In Nick Hornby's completely joyous and original new book two great figures share the stage. Charles Dickens and Prince.
Two wildly different artists who caught fire and lit up the world in ways no others could. Where did their magic come from? How did they work so hard and produce so much? How did they manage or give in to the restlessness and intensity of their creativity? How did they use it, and did it kill them?
With wit, curiosity and deep admiration Nick Hornby traces their extraordinary lives - from their difficult beginnings to the women they fell for to their limitless energy for work, to their money and the movies - and brilliantly illuminates their very particular kind of genius.
'I love this. It's smart and funny and elegantly persuasive' Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, author of Becoming Dickens
'Well, here's something you didn't expect - a joint biography of Charles Dickens and the pocket-sized popster Prince. And why not? The Fever Pitch chappie explores the nature of genius and what unites the inimitable Boz and the Imp of the Perverse' The Times, Best Books for Autumn
'Hornby is a writer who dares to be witty, intelligent and emotionally generous at once' New York Times on Just Like You
'Hornby has put his finger on truths that have been unspoken for generations' Irish Times on Fever Pitch
'Extremely cleverly observed' Mail on Sunday on High Fidelity
Author
About Nick Hornby
Nick Hornby was born in 1957, and is the author of Fever Pitch, High Fidelity, About a Boy and How to be Good. He also edited the collection of short stories Speaking With the Angel. He is the pop music critic for the New Yorker. In 1999, he was awarded the E.M.Forster award by the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He lives and works in Highbury, North London.