In short, I only read things I'm really likely to like. I browse, I choose, I read the blurbs inside, I deliberate, I read a chapter from ever book I've chosen. So sue me.īook buying isn't, you know, a quick thing for me. I realize that I give far too many books a four or five star rating. Oh, and since this review wouldn't be complete without a top 5 list of my own, here is my list of the 'top 5 songs referenced in top 5 lists in this novel' (obscure enough for you?): My favorite ice breaker with people I don’t know well is to ask them to give me their top 5 (insert topic here (usually related to music)). But I feel you fella.Īnyway, you can see how I’m completely flubbing this review, right? Hornby has my number. Shyness is nice, but shyness can stop you.

making mix tapes for that boy who worked in the skate shop who I had a crush on. Sitting around all day, listening to the new batch of promos, poking fun at the customers coming in looking for a little Ace of Base. Hornby, you make me want to wear dresses.ĭuring my last year of high school and through all four years of college, I too worked in a record store with a bunch of misfit music snobs. He and I are the same fucked up, insecure, too-much-in-our-own-head-for-our-own-good person. Coherent thoughts elude me and float downstream like a toy boat escaping from a little boy’s grasp. You see, when it comes to reviewing my favorite books, I’m all thumbs. For all I know, you're the kind of person who watches marathon 'scrubs' reruns. But when you find the central character so annoying that just reading about him makes you twitch, it's probably time to switch to another book. Anyway, it's about the character's emotional growth. Many fine books have been written about unlikable characters. It actually signals a pathological narcissist whose solipsism and incessant neediness will bleed you dry. It might seem like a charming vulnerability, but don't be fooled.

You know the type - the constant puppy need for the approval of every critter on the planet, all the time. Reading this book felt like being trapped in an elevator with the pathetic Scrubs douchebag (Zachy McWhinerson, or whatever his fracking name is) for an entire weekend. I couldn't stand the self-pitying little git, his loser wanker record store buddies, nor their ridiculous fracking lists. Nick Hornby writes about losers and makes them lovable.

High fidelity nick