Friday, March 24, 2006 - An Evening with... |
...Nick Hornby, of High Fidelity, About a Boy and Fever Pitch fame.
OK, it wasn't an entire evening with him, just over a couple of hours and I wasn't alone.
I dragged my butt to UNC-Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) after work to catch Mr.
Hornby at an engagement that was part of UNC-CH's Comedy Festival.
Surely some mistake? His writing has its comedic moments but he's sort
out of place to billed in a comedy festival...
Anyway, I'd prepared myself for the evening and brought my
digicamera. By the entrance to the hall where the event took
place was a table where all of Nick's books were being sold so I bought
Fever Pitch which I planned on having the author sign.
I don't think I'd ever heard Nick Hornby's voice before. He's a
likeable guy. He broke the ice immediately making fun of himself and
the fact that the Great Hall is only half full (it is a Friday night in
a student town).
I'm seated in the front row and having had the OK to take photos (but
only without using a flash), I have both a perfect view and I can hear
the speaker loud and clear.
Hornby reads excerpts from his books and from articles that he reads
before a band he supports (I didn't catch the name but I think it's an
American band). Her prefaced his very first reading with the warning
that it included foul language, possibly offensive religious references
and pornography and true to his word, there was a lot of common
everyday British swear words uttered (which raised laughter from
portions of the audience. This was more to do with the very words
themselves than the context in which they were used), repition of the
word breast and nipple and references to pornography. It was all quite
appropriate because Hornby was reading from "Nipple Jesus" which is a
very amusing anecdote about him being a security guard, guarding an
artistic work named "Nipple Jesus".
Hornby's love of music was reinforced when he read about his claim to
have created punk in May 1978 whilst at Cambridge as undergrad. In this
reading he made a lot of humorous comments about the Sex Pistols and
the Clash, the latter whom he has seen in concert and later in the
evening rated as one of his five best live shows he's attended (others
in the list include Prince in 1995, Bruce Springsteen in 1980). He made
a funny comment how Paul Simenon didn't really have the credentials to
be a punk because he i) went to public school and ii) his father was an
art teacher.
I'll fast foward to the Q & A session 'cos members of the audience
did pose some thought provoking questions. Hornby was asked about what
he thought of his books being turned into movies. He said he was
pleased with the American adaptation of High Fidelity but he wasn't so
keen on the American adaptation of Fever Pitch which he described as
being a copy of the British movie version of Fever Pitch which itself
was a dramatization of his novel. He also said something like, "well,
the Farrelly brothers made it" (the US Fever Pitch).
Having lived in N. London myself and pretty near Arsenal's grounds, I
ask Nick the following question- "Though N. London is your spiritual
home, could you ever live south of the River?" His answer was "no", he
probably could not.
Hornby did not answer one question publicly. A UNC student asked him,
"who is the worst team in British football". Nick immediately responded
by saying that he couldn't answer right there and then but he'd tell
the guy at the signing. I happened to be standing a few people behind
that particular student at the signing and I do believe Nick Hornby
said that it was Chelsea that he disliked the most. He went on to
explain why but I didn't hear the reasons.
After a little over an hour at the podium, finished his Q & A and
we all went upstairs for the book signing. When I got up to the table
to get Fever Pitch signed, I told him that I was a Londoner and had
lived in Tufnell Park and on Holloway Road which made him smile. I
asked him to inscribe the book to "NC Penguin", which he did!
For those interested in what Nick is up to now, he writes a monthly
article in a periodical called "The Believer". I've not heard of it but
it is edited? by Dave Eggers, whom Nick described as a friend. Nick's
also working on the film adaptation of A Long Way Down.
I'm looking forward to getting stuck into Fever Pitch soon. After I've read the book, I will probably watch the British movie adaptation.
|
|
|
About Me
Former Londoner, now living in Durham, NC since 2002.
Friends
• cindyabs
|
