliant new novel, a No. 1 bestseller in the UK and Ireland, offers a painfully funny account of modern marriage and parenthood, and asks that most difficult of questions: what does it mean to be good?

Nick Hornby (Author), Clare Higgins (Narrator)

Audiobook

High Fidelity

In celebration of it's 20th anniversary, Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable, audiobook edition of High Fidelity, by Nick Hornby, read by Russell Tovey. Nick Hornby's first novel, an international bestseller and instantly recognized by critics and readers alike as a classic, helps to explain men to women, and men to men. Rob is good on music: he owns a small record shop and has strong views on what's decent and what isn't. But he's much less good on relationships. In fact, he's not at all sure that he wants to commit himself to anyone. So it's hardly surprising that his girlfriend decides that enough is enough.

Nick Hornby (Author), Russell Tovey (Narrator)

Audiobook

Funny Girl

From the bestselling author of High Fidelity, About a Boy, and A Long Way Down comes a highly anticipated new novel. Set in 1960′s London, Funny Girl is a lively account of the adventures of the intrepid young Sophie Straw as she navigates her transformation from provincial ingénue to television starlet amid a constellation of delightful characters. Insightful and humorous, Nick Hornby’s latest does what he does best: endears us to a cast of characters who are funny if flawed, and forces us to examine ourselves in the process.

Nick Hornby (Author), Emma Fielding (Narrator)

Audiobook

Funny Girl

Penguin presents the unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of Funny Girl, the new novel by bestselling author Nick Hornby, read by Emma Fielding. Funny Girl is the story of a popular 1960s tv comedy series. The writers, Tony and Bill, comedy obsessives, who each harbour a secret. The Oxbridge-educated director, Dennis, who loves his job but hates his marriage. The male star Clive, who feels he's destined for better things. And most of all Sophie Straw, once Barbara Parker, Miss Blackpool 1964, who's changed her name and abandoned her old life because she just wants to make people laugh, like her heroine Lucille Ball of I Love Lucy fame. Nick Hornby's new novel is about popular culture, youth and old age, fame, class and teamwork. It offers a wonderfully captivating portrait of youthful exuberance and creativity, and of a period when both were suddenly allowed to flourish.

Nick Hornby (Author), Emma Fielding (Narrator)

Audiobook

About a Boy

Now a major motion picture from Universal Pictures. Will Freeman may have discovered the key to dating success: If the simple fact that they were single mothers meant that gorgeous women-women who would not ordinarily look twice at Will-might not only be willing, but enthusiastic about dating him, then he was really onto something. Single mothers-bright, attractive, available women-thousands of them, were all over London. He just had to find them. SPAT: Single Parents-Alone Together. It was a brilliant plan. And Will wasn't going to let the fact that he didn't have a child himself hold him back. A fictional two-year-old named Ned wouldn't be the first thing he'd invented. And it seems to go quite well at first, until he meets an actual twelve-year-old named Marcus, who is more than Will bargained for...

Nick Hornby (Author), David Case (Narrator)

Audiobook

A Long Way Down

The unabridged, downloadable audiobook edition of A Long Way Down, Nick Hornby's hilarious bestseller about strangers and secrets, now a major motion picture starring Rosamund Pike and Pierce Brosnan. 'Can I explain why I wanted to jump off the top of a tower block?' For disgraced TV presenter Martin Sharp the answer's pretty simple: he has, in his own words, 'pissed his life away'. And on New Year's Eve, he's going to end it all ... But not, as it happens, alone. Because first single-mum Maureen, then eighteen-year-old Jess and lastly American rock-god JJ turn up and crash Martin's private party. They've stolen his idea - but brought their own reasons. Yet it's hard to jump when you've got an audience queuing impatiently behind you. A few heated words and some slices of cold pizza later and these four strangers are suddenly allies. But is their unlikely friendship a good enough reason to carry on living? Read by Nicky Henson, Pauline Mclynn, Beattie Edmondson and Christopher Ragland.

Nick Hornby (Author), Beattie Edmondson, Christopher Ragland, Nicky Henson, Pauline Mclynn (Narrator)

Audiobook

Juliet, Naked

From the beloved New York Times bestselling author, a quintessential Nick Hornby tale of music, superfandom, and the truths and lies we tell ourselves about life and love. Annie loves Duncanor thinks she does. Duncan loves Annie, but then, all of a sudden, he doesn't. Duncan really loves Tucker Crowe, a reclusive Dylanish singer-songwriter who stopped making music ten years ago. Annie stops loving Duncan, and starts getting her own life. In doing so, she initiates an e-mail correspondence with Tucker, and a connection is forged between two lonely people who are looking for more out of what they've got. Tucker's been languishing (and he's unnervingly aware of it), living in rural Pennsylvania with what he sees as his one hope for redemption amid a life of emotional and artistic ruinhis young son, Jackson. But then there's also the new material he's about to release to the world: an acoustic, stripped-down version of his greatest album, Julietentitled, Juliet, Naked. What happens when a washed-up musician looks for another chance? And miles away, a restless, childless woman looks for a change? Juliet, Naked is a powerfully engrossing, humblingly humorous novel about music, love, loneliness, and the struggle to live up to one's promise. Watch a Video

Nick Hornby (Author), Bill Irwin (Narrator)

Audiobook

Juliet, Naked

The unabridged, downloadable audiobook of Nick Hornby's touching tale Juliet, Naked, read by Jennifer Wiltsie, Bill Irwin and Ben Miles. Annie's put fifteen years into safe, slightly obsessive Duncan, and now she's like her money back, please. It's time to move on. But she lives in Gooleness, the north's answer to a question nobody asked. Is she really going to find real, proper, fell-it-deep-down-in-your-boots love on a damp and windy seafront? Or perhaps she should follow her heart and pursue Tucker, the reclusive American rock star, who keeps emailing her his smart advice. But between Annie and her second chance lie a few obstacles. There's Malcolm, the world's most judgemental therapist, and Barnesy, the north's most extrovert dancer. There's what men and women will do and won't do for love. And, of course, there's Tucker. . . Hilarious and tender, this bestselling novel will move you in ways both profound and surprising. It's Nick Hornby at his brilliant best. If you like David Nicholls, David Sedaris and Jonathan Coe you will love this book. 'Hornby's best novel to date' Spectator 'Sharply funny, touching' Daily Telegraph 'Pitch-perfect' Observer Nick Hornby has captivated readers and achieved wide critical acclaim for his comic, well-observed novels About a Boy, How to be Good, A Long Way Down (shortlisted for the Whitbread Award), Slam and High Fidelity. His three works of non-fiction, 31 Songs (shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award), Fever Pitch (winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award) and The Complete Polysyllabic Spree are also available from Penguin.

Nick Hornby (Author), Ben Miles, Bill Irwin, Jennifer Wiltsie (Narrator)

Audiobook