Rating: 
Summary: Another great read from Nick Hornby
Review: I came across this book (UK title '31 Songs') while taking a rock music class in England this past summer. One of my classmates came across it, and brought it in for the professor to read, as we were reading 'High Fidelity' for the course, and because Hornby achieves something quite similar to what our class was trying to. As a big Hornby fan myself, I ran out to get it, and couldn't put it down until I had finished it. Unfortunately, this copy didn't come with the CD, as I was dying to hear some of the songs I didn't know, but now I've obtained a great many of them, and have loved them all. Along with expanding my own personal musical library, Hornby adds such a personal touch with each story, allowing us to get to know him and his musical choices much more intimatly. It certainly makes me wonder what (and why) my choices would be, and how I could express just what certain songs mean to me - something Hornby does almost effortlessly. An interesting, informative, and truly great read for ALL music lovers.
Rating: 
Summary: Think "Punch the Clock", not "Imperial Bedroom"....
Review: I like Nick Hornby a lot, but, unfortunately for him, I read "Songbook" immediately after having finished "Mainlines..." by Lester Bangs. To be blunt: Hornby ain't no Bangs. I think it's because he's just too darned nice. Or maybe he just doesn't do enough drugs. Sigh....
Rating:
Summary: Think "Punch the Clock", not "Imperial Bedroom"....
Review: I like Nick Hornby a lot, but, unfortunately for him, I read "Songbook" immediately after having finished "Mainlines..." by Lester Bangs. To be blunt: Hornby ain't no Bangs. I think it's because he's just too darned nice. Or maybe he just doesn't do enough drugs. Sigh....
Rating:
Summary: Think "Punch the Clock", not "Imperial Bedroom"....
Review: I like Nick Hornby a lot, but, unfortunately for him, I read "Songbook" immediately after having finished "Mainlines..." by Lester Bangs. To be blunt: Hornby ain't no Bangs. I think it's because he's just too darned nice. Or maybe he just doesn't do enough drugs. Sigh....
Rating: 
Summary: Lovely Book + CD + Great Writing!
Review: I suppose I should admit up front that I'm one of those people who would buy the phone book if Hornby wrote it. That cavaet aside, this lovely little volume with accompanying CD is the best written explanation of why people who love "pop" music do so. Hornby uses the word "pop" not only to refer to garbage of the Britney Spears/'NSYNC ilk, but as a broad distinguisher from classical, jazz, and sofroth. The 26 brief essays aren't about his favorite pop songs, nor are they about what the songs remind him of, rather these are songs that he loves (as of the time of writing) and has something to say about.As readers of his football memoir, Fever Pitch, know, Hornby writes exceedingly well about being a fan. And more than anything, the book is about being a fan of the 3-4 minute pop tune. Of course, this neccesitates a spirited defence of pop as a genre, so throughout the book, Hornby is on the attack, railing against small-minded snobs (including his younger self) who dismiss pop music out of hand. People who've spent a good portion of their lives paying attention to pop music will find a lot of themselves in the book, and may be struck with a newfound openmindedness. And by this measure, any book that can get me to track down an old J. Geils Band album has got be considered noteworthy! (Although I remain unmoved by his essay on reconsidering Jackson Browne.) As always, Hornby's writing is funny, poignant, telling, and dead on. His skewering of church music is priceless, as is his explanation of why "Let's Get It On" is a terrible song to have sex to, why Led Zepplin rocked his 14-year-old world, how Rod Stewart led him to Motown music, the tedium of being a music reviewer for The New Yorker, and much more. Other parts are more introspective, dwelling on how his music tastes have changed as he's gotten older, fatter, and divorced, his autistic son's love of music, and how certain musical moments have influenced his writing. It's a brief book, but one that ranges far and wide. Although I'm not really fan of much of any of the artists he writes about, he still manages to use their work to make larger points that are relevent to any music fan. Somewhat annoyingly, he mentions my favorite band (The Clash) more often (in eight different essays) than any other throughout the book, but didn't pick one of their songs to write about! That aside, the one thing that holds the book back a little is that the CD doesn't contain all the songs in the book (no doubt due to liscensing and money issues) and so leaves the reader hunting for MP3s online. But as the book's proceeds go to charity, this is easily overlooked and forgiven. Some of the best music writing I've come across.
Rating:
Summary: a pleasant surprise
Review: I thoroughly enjoyed not only the book, filled with excellent essays about Nick's favorite songs, but the CD is a great bonus, as well. I loved it! I bought two extras as presents. It was like having a good friend burn a CD for you, with new and old stuff, and then being able to tell you, or write you, thoughtful, insightful, funny and touching stories behind each selection. If only more artists did this--pick 20 or so songs of their favorites, so we can be exposed to the great music that is out there. I highly recommend this.
Rating:
Summary: Life with a backbeat
Review: I used to work for a rather small company that suffered from pretensions of greatness. The company had attempted to develop a new software package that - had development gone smoothly - would have allowed it to gain a massive share of one of those esoteric niches that are the stars in the software galaxy. Instead, the project foundered and the company almost went bankrupt. At a shareholders' meeting (the company had 50 people; that we held shareholders' meeting showed the pretension), I asked the Presdient, what he was doing to prevent the problem from recurring. His response: "What would you do?" My response began with "Hey, I ain't no hero, that's understood..." What does one do when the cliche 'The Soundtrack of Our Lives" applies? You become Nick Hornby. And, you write a marvelous treatise on just how and why (and, above all, how much) you love what I am afraid has no better name than 'Pop Music". Mr. Hornby has always been an introspective character worthy of inclusion in his own novels, "About a Boy", and "High Fidelity". In fact, that came to pass in his autobiographical "Fever Pitch". But, where Arsenal (Go Gunners!) was the cloth on which the tapestry of his life (loss of father, doubts about himself, selfishness, and other varied and sundry passions) was sewn, here, it is thrity one songs that serve that purpose. But, please be aware this is not an anthology of music reviews. This is an anthology of Mr. Hornby's life. You'll understand if you are one of us, those people who carry a jukebox in their head...no, in their soul. He shares his soul with us, using an intimacy that is normally saved for confessions to the closest of friends. It's akin to sitting in the back of your local over that one last pint, when the alcohol has freed you from the demons of self-consciousness. It's in that state that you will speak the truth about yourself and what you feel. That Mr. Hornby does it with background music makes it all the more perfect. Buy this book. Read this book. Live this book. Savor the moods, the feelings, the emotions, the wins and losses, the very life of being alive.
Rating:
Summary: Better the second time around
Review: If you had the chance to write your thoughts on 30+ favorite songs of yours and have them published in a format wide enough to be read by people from New York to New Delhi, would you? Where would you begin? Which songs would you whittle down to acceptable for inclusion? How much would your thoughts reflect the song itself? How much based on your own situation in regards to the song? These are the questions I came away with when I read (and re-read) Nick Hornby's brilliant little book, and I think I could pull off something as moving at times as his writings, but I don't know for sure.
The impetus of this book is music, which is a given seeing as music is a Hornby staple either in "High Fidelity" or "About a Boy" (the other two Hornby books I've read, not including his new book about reading). What is surprising is the amount of time spent not on the songs themselves, but on Hornby's own feelings and reflections on his life. This will annoy the diehard music fan in you, if you come into the book looking for analysis or, god forbid, "rock critic"-like musings (as I must admit I did, even though I'd read the introductory essay explaining that this wasn't that kind of book). But upon re-reading it, I saw the point Hornby must have been trying to make about how songs relate to our lives, even in ways we didn't realize.
It's tempting to say that Hornby is showing off his extensive knowledge of pop music (in Hornby's world, "pop" is anything and everything recorded since the early Fifties, not just the kiddie-band crap) or that he's putting off a "real" book, another novel perhaps. Essay collections have become a staple of my personal library, however, and Hornby does his best to at times join the essays together in a manner suggesting the continuation of a theme from one song to another. The lack of familiarity one might have with some of Hornby's picks actually helps pique interest in the tunes themselves, to see why Hornby loves them so.
The essays that you come away with are the ones that dig deep into Hornby's own life: for example, "A Minor Incident" causes Nick to re-evaluate his novel "About a Boy" now that it's been made into a film. And "First I Look at The Purse" lets Hornby relive his first trip to the States, when he first realized how awful things were back home in Britain. Other essays also stick in the memory long after you finish the book.
In addition to the original 31 songs, the paperback makes space for album reviews Hornby did for "The New Yorker". Ranging from Aimee Mann and Steve Earle to what's on the Billboard Top Ten one week in early 2001, these provide still more glimpses at Hornby's tastes. He praises Los Lobos' box set while shaking his head at the sometimes obscene rants of Eminem (though I think perhaps Horby makes the mistake of not seeing Slim Shady's occasionally brilliant, if maddening because they're few and far between, satire on the modern pop world). The book ends with a helpful discography for those readers like myself who want to see what Hornby sees in these tunes.
The selection might be a bit obscure, you might wonder what Hornby's essays sometimes have to do with the song in question, but you will finish the book (or in my case, re-finishing), with a deeper understanding for Hornby the man. More so than his novels, Nick lets the reader in on his life through this music that he loves so much. I doubt that if anyone else got paid to discuss their favorite songs, they could be half as elequont. But after reading this book, you may certainly want to try...
Rating:
Summary: Great book by a thoughtful writer
Review: If you're familiar with Nick Hornby, then you already know he's a huge music fan. In "Songbook", he writes short (each one is about 3-6 pages long) essay pieces discussing some of his favorite songs. His selections are unique and his insights are often wry and humorous. He's truly able to explain what these songs mean to him and what music in general means to fans: how it inspires us and informs the other areas of our lives. The book is an enjoyable (and very quick) read. The accompanying "mix" CD features several of the songs from the book and serves as a great introduction to these bands. If I have a complaint with this book (and it's a very minor one), it's that some of the essays only tangentially explore their corresponding song. For example, the combined Dylan/Beatles essay only mentions the Beatles "Rain" in the very last paragraph of the essay and it's rather glossed over. This is a minor flaw overall, however, and I highly recommend this book to all music lovers. It will make you think about your passion in some new ways and it will also expose you to lots of great new music.
Rating:
Summary: Great book by a thoughtful writer
Review: If you're familiar with Nick Hornby, then you already know he's a huge music fan. In "Songbook", he writes short (each one is about 3-6 pages long) essay pieces discussing some of his favorite songs. His selections are unique and his insights are often wry and humorous. He's truly able to explain what these songs mean to him and what music in general means to fans: how it inspires us and informs the other areas of our lives. The book is an enjoyable (and very quick) read. The accompanying "mix" CD features several of the songs from the book and serves as a great introduction to these bands. If I have a complaint with this book (and it's a very minor one), it's that some of the essays only tangentially explore their corresponding song. For example, the combined Dylan/Beatles essay only mentions the Beatles "Rain" in the very last paragraph of the essay and it's rather glossed over. This is a minor flaw overall, however, and I highly recommend this book to all music lovers. It will make you think about your passion in some new ways and it will also expose you to lots of great new music.
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