Monday, March 30, 2009

Lunedì Letterario



Slam
by Nick Hornby
2007


I had not picked up a book by Nick Hornby for several years. I forgot how much I like his writing style. (I read High Fidelity and About a Boy almost ten years ago.)

The main character is Sam, born to a teenage mother, who becomes himself a teenage father. His girlfriend is Alicia. Their baby is Rufus. Throughout the book Hornby explores the immaturity of these two young people carrying adult responsibilities. I enjoy creative narrative devices in novels and in this book the author has Sam involved in conversations with a poster of a skateboarding champion that hangs on the bedroom wall. There are also times when Sam is transported into the future, giving him a look at what's ahead. When he is back in the present, he gets another go at life, hopefully doing a better job this time.

The New York Times wrote: "Hornby’s novels tend to be about men who are essentially boys. “Slam” is a portrait of a prickly and interesting boy who is forced to become, very quickly, a man."

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