A Long Way Down: the international bestseller - Softcover

Hornby, Nick

Softcover

ISBN 10: 024196993X ISBN 13: 9780241969939

Publisher: Penguin, 2014

Synopsis

'Extremely funny . . . and wise' Sunday Times

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE
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'Can I explain why I wanted to jump off the top of a tower block?'

For disgraced TV presenter Martin Sharp the answer's pretty simple: he has, in his own words, 'pissed his life away'. And on New Year's Eve he's going to end it all . . . but not, as it happens, alone. Because first single-mum Maureen, then eighteen-year-old Jess and lastly American rock-god JJ turn up and crash Martin's private party. They've stolen his idea - but brought their own reasons.

Yet it's hard to jump when you've got an audience queuing impatiently behind you. A few heated words and some slices if cold pizza later and these four strangers are suddenly allies. But is their unlikely friendship a good enough reason to carry on living?

Shortlisted for the 2005 Whitbread Award and the Commonwealth Writers Prize, A Long Way Down is a darkly hilarious and moving novel by bestselling author Nick Hornby.
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'Hornby's best yet' Literary Review

'Impossible to put down' Ruth Rendell, Guardian

'Some of the finest writing I've ever had the pleasure of reading' Johnny Depp

About this title

Review:

Impossible to put down . . . enthralling (Ruth Rendell Guardian)

Extremely funny . . . and wise (Sunday Times)

A page-turning plot and rich, funny characters with several big laughs on every page . . . Hornby's best yet (Literary Review)

Hornby pins down the age in which we live with precision and comic brilliance (Guardian)

Hugely enjoyable (Irish Times)

Masterful . . . some of the finest writing, and some of the most outstanding characters I've ever had the pleasure of reading (Johnny Depp)

Hornby's portrayal of four characters who accidentally meet on top of a tower block, all ready to jump to their death on New Year's Eve, manages to be sensitive and empathetic, but damn funny as well. My new Hornby favourite (Adam Phillips Observer)

Brilliant, smart and funny . . . a cello suite about how to go on living. It's hard to imagine a novel more darkly and sublimely devoted to life (Boston Globe)

Generous and wise. Right from the opening pages, a smile played continually across my face (GQ)

From the Back Cover:

'Can I explain why I wanted to jump off the top of a tower block?' For disgraced TV presenter Martin Sharp the answer's pretty simple: he has, in his own words, pissed his life away'. And on New Year's Eve, he's going to end it all. But not, as it happens, alone. Because first single-mum Maureen, then eighteen-year-old Jess and lastly American rock-god JJ turn up and crash Martin's private party. They've stolen his idea, but brought their own reasons. Yet it's hard to jump when you've got an audience queuing impatiently behind you. A few heated words and some slices of cold pizza later, and these four strangers are suddenly allies. But is their unlikely friendship a good enough reason to carry on living?

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 024196993X
• ISBN 13: 9780241969939
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272