Sunday, October 15, 2006

Nick Hornby, pro & con

Erica Wagner of the London Times met up with Nick Hornby last month for a chin-wag about books and culture. Wagner is a pretty big fan of Hornby's, it turns out.

Boyd Tonkin is less impressed. "Among the choice nuggets of pseudo-populist claptrap with which Hornby spoils some decent commentary lurks the statement that he doesn't bother with translated fiction," notes Tonkin of Hornby's The Polysyllabic Spree. Then, with examples, Tonkin points out, "I also have some bad news for Hornby about those out-of-tune translations. He reads them, and he loves them."

Click here to learn about Hornby's "favourite novel of the past year or so."

--Marshal Zeringue