Slam

Nick Hornby is the only author that continues to meet my now high expectation when I read one of his books. If you are a fan of any of his previous work then you will definitely enjoy SLAM; if you are not, this might be the one that makes you a fan and makes you want to read the others. The story moves along at a very good pace, I didn't want to put this book down the whole time that I was reading. The editing here is brilliant since there is no "throwaway chapter" every single page fits within the story and doesn't feel like fluff at any point.

Nick Hornby is among my favorite authors, so when I saw he had written a book for young adults, I grabbed (the audio version) for my son (who is 12) and I to listen to. I expected that Hornby would satisfy my son's taste for humor and edginess, while also being a "good book" for him to read. We were not disappointed. This is textbook Hornby: the writing is relentlessly clever and hip and treats serious themes by exploring them with humor and originality. Like many of Hornby's other books, it involves a likeable male character who is eventually forced by circumstances to "grow up" --- only this time the character is growing up prematurely (at 15), rather than "postmaturely" as in many other Hornby books. It is very much a "boyish" perspective, and I suspect that this book may not appeal to female readers, even less so than other Hornby books, as this one also lacks the romantic aspect that some of his other novels have featured. My son and I, though, both thought it was great. Teen pregnancy is a heavy topic, and towards the latter portion of the book, one begins to feel that weight, notwithstanding Hornby's breezy style. So the book does suffer to some degree from the stereotyped track of young adult fiction: teenager faces crisis from contemporary social concern (death/divorce/alcholism/disability/pregnancy) that rocks his/her previously complacent world. Teenager plumbs the depths in facing the crisis and survives, barely, for a not-unhappy-but-no-longer-innocent-as-a-child ending. My twelve-year son already has internalized that story arc so that it shapes his expectations, and Slam, for all Hornby's originality, does not venture off this path. A final aside: My wife and I have noticed lately a lot of "have the baby" stories directed at teenagers (a middle course between abortion stories and abstinence stories that were more prevalent in the late 20th century). In addition to Slam, there was the hit movie "Knocked Up," and the Academy Award nominated "Juno." An interesting development to a believer that pop culture follows what its consumers want much more than it leads them.

I'm sure there are going to be a lot of nervous parents out there giving this book to their teenagers in hopes of scaring them off of sex for another few years. Hornby's latest uses teen pregnancy at the center of the plot, but I hope it isn't seen exclusively in that light. What Hornby has done, and quite cleverly, is written a book about teens being put in overwhelming situations and growing from them, emerging at the other end as the same person but somehow bigger. He uses pregnancy to drive the plot but it could have been something else--choosing a career, say--since there are so many things that can seem overly awing to a young man. If you ever wanted to achieve something in life but didn't know how to start, only to realize years later that you had accomplished your goal, this is a book you will enjoy. That's really all I have to say, but I'll add this: Hornby's true genius is in his recall of his own experience and his ability to recognize the universality of that. He knows every millimeter of the psyche of a character--a young man, in this case--and can put himself there and travel through those realms without judgment, tracing the different steps the character takes as he expands his awareness and point of view. It's a rare gift, and I'm glad that Hornby continues to share it with us.

Slam is Nick Hornby's latest, and his first book written for or about teenagers. Whether Hornby's writing about football or popular music, he excels at (1) being very funny and (2) getting at the voice of, and giving voice to ordinary blokes/guys, who don't have blemish-free lives (or faces, for that matter.) But he makes ordinary guys and ordinary lives interesting, without being bleak or fantastical, and this is what makes his work unusual among contemporary writers. With his usual light touch and unerring ear for dialogue, Hornby illuminates the ordinary human heroism of getting on with life and the success of anyone who is, in the end, a decent person despite mistakes and weaknesses. The ordinary bloke in this book is Sam, who becomes a teenage father at age 16. Teenage parenthood is a grim topic, even when buffered by a suburban setting and largely supportive parents. But the voice of Sam, by turns endearing and irritating, draws you into the story. I'm not sure I would have loved this book as a teenager, for it doesn't idealize the life or the mind of your average teenager. It might have been too ironic, too knowing, for me to really take to it when I was 16. Now, its honesty matters more to me than it would have then. A teenage father's life, and the teenage father himself, is far from perfect, but the book, like the narrator, it tries to make the best of what's out there in life.

I give the five star review partly because I love Nick Hornby books. High Fidelity got me through a bad break-up after all. What appealed to me most about this story was its clear-eyed frankness. Hornby has never shied from making his characters come off unaffable. Sam Jones is a very average London youth, he thinks very little about the future except that college may include Art and Design. He loves to skate with his friends down at Grind City and The Bowl, he attempts tricks that are beyond him. And maybe that's his metaphor for life. He asks questions to his poster of Tony Hawk, and gets answers. When Sam gets his girlfriend pregnant, things go from bad to worse. Sam, however, makes all the judgments a sixteen year old might make in that situation. And his life unfolds from there. A compelling, funny, incredible book, this one is sure to strike a chord. (Not like any of Hornby's books haven't.) 5 out of 5 stars.