Jump to content

How to Be Good

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

How to Be Good
First edition cover
AuthorNick Hornby
LanguageEnglish
GenreNovel
PublisherViking Press
Publication date
31 May 2001
Publication placeEngland
Media typePrint (Hardcover and Paperback) & Audio CD
Pages256 pp
ISBN0-670-88823-0
OCLC46393465
Preceded byAbout a Boy 
Followed byA Long Way Down 

How to Be Good is a 2001 novel by the English writer Nick Hornby.[1][2] It centers on characters Katie Carr, a doctor, and her husband, David Grant. The story begins when David stops being "The Angriest Man In Holloway" and begins to be "good" with the help of his spiritual healer, DJ GoodNews (who also shows up briefly in Hornby's A Long Way Down). The pair go about this by nominally convincing people to give their spare bedrooms to the homeless, but as their next scheme comes around, "reversal" (being good to people one has not been good to in the past), this proves to be fruitless and thus David gives up his strivings and his plans for a book on how to be good, appropriately named "How to be Good."

The protagonist, Katie, briefly encounters a minor character named Dick whose description and attitude towards music are reminiscent of the character of the same name from Hornby's first novel, High Fidelity.

Reception

[edit]

Upon release, How to Be Good was generally well-received among British press. [3]

Audiobook

[edit]

How to be Good is available on audiobook, both abridged and unabridged. The abridged version is read by Frances Barber and the unabridged version is read by Clare Higgins.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "How to Be Good | novel by Hornby | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  2. ^ Adams, Tim (27 May 2001). "How does it feel to be a woman? First, the Good News..." The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 5 August 2024.
  3. ^ "Books of the moment: What the papers say". The Daily Telegraph. 26 May 2001. p. 56. Retrieved 19 July 2024.