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Slam
THE HILARIOUS COMING-OF-AGE NOVEL FROM THE INTERNATIONALLY BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF ABOUT A BOY'Touching, very funny' Guardian __________________ 'There was this time when everything seemed to have come together. And so obviously it was time to go and screw it all up.'Sam is sixteen and a skater. Just so there are no terrible skating = skateboarding. There's no ice. Life is ticking along nicely for Sam; his Mum's got rid of her rubbish boyfriend, he's thinking about college and he's met someone. Alicia.Then a little accident happens. One with big consequences for someone just finding his way in life. Sam can't run (let alone skate) away from this one. He's a boy facing a man's problems and the question is - has he got what it takes to confront them?Slam is a novel about a boy who has to grow up in big, big hurry. It is The Catcher in the Rye for the 21st century.______________'Very funny...very real' Daily Telegraph'Hornby gets his point across with the subtlety and skill of a born novelist who always deserves to be read' Independent'A moving read for anyone' Elle
304 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2007
421 people are currently reading
7274 people want to read
About the author
Nick Hornby
137 books10.1k followersNicholas Peter John Hornby is an English writer and lyricist. He is best known for his memoir Fever Pitch (1992) and novels High Fidelity and About a Boy, all of which were adapted into feature films. Hornby's work frequently touches upon music, sport, and the aimless and obsessive natures of his protagonists. His books have sold more than 5 million copies worldwide as of 2018. In a 2004 poll for the BBC, Hornby was named the 29th most influential person in British culture. He has received two Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay nominations for An Education (2009), and Brooklyn (2015).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 2,470 reviews
September 22, 2021
(B+) 76% | Good
Notes: Its skateboarding theme adds nothing but a lazy veneer of youth culture and the facilitation of ineffectual gimmicks.
Notes: Its skateboarding theme adds nothing but a lazy veneer of youth culture and the facilitation of ineffectual gimmicks.
July 15, 2025
(B+) 76% | Good
Notes: Wherein babies strain the teenage brain, awkwardness ensues, a slice-of-life and drama-rife befuddled point-of-view.
*Check out progress updates for detailed commentary:
Notes: Wherein babies strain the teenage brain, awkwardness ensues, a slice-of-life and drama-rife befuddled point-of-view.
*Check out progress updates for detailed commentary:
May 21, 2021
From the writer most noted for writing books about men that haven't really grown up, comes a book about a boy that has to grow up! 16 year old Sam, skateboarder and son of a lone mother, is without a care in the world, when he has his world turned upside down and adulthood forced upon him. With some interesting plot devices such as'whizzing' Sam into his own future for a day, I found all this a bit off kilter. As ever Nick Hornby captures the inner male voice really well, but it's not that distinguishable from the voices of his 'adult' males, and to make matters worse to apparently give a sense of realism of teenager-hood, Sam feels very much dumbed down and feels more like what a middle aged man feels like a boy would sound like, than the genuine article. To counter this, the story has a strong and powerful message, one not heard often enough in fiction or the wider media. 6 out of 12.
September 30, 2009
Re: Slam
To: Nick Hornby
From: Bonnie Lumley
Sent: September 30, 2009
Hi Nick,
Glad to hear you’re back to writing adult fiction now; I hate to say it, but I don’t think writing young-adult fiction is your strength. Slam was a worthwhile experiment; but you’ve done better, and maybe could have done better here. Maybe if you’d written it from the POV of Sam’s mum instead of 16-year-old Sam, you’d have been able to offer your readers a more pleasing, polished novel. No offence, but it seemed to me as if you’d written Slam in one draft: too much quantity; too little quality.
Sure, I laughed – exactly twelve times, actually – (Yes, I counted; you know me!) -- But that’s because you’re naturally funny. About a Boy was funnier, though, and it was well-crafted with well-developed characters. In Slam, I thought you could have done without the stupid – a word you used much too often by the way (and yes, I counted) friend, Rabbit. And Sam’s other friend, Rubbish, the one with intelligence but none of Rabbit’s skateboarding skills; what did they really add to the story?
For that matter, Sam’s girlfriend, Alicia, came across more as a device than as a real character. Her single purpose seemed to be the vehicle to carry the subject about teenaged pregnancy. She was having the baby: no discussion with Sam, with his single mom, with her own parents. Period. (Puns intended.)
Anyway (another word you used a LOT), I don’t want to be totally negative, but really, the whole Tony Hawk poster as an adviser just didn’t fly. Sure, Sam read Tony’s autobiography about a thousand times so he knew the answers Tony would give, but then to have Hawk “whiz” Sam into the future to see himself as a father of baby Rufus (Roof)– It was a brave attempt to branch out, but it was another plodding plot-device that ultimately didn’t work; at least, it didn’t work for me. I had to check the Internet to find more information about Tony Hawk and to see if he really wrote an autobiography. I suppose I was searching for something authentic.
I’m not sure why, because the story was less about skateboarding than it was about Sam impregnating a girl and wanting to be a good dad, unlike his own father. What really got me was the question-and-answer section at the end. Sorry, but for me that was just a lazy way to tie everything up into a neat little package.
There are better books out there by authors who write for young adult readers. You should leave that to them and stick to what you do best: ‘lad-lit’. You also usually do a good job of getting inside your characters’ heads. You did that a bit with Sam, but to be truthful, I never became emotionally engaged with Sam; I didn’t really care what happened, and I had to force myself to finish reading. I had eleven pages to go and I fell asleep! Seriously!
It appears as though, with [Book:Juliet, Naked], newly released, you have written a book that adults, both men and women, will enjoy. If it’s anything like your other adult books, then young adults will be part of your audience, too. Isn’t that a better way to go?
All the best,
Bonnie
Oh, and sorry to hear that Arsenal could only manage a draw: yes, I checked. And say hi to Gill for me.
--------- Original Message ---------
From: Nick Hornby
To: Bonnie Lumley
Re: Slam
Sent: February 8, 2009
Hey Bonnie!
Thanks for your note last week about “About a Boy” – glad you liked it. I may use a couple of quotes on the back cover of the next edition. Hope that’s okay! ;)
Anyway, have you had a chance to look at “Slam”? It’s my first attempt at young adult fiction. Hope you don’t think it’s stupid or anything.
Gotta go here, game starts in five… The Gunners will be taking the piss out of the Spurs -- or Hotflashes, as we prefer to call them, and….
[Truncated by Sender:]
To: Nick Hornby
From: Bonnie Lumley
Sent: September 30, 2009
Hi Nick,
Glad to hear you’re back to writing adult fiction now; I hate to say it, but I don’t think writing young-adult fiction is your strength. Slam was a worthwhile experiment; but you’ve done better, and maybe could have done better here. Maybe if you’d written it from the POV of Sam’s mum instead of 16-year-old Sam, you’d have been able to offer your readers a more pleasing, polished novel. No offence, but it seemed to me as if you’d written Slam in one draft: too much quantity; too little quality.
Sure, I laughed – exactly twelve times, actually – (Yes, I counted; you know me!) -- But that’s because you’re naturally funny. About a Boy was funnier, though, and it was well-crafted with well-developed characters. In Slam, I thought you could have done without the stupid – a word you used much too often by the way (and yes, I counted) friend, Rabbit. And Sam’s other friend, Rubbish, the one with intelligence but none of Rabbit’s skateboarding skills; what did they really add to the story?
For that matter, Sam’s girlfriend, Alicia, came across more as a device than as a real character. Her single purpose seemed to be the vehicle to carry the subject about teenaged pregnancy. She was having the baby: no discussion with Sam, with his single mom, with her own parents. Period. (Puns intended.)
Anyway (another word you used a LOT), I don’t want to be totally negative, but really, the whole Tony Hawk poster as an adviser just didn’t fly. Sure, Sam read Tony’s autobiography about a thousand times so he knew the answers Tony would give, but then to have Hawk “whiz” Sam into the future to see himself as a father of baby Rufus (Roof)– It was a brave attempt to branch out, but it was another plodding plot-device that ultimately didn’t work; at least, it didn’t work for me. I had to check the Internet to find more information about Tony Hawk and to see if he really wrote an autobiography. I suppose I was searching for something authentic.
I’m not sure why, because the story was less about skateboarding than it was about Sam impregnating a girl and wanting to be a good dad, unlike his own father. What really got me was the question-and-answer section at the end. Sorry, but for me that was just a lazy way to tie everything up into a neat little package.
There are better books out there by authors who write for young adult readers. You should leave that to them and stick to what you do best: ‘lad-lit’. You also usually do a good job of getting inside your characters’ heads. You did that a bit with Sam, but to be truthful, I never became emotionally engaged with Sam; I didn’t really care what happened, and I had to force myself to finish reading. I had eleven pages to go and I fell asleep! Seriously!
It appears as though, with [Book:Juliet, Naked], newly released, you have written a book that adults, both men and women, will enjoy. If it’s anything like your other adult books, then young adults will be part of your audience, too. Isn’t that a better way to go?
All the best,
Bonnie
Oh, and sorry to hear that Arsenal could only manage a draw: yes, I checked. And say hi to Gill for me.
--------- Original Message ---------
From: Nick Hornby
To: Bonnie Lumley
Re: Slam
Sent: February 8, 2009
Hey Bonnie!
Thanks for your note last week about “About a Boy” – glad you liked it. I may use a couple of quotes on the back cover of the next edition. Hope that’s okay! ;)
Anyway, have you had a chance to look at “Slam”? It’s my first attempt at young adult fiction. Hope you don’t think it’s stupid or anything.
Gotta go here, game starts in five… The Gunners will be taking the piss out of the Spurs -- or Hotflashes, as we prefer to call them, and….
[Truncated by Sender:]
November 26, 2007
Wow, this book was ATROCIOUS. It's like Nick Hornby sat down and thought of all the worst cliches about teen books and then decided he could write a teen novel. The main character is a teenage skater who's so obsessed with Tony Hawk that he dialogues with the Tony Hawk poster above his bed on a nightly basis. He asks the poster questions about life, and the poster responds with parts of Tony Hawk's autobiography that the kid has memorized from reading so many times. I didn't buy it -- c'mon, Tony HawK? He was cool when I was a teen. Now he's all washed up. I heard from another librarian that the reason why Hornby used Hawk was because he once saw a "READ" poster featuring Tony Hawk who was holding one of Nick Hornby's books.
Also, later in the book, the Tony Hawk poster supposedly sends the main character into the future a couple times -- but only a few months or so into the future and the experience doesn't change the character at all. It's thrown in there for absolutely NO good reason.
It was truly terrible, and if I wasn't a teen librarian, I would not have finished it. All the teens I know who have read it also hated it, but apparently the critics have been giving it good reviews.
Also, later in the book, the Tony Hawk poster supposedly sends the main character into the future a couple times -- but only a few months or so into the future and the experience doesn't change the character at all. It's thrown in there for absolutely NO good reason.
It was truly terrible, and if I wasn't a teen librarian, I would not have finished it. All the teens I know who have read it also hated it, but apparently the critics have been giving it good reviews.
September 29, 2022
I am an enthusiastic fan of Nick Hornby, having read most of his fiction and non-fiction books, with High Fidelity a clear favorite - both the book and the movie. He has demonstrated repeatedly that he is funny and smart and insightful. Which makes writing the review of Slam all the more difficult. Is this the same guy who penned Fever Pitch and A Way Long Down? Why is Slam such a trainwreck? It's not the Y.A. content, at least not on principle: I admire John Green, Catherynne Valente and I had fun with Submarine - all written from a teenager perspective. I filled a notebook with quotes from High Fidelity, yet I struggled to come up with more than two from Slam.
The only explanation I can come up with is that Hornby tried deliberately to simplify his plotting and his prose, a dumbing down that feels condescending, even insulting towards young adults and their ability to enjoy better written books. I also have the impression that the author let the message overwhelm the actual story, that he was more interested in touching all bases on the subject of teenage pregnancy than on creating believable characters. The final impression at the end of the book is that I had read a pamphlet, a lecture on the dangers of premarital sex, delivered from a pulpit to a captive audience. It seemed to me that there was an Important Lesson in Life on every single page, that Sam Jones, the protagonist, is not talking with his own voice, but he is one of those generic puppets that appear in promotional movies to explain what you can do and cannot do as a teenager with a girlfriend. The moral of the story, the whole debate is reduced to a single item : ABSTINENCE. ( Aaaagh! I don't want a baby yet! We'd better not have sex!) I remember I had a similar reaction some years ago while watching "Dawson's Creek" : these are not real teenagers, but what parents imagine and would like their children to act and to talk.
Not everything is bad about the novel. Hornby is still funny and easy to read, if you ignore the heavy-handled moralizing. A couple of secondary characters are up to his usual standards. I particularly liked Sam's mother, who had him as a teenager herself, and is still trying to rebuilt the life that was derailed by her early parenthood; . One of Sam's skating friends is also laugh out loud funny : the thick skulled Rabbit, who may be good on a board, but has serious deficiencies in the intelligence department.
The title of the novel is another unsubtle analogy between Sam's passion for skateboarding, with the occasional biting of the cement after a fall, and the slamming of the door to his future when he has to take responsibility for getting a girl in the family way. The only thing that could have worked in favour of the novel is the subject of the need for role models in the life of a teenager. With a runaway father who has zero interest in Sam's education, the boy looks for help from a pop culture hero:
Does this sound mad to you? It probably does, but I don't care, really. Who doesn't talk to someone in their heads? Who doesn't talk to God, or a pet, or someone they love who has died, or maybe just themselves? TH ... he wasn't me. But he was who I wanted to be, so that makes him the best version of myself, and that can't be a bad thing, to have the best version of yourself standing there on a bedroom wall and watching you. It makes you feel as though you mustn't let yourself down.
TH stands for Tony Hawk, the champion skater (hint: they prefer this term to skateboarder) and MTV star, whose autobiography Sam uses as his personal Bible and oracular adviser. Without giving too much away, Tony Hawk manifests some supernatural abilities that stretched my suspension of disbelief beyond its breaking point. For Sam Jones though, the process of growing up will translate into his ability to see the cracks and the feeble foundations of his idol's pedestal. Only when he learns to rely on himself and on the real people in his life will Sam be able to act as an adult, a little early in his life, but that's what you get, folks, for making whoopee!
I think I will stick to Nick Hornby's essays and non-fiction books that I still haven't read and keep away from his Y.A. efforts in the future.
The only explanation I can come up with is that Hornby tried deliberately to simplify his plotting and his prose, a dumbing down that feels condescending, even insulting towards young adults and their ability to enjoy better written books. I also have the impression that the author let the message overwhelm the actual story, that he was more interested in touching all bases on the subject of teenage pregnancy than on creating believable characters. The final impression at the end of the book is that I had read a pamphlet, a lecture on the dangers of premarital sex, delivered from a pulpit to a captive audience. It seemed to me that there was an Important Lesson in Life on every single page, that Sam Jones, the protagonist, is not talking with his own voice, but he is one of those generic puppets that appear in promotional movies to explain what you can do and cannot do as a teenager with a girlfriend. The moral of the story, the whole debate is reduced to a single item : ABSTINENCE. ( Aaaagh! I don't want a baby yet! We'd better not have sex!) I remember I had a similar reaction some years ago while watching "Dawson's Creek" : these are not real teenagers, but what parents imagine and would like their children to act and to talk.
Not everything is bad about the novel. Hornby is still funny and easy to read, if you ignore the heavy-handled moralizing. A couple of secondary characters are up to his usual standards. I particularly liked Sam's mother, who had him as a teenager herself, and is still trying to rebuilt the life that was derailed by her early parenthood; . One of Sam's skating friends is also laugh out loud funny : the thick skulled Rabbit, who may be good on a board, but has serious deficiencies in the intelligence department.
The title of the novel is another unsubtle analogy between Sam's passion for skateboarding, with the occasional biting of the cement after a fall, and the slamming of the door to his future when he has to take responsibility for getting a girl in the family way. The only thing that could have worked in favour of the novel is the subject of the need for role models in the life of a teenager. With a runaway father who has zero interest in Sam's education, the boy looks for help from a pop culture hero:
Does this sound mad to you? It probably does, but I don't care, really. Who doesn't talk to someone in their heads? Who doesn't talk to God, or a pet, or someone they love who has died, or maybe just themselves? TH ... he wasn't me. But he was who I wanted to be, so that makes him the best version of myself, and that can't be a bad thing, to have the best version of yourself standing there on a bedroom wall and watching you. It makes you feel as though you mustn't let yourself down.
TH stands for Tony Hawk, the champion skater (hint: they prefer this term to skateboarder) and MTV star, whose autobiography Sam uses as his personal Bible and oracular adviser. Without giving too much away, Tony Hawk manifests some supernatural abilities that stretched my suspension of disbelief beyond its breaking point. For Sam Jones though, the process of growing up will translate into his ability to see the cracks and the feeble foundations of his idol's pedestal. Only when he learns to rely on himself and on the real people in his life will Sam be able to act as an adult, a little early in his life, but that's what you get, folks, for making whoopee!
I think I will stick to Nick Hornby's essays and non-fiction books that I still haven't read and keep away from his Y.A. efforts in the future.
December 12, 2018
So it just may be that Nick Hornby is overrated. He did spark quite an interest (and I'm counting myself in this category, while everyone else was probably in the post Bridget Jones and Pre Stephanie Meyer stage). "About a Boy", though the movie surpasses book in myriad ways, was incredibly original. The duality of both the man-boy and boy-man was absolute perfection.
I have read only "The Polysyllabic Spree", which was about the love of books (pretty good, swift nonfiction to pass the time) and his lesser novel, "How to be Good", which does not belong in the category "A Must." It was quite terrible actually, to my recollection.
This one is a simple story about a skater (so... Everyboy [at least, version 2.0:]), & how he gets his g.f. pregnant and how he isn't ready for such a responsibility. Sure, it's fun to read some simpleton's thoughts... like talking to my fifteen year-old skater cousin. The parents are too accepting, the novel too plot-less, too simple, too short, too unimportant.
This is not at all his best, sure. But its endearing, well-imagined. Mediocrity done well.
P.S. Just realized this is more of a foray into YA. Figures.
I have read only "The Polysyllabic Spree", which was about the love of books (pretty good, swift nonfiction to pass the time) and his lesser novel, "How to be Good", which does not belong in the category "A Must." It was quite terrible actually, to my recollection.
This one is a simple story about a skater (so... Everyboy [at least, version 2.0:]), & how he gets his g.f. pregnant and how he isn't ready for such a responsibility. Sure, it's fun to read some simpleton's thoughts... like talking to my fifteen year-old skater cousin. The parents are too accepting, the novel too plot-less, too simple, too short, too unimportant.
This is not at all his best, sure. But its endearing, well-imagined. Mediocrity done well.
P.S. Just realized this is more of a foray into YA. Figures.
July 8, 2023
I didn't realise this was a YA book when I picked it up, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Four stars.
Four stars.
May 6, 2015
There was a character in this book called "Rubbish", which would have been an apt title for the whole mess.
December 17, 2008
I'm a big Nick Hornby fan but this was crap. Crapity crap crap crap - probably didn't help that i was pregnant when i read it - its main character is a teenage boy who gets his girlfriend pregnant and has a fit with his leg in the air then legs it. It uses a very annoying bollocks plot thing as well, and i can't remember the proper term so you won't know what i mean unless you read it but i seriously don't recommend you do but if you choose to you can have my copy cause i stupidly bought mine - a moment of boredom in tescos.
October 19, 2007
English author Nick Hornby has dutifully produced ‘vox populi’ fiction about contemporary men struggling to grow up, cope, and accept responsibility for the better part of fifteen years. Often these males are self-absorbed, id-driven, and change themselves for others. Readers respond with great enthusiasm; men read them as how-to manuals. His latest offering, Slam, follows the same formula – but it’s written in the sprawling vocabulary and context of a teenager.
Hornby’s writing style has always been conversational and loose, his characters lovable despite occasional actions, and his pages are often filled with pop-culture hooks (soccer fanatics in Fever Pitch, audiophiles in High Fidelity, a bachelor pad full of great stuff in About a Boy). So it really isn’t so great an ollie for Hornby to pen a young adult novel about a skateboarding teen forced to grow up painfully fast. Slam tells the story of Tony Hawk-obsessed Sam, an 18-year-old art student who speaks directly to you as the reader, like you are his confidant or therapist, relating two years of his life since a life-altering event in highly reasoned hindsight.
Sam lives with his single (and dating) 32-year-old mother in middle-class London, England. When 16-year-old Sam is forcefully introduced to the beautiful Alicia, they rush into a physical relationship. Things are rocky and they are about to break up when she gets pregnant, just like Sam’s mom did at their age. The man-boy seeks advice from the bedroom poster of skating legend Hawk, whose memoir Sam has read “50,000 times”. The imagined Hawk can only speak in Magic 8-Ball like passages relating to the issue, but it’s the only solace the troubled young father-to-be can find.
Hornby’s real accomplishment with this story is not necessarily wading through a heady subject matter or his deft incorporation of pop-culture. Many have written on the subject of being a teen parent, and many book houses produce young adult literature that make affinitive references to fashionable celebrities or items to endear the product to a targeted reader. His ramble-style and use of language make his work significant. Many teen pregnancy stories in film, TV, and books can get heavy-handed and serious, too much like the time your parents sat you down and reasoned with you to avoid youthful mistakes. The YA label is a difficult genre to navigate – it’s can’t be patronizing or proselytizing – so having an author with a pop vernacular and conversational wit helps.
Typically, Hornby’s characters come from deeper, adult backgrounds with more emotional fractures. In Slam, the narrative voice is younger and can only observe and deal with life matters from less than two decades of experience. Hornby adapts well enough.
Sam has the same wishes and desires of other teenage boys. He wants to hang at the local skate park. He wants to date normal girls. He goes to the movies and to the Starbucks for a frappucino. His friends aren’t the ideal, but they are what they are.
It becomes a troubling part of the writing process however when Sam acts with the hesitant wisdom of a righteous older person. He doesn’t try drugs, he is hesitant about fooling around, and in general is wise beyond his years. The pregnancy is portrayed as something forced upon him. The material is much more enjoyable when Hornby just lets it flow rather than preventing the characters from learning by experienced humanity.
Two of the three Hornby novels turned into movies were re-settled in America for better understanding of the material by audiences there. So what hope do teens in America have to interpret life there? It’s the subtleties of detail and thought underneath the action that often make this author’s writings pop, so much so that Slam may be a more popular novel with his established adult fan base than new and younger readers.
Hornby’s writing style has always been conversational and loose, his characters lovable despite occasional actions, and his pages are often filled with pop-culture hooks (soccer fanatics in Fever Pitch, audiophiles in High Fidelity, a bachelor pad full of great stuff in About a Boy). So it really isn’t so great an ollie for Hornby to pen a young adult novel about a skateboarding teen forced to grow up painfully fast. Slam tells the story of Tony Hawk-obsessed Sam, an 18-year-old art student who speaks directly to you as the reader, like you are his confidant or therapist, relating two years of his life since a life-altering event in highly reasoned hindsight.
Sam lives with his single (and dating) 32-year-old mother in middle-class London, England. When 16-year-old Sam is forcefully introduced to the beautiful Alicia, they rush into a physical relationship. Things are rocky and they are about to break up when she gets pregnant, just like Sam’s mom did at their age. The man-boy seeks advice from the bedroom poster of skating legend Hawk, whose memoir Sam has read “50,000 times”. The imagined Hawk can only speak in Magic 8-Ball like passages relating to the issue, but it’s the only solace the troubled young father-to-be can find.
Hornby’s real accomplishment with this story is not necessarily wading through a heady subject matter or his deft incorporation of pop-culture. Many have written on the subject of being a teen parent, and many book houses produce young adult literature that make affinitive references to fashionable celebrities or items to endear the product to a targeted reader. His ramble-style and use of language make his work significant. Many teen pregnancy stories in film, TV, and books can get heavy-handed and serious, too much like the time your parents sat you down and reasoned with you to avoid youthful mistakes. The YA label is a difficult genre to navigate – it’s can’t be patronizing or proselytizing – so having an author with a pop vernacular and conversational wit helps.
Typically, Hornby’s characters come from deeper, adult backgrounds with more emotional fractures. In Slam, the narrative voice is younger and can only observe and deal with life matters from less than two decades of experience. Hornby adapts well enough.
Sam has the same wishes and desires of other teenage boys. He wants to hang at the local skate park. He wants to date normal girls. He goes to the movies and to the Starbucks for a frappucino. His friends aren’t the ideal, but they are what they are.
It becomes a troubling part of the writing process however when Sam acts with the hesitant wisdom of a righteous older person. He doesn’t try drugs, he is hesitant about fooling around, and in general is wise beyond his years. The pregnancy is portrayed as something forced upon him. The material is much more enjoyable when Hornby just lets it flow rather than preventing the characters from learning by experienced humanity.
Two of the three Hornby novels turned into movies were re-settled in America for better understanding of the material by audiences there. So what hope do teens in America have to interpret life there? It’s the subtleties of detail and thought underneath the action that often make this author’s writings pop, so much so that Slam may be a more popular novel with his established adult fan base than new and younger readers.
January 18, 2008
I wasn’t particularly looking forward to reading Nick Hornby’s ‘Slam’, his first teenage novel. It was nineteen years since I was last a teenager and even then I think I was probably too old for the term to really stick. However this was a novel by Nick Hornby whose ‘High Fidelity’ is my favourite novel; whose ‘Fever Pitch’ is my favourite memoir; I think you get the idea, I like Nick Hornby, I don’t however like teenagers. Anyway there was nothing for it, I had to roll up my sleeves, grit my teeth, grasp the nettle and take the book by the spine.
I’m so glad I did, what a fantastic and painfully funny book. Certainly Hornby’s best since ‘About a Boy’ with which it sets a fairly consistent tone. This is quite remarkable as ‘Slam’ is written in the first person as a teenage boy. Although ‘About a Boy’ was very insightful into the mind of an adolescent boy and his relationship with the adults around him it didn’t have to do it in the boy’s voice. ‘Slam’ is written in a very convincing voice of a fifteen year old boy, although the language and passions for music and skating very much tie the novel to the present the spirit in which it is written ties it to teenagers of any generation and consequently I can feel a certain empathy for a teenager I could obviously have fathered.
I don’t want to tell you anything of the plot as it would spoil the book to hear about it in my voice rather than ‘Sam’s’, trust me it’s better than the blurb which relies too heavily on the Tony Hawks fandom to give a balanced appreciation of the book.
I think that the reason that Sam’s voice in ‘Slam’ works is that it still resonates with the same passion as Rob’s did in ‘High Fidelity’. Perhaps the reason Hornby and even I can understand this character so well is that we belong to the first generation that never grew up, we are still essentially teenagers. The four hundred or so middle aged men jumping up and down to ‘Teenage Kicks’ at a recent Undertones concert I attended possibly suffer from the same malaise.
I’m so glad I did, what a fantastic and painfully funny book. Certainly Hornby’s best since ‘About a Boy’ with which it sets a fairly consistent tone. This is quite remarkable as ‘Slam’ is written in the first person as a teenage boy. Although ‘About a Boy’ was very insightful into the mind of an adolescent boy and his relationship with the adults around him it didn’t have to do it in the boy’s voice. ‘Slam’ is written in a very convincing voice of a fifteen year old boy, although the language and passions for music and skating very much tie the novel to the present the spirit in which it is written ties it to teenagers of any generation and consequently I can feel a certain empathy for a teenager I could obviously have fathered.
I don’t want to tell you anything of the plot as it would spoil the book to hear about it in my voice rather than ‘Sam’s’, trust me it’s better than the blurb which relies too heavily on the Tony Hawks fandom to give a balanced appreciation of the book.
I think that the reason that Sam’s voice in ‘Slam’ works is that it still resonates with the same passion as Rob’s did in ‘High Fidelity’. Perhaps the reason Hornby and even I can understand this character so well is that we belong to the first generation that never grew up, we are still essentially teenagers. The four hundred or so middle aged men jumping up and down to ‘Teenage Kicks’ at a recent Undertones concert I attended possibly suffer from the same malaise.
October 23, 2022
This is a ‘there but for the grace of…’ story which may bring back difficult personal memories or fill any parent of a sixteen year old with dread- I have a fifteen year old son with an outgoing disposition. For this is a story of a teenage pregnancy and how Sam and Alicia cope with it, or not.
Given that it’s a Nick Hornby tale I expected it to be clever and knowing. In fact the opposite is the case because both kids are so lacking in experience and resources that their attitudes, responses and reactions are simple and juvenile as indeed they should be. They are young, not stupid, but do not have the years to cope with this life changing event.
Hornby’s approach makes the story work, for analytical observation would give them adult personas they do not yet have. It may be conventional to say that having a baby when you’re a teenager would make you grow up very quickly, but I think the opposite may be the case. Sam reacts by putting his headphones on, or skating, or running away to Hastings for a day. The pregnancy forces the teenagers to fall back into their families who in this case are pretty supportive. Alicia’s mother overcomes her snobbishness and stops lamenting Alicia’s ‘lost opportunities’. Sam’s mother plunges into a world of déjà vu, as she had Sam at the same tender age.
The following contains spoilers.
Hornby uses a couple of devices to tell the story neither of which worked really well. He has Tony Hawk, the eminent skateboard person, provide advice to Sam via a poster on the lad’s bedroom wall. This doesn’t amount to much. The other device of throwing Sam some distance into the future works better, as he meets his own son, wonders why on earth he is called ‘Roof’ and discovers that things may work out a lot better for him and Alicia as they settle into young parenthood with the help of their families and the new partners they have found.
My favourite moment comes with the birth of the child (course language follows). The timing of the contractions becomes critical. Alicia makes a terrible noise and Sam loses count. Alicia asks ‘What was that?’ meaning the timing. Sam says ‘It was you.’ Then this:
Having a child at age sixteen may well not be the end of the world, it may just herald a different world.
Given that it’s a Nick Hornby tale I expected it to be clever and knowing. In fact the opposite is the case because both kids are so lacking in experience and resources that their attitudes, responses and reactions are simple and juvenile as indeed they should be. They are young, not stupid, but do not have the years to cope with this life changing event.
Hornby’s approach makes the story work, for analytical observation would give them adult personas they do not yet have. It may be conventional to say that having a baby when you’re a teenager would make you grow up very quickly, but I think the opposite may be the case. Sam reacts by putting his headphones on, or skating, or running away to Hastings for a day. The pregnancy forces the teenagers to fall back into their families who in this case are pretty supportive. Alicia’s mother overcomes her snobbishness and stops lamenting Alicia’s ‘lost opportunities’. Sam’s mother plunges into a world of déjà vu, as she had Sam at the same tender age.
The following contains spoilers.
Hornby uses a couple of devices to tell the story neither of which worked really well. He has Tony Hawk, the eminent skateboard person, provide advice to Sam via a poster on the lad’s bedroom wall. This doesn’t amount to much. The other device of throwing Sam some distance into the future works better, as he meets his own son, wonders why on earth he is called ‘Roof’ and discovers that things may work out a lot better for him and Alicia as they settle into young parenthood with the help of their families and the new partners they have found.
My favourite moment comes with the birth of the child (course language follows). The timing of the contractions becomes critical. Alicia makes a terrible noise and Sam loses count. Alicia asks ‘What was that?’ meaning the timing. Sam says ‘It was you.’ Then this:
‘Not the noise, you fucking, fucking moron,’ she said. ‘I know that was me. The timing. How many minutes?’ …I didn’t know how many minutes it was, and I knew she’d be angry with me. ‘I don’t know,’ I said. ‘Oh for Christ sake,’ she said. ‘Why the bloody bastard hell not?’ They warned us in the classes about the bad language. (pp221-22)A piece of vintage Hornby, very funny.
Having a child at age sixteen may well not be the end of the world, it may just herald a different world.
November 5, 2023
- Kein Sternerating, da dies eine Schulllektüre war -
December 22, 2018
Το πρώτο μου young adult και ίσως και το τελευταίο. Ας όψεται ο Χόρνμπυ.
(Ακόμη θυμάμαι την έκπληξη μου στον Ιανό να με στέλνουν στα "παιδικά-εφηβικά").
(Ακόμη θυμάμαι την έκπληξη μου στον Ιανό να με στέλνουν στα "παιδικά-εφηβικά").
June 7, 2018
An easy, feel-good read and laugh out loud funny.
November 23, 2007
Just before he turned 16, Sam's life was going pretty well. His mother - who was only 16 years old herself when she had Sam - just dumped her terrible boyfriend, his teachers began encouraging him to seriously consider studying graphic design in college, and his skateboarding skills were slowly but surely improving after years of practice at the local skatepark in his working-class London neighborhood. He even met a really cute girl named Alicia at a party his mum dragged him to, and they began seeing a lot of each other, in every sense of the phrase. But while their romance quickly fizzled out, an accidental pregnancy ensured that they would be forced to continue seeing a lot of each other, whether they liked it or not.
Nick Hornby's first book written for a young adult audience, Slam is entertaining and heartfelt. As anyone who is familiar with any of Hornby's other works would expect, it will certainly appeal to boys and does a good job of dealing with questions of what it means to be a man and a father in a language that teens will relate to. Especially affecting is his portrait of Sam's relationship with his mother, whose own experiences with an unexpected teen pregnancy help Sam to understand that while the arrival of a baby portends enormous changes, it need not ruin his life nor Alicia's. The book also honestly addresses questions of social class in its portrayal of the conflicts that arise between Alicia's upper-middle class parents and Sam's working-class mother.
While I enjoyed the book, it is marred by flaws that in my view prevent it from being fully successful. For example, Sam regularly seeks advice from a poster of his idol, Tony Hawk, who responds to him with quotations from his autobiography and apparently has the ability to transport Sam into different points in time at his whim. I found this plot device to be gimmicky, and its repeated use wore on me pretty quickly. Additionally, some scenes are so weak that they detract from the quality of the larger narrative. For example, after Alicia delivers the baby, we learn that not only had they not decided on a first name for the baby (which they end up naming Rufus because a Rufus Wainwright song was playing on the stereo while he was being born. My eyes rolled into the back of my head when I read this), they also happened to completely neglect the small matter of what the baby's last name would be until after it was born! Of course, this results in an enormous fight in the maternity ward between Alicia's parents and Sam's mother, and while the scene was entertaining I just couldn't believe that something like that would ever happen in reality. Finally, some of the characters are incredibly weak and underdeveloped, especially Sam's best friend Rabbit, who is so dim at times that it completely defies belief.
This is an enjoyable book, but certainly does not rank among the best work in either Hornby's oeuvre or in the world of young adult fiction generally.
Nick Hornby's first book written for a young adult audience, Slam is entertaining and heartfelt. As anyone who is familiar with any of Hornby's other works would expect, it will certainly appeal to boys and does a good job of dealing with questions of what it means to be a man and a father in a language that teens will relate to. Especially affecting is his portrait of Sam's relationship with his mother, whose own experiences with an unexpected teen pregnancy help Sam to understand that while the arrival of a baby portends enormous changes, it need not ruin his life nor Alicia's. The book also honestly addresses questions of social class in its portrayal of the conflicts that arise between Alicia's upper-middle class parents and Sam's working-class mother.
While I enjoyed the book, it is marred by flaws that in my view prevent it from being fully successful. For example, Sam regularly seeks advice from a poster of his idol, Tony Hawk, who responds to him with quotations from his autobiography and apparently has the ability to transport Sam into different points in time at his whim. I found this plot device to be gimmicky, and its repeated use wore on me pretty quickly. Additionally, some scenes are so weak that they detract from the quality of the larger narrative. For example, after Alicia delivers the baby, we learn that not only had they not decided on a first name for the baby (which they end up naming Rufus because a Rufus Wainwright song was playing on the stereo while he was being born. My eyes rolled into the back of my head when I read this), they also happened to completely neglect the small matter of what the baby's last name would be until after it was born! Of course, this results in an enormous fight in the maternity ward between Alicia's parents and Sam's mother, and while the scene was entertaining I just couldn't believe that something like that would ever happen in reality. Finally, some of the characters are incredibly weak and underdeveloped, especially Sam's best friend Rabbit, who is so dim at times that it completely defies belief.
This is an enjoyable book, but certainly does not rank among the best work in either Hornby's oeuvre or in the world of young adult fiction generally.
November 13, 2012
Reviewed by The Compulsive Reader for TeensReadToo.com
Sam figures that his life is going pretty well. He's doing all right in school, he gets along with his mom, he has a great girlfriend, and is getting good at skateboarding. He has aspirations of attending college, unlike his mom, who had to drop out of school when she became pregnant with him.
But all of his dreams come crashing down when his girlfriend, Alicia, tells him that she's pregnant. And she has no intention of getting rid of the baby.
Sam spooks. He goes into denial. When that doesn't work, he tries running away, physically and emotionally. And then, an unexplainable thing happens...while he dreams at night, he gets whizzed into the future and is shown an unexpected life that will force him to face the facts and take responsibility for his actions.
SLAM is a frank, vivid, and highly realistic take on teenage pregnancy from a point of view that is completely different from what many are accustomed to. Hornby doesn't waste time by working in lectures of the consequences of premarital sex, but instead gives us Sam, who is a little selfish, very scared, a bit ashamed, but ultimately a strong character who, through many trials and despite his own feelings, manages to pull himself together and attempt to be the best dad he can be -- and is surprisingly good at it.
The more unbelievable element of the story, Sam's visits to the future, gives the story just the right dash of unique appeal without seeming too implausible. Hornby does more than just give us an intriguing account of teen parenthood; he reveals each emotion, thought, and feeling with startling clarity and humor, until you understand and empathize with Sam. SLAM is a fascinating, compelling, and even poignant read that won't soon be forgotten.
Sam figures that his life is going pretty well. He's doing all right in school, he gets along with his mom, he has a great girlfriend, and is getting good at skateboarding. He has aspirations of attending college, unlike his mom, who had to drop out of school when she became pregnant with him.
But all of his dreams come crashing down when his girlfriend, Alicia, tells him that she's pregnant. And she has no intention of getting rid of the baby.
Sam spooks. He goes into denial. When that doesn't work, he tries running away, physically and emotionally. And then, an unexplainable thing happens...while he dreams at night, he gets whizzed into the future and is shown an unexpected life that will force him to face the facts and take responsibility for his actions.
SLAM is a frank, vivid, and highly realistic take on teenage pregnancy from a point of view that is completely different from what many are accustomed to. Hornby doesn't waste time by working in lectures of the consequences of premarital sex, but instead gives us Sam, who is a little selfish, very scared, a bit ashamed, but ultimately a strong character who, through many trials and despite his own feelings, manages to pull himself together and attempt to be the best dad he can be -- and is surprisingly good at it.
The more unbelievable element of the story, Sam's visits to the future, gives the story just the right dash of unique appeal without seeming too implausible. Hornby does more than just give us an intriguing account of teen parenthood; he reveals each emotion, thought, and feeling with startling clarity and humor, until you understand and empathize with Sam. SLAM is a fascinating, compelling, and even poignant read that won't soon be forgotten.
January 11, 2018
Lettura godevole ma abbastanza inutile.
I due piani, la storia e la scrittura, non sono funzionali l'uno all'altro. Cioè, sono stati pensati per esserlo ma la cosa non funziona.
Hornby ha scelto di scrivere il libro in prima persona, mettendosi nei panni di Sam, come se fosse un 18enne che ripensa agli ultimi due anni. Usa un linguaggio volutamente semplice (scrive come "pensa" e non come si presume parli Sam: in tutto il libro credo di non aver contato più di 3-4 parolacce e la cosa è un po' incredibile visto che è un adolescente londinese).
L'artificio non diventa arte, e la storia non decolla. Sam, figlio 16enne di una madre 31enne (e quindi supersupersuper allertato sulle gravidanze precoci ma totalmente ignaro della pillola del giorno dopo) mette incinta Alicia, la sua prima ragazza "seria".
Il prologo a tutto questo è carino perchè si vede la burrasca arrivare con un bel tratteggio delle classi sociali, etc.
Ma l'escatmotage letterario è improbabile: se Sam fosse così intelligente perchè non è riuscito ad evitare la catastrofe?
Alicia vuole tenere (e terrà) il bambino e Sam diventerà un bravo pradre (almeno per i primi due anni). Nel frattempo lui parla col poster di Tony Hawk - uno skater (niente di strano in questo, c'è chi parla con gli attori e chi con le immagini sacre!) che gli risponde.
Però .... non mi convince: non scocca nessuna empatia per i due protagonisti. Altri due sedicenni si sono amati - sia pur con esito più drammatico -e tutti hanno tifato per loro (vabbè il Bardo non è Hornby, cioè, il contratrio!).
Qui si tifa per Ufo, la progenie, sperando che non inciampi anche lui sul primo gradino.
Hornby è uno scrittore accorto e sa quando una storia non ha più niente da dare, per cui ad un certo punto la chiude, tirando una riga un po' forzata. Però il lieto fine poteva risparmiarcelo.
Nota sul titolo: insensato, come parecchie delle traduzioni italiane. Il titolo originale è "slam" e "Tutto per una ragazza" che può essere letto in due accezioni "ho fatto tutto per una ragazza" oppure "tutto per colpa di una ragazza" non ha senso in nessuna delle due.
I due piani, la storia e la scrittura, non sono funzionali l'uno all'altro. Cioè, sono stati pensati per esserlo ma la cosa non funziona.
Hornby ha scelto di scrivere il libro in prima persona, mettendosi nei panni di Sam, come se fosse un 18enne che ripensa agli ultimi due anni. Usa un linguaggio volutamente semplice (scrive come "pensa" e non come si presume parli Sam: in tutto il libro credo di non aver contato più di 3-4 parolacce e la cosa è un po' incredibile visto che è un adolescente londinese).
L'artificio non diventa arte, e la storia non decolla. Sam, figlio 16enne di una madre 31enne (e quindi supersupersuper allertato sulle gravidanze precoci ma totalmente ignaro della pillola del giorno dopo) mette incinta Alicia, la sua prima ragazza "seria".
Il prologo a tutto questo è carino perchè si vede la burrasca arrivare con un bel tratteggio delle classi sociali, etc.
Ma l'escatmotage letterario è improbabile: se Sam fosse così intelligente perchè non è riuscito ad evitare la catastrofe?
Alicia vuole tenere (e terrà) il bambino e Sam diventerà un bravo pradre (almeno per i primi due anni). Nel frattempo lui parla col poster di Tony Hawk - uno skater (niente di strano in questo, c'è chi parla con gli attori e chi con le immagini sacre!) che gli risponde.
Però .... non mi convince: non scocca nessuna empatia per i due protagonisti. Altri due sedicenni si sono amati - sia pur con esito più drammatico -e tutti hanno tifato per loro (vabbè il Bardo non è Hornby, cioè, il contratrio!).
Qui si tifa per Ufo, la progenie, sperando che non inciampi anche lui sul primo gradino.
Hornby è uno scrittore accorto e sa quando una storia non ha più niente da dare, per cui ad un certo punto la chiude, tirando una riga un po' forzata. Però il lieto fine poteva risparmiarcelo.
Nota sul titolo: insensato, come parecchie delle traduzioni italiane. Il titolo originale è "slam" e "Tutto per una ragazza" che può essere letto in due accezioni "ho fatto tutto per una ragazza" oppure "tutto per colpa di una ragazza" non ha senso in nessuna delle due.
June 30, 2016
Siento que leí este libro demasiado tiempo después de su momento indicado (puede que la edad precisa para leerlo fuese a los 18 0 19 años). Sin embargo, no me he quedado del todo impávido tras su lectura; de hecho, puede que me sienta más tranquilo de ver que ciertos miedos que poseo no son del todo únicos (una gran ingenuidad en la que suelo recaer). Tras apelar a la fantasía y la metáfora, Hornby parece querer dar a entender algo que, a mí parecer, es sumamente acertado: no interesa el recuento de los hechos por los que trasciende una vida. Dicho de otra manera, una vida no se mide por el relato escueto de los sucesos que se han vivido (como si estos fuesen parte de los "hechos" de una demanda judicial). Por el contrario, uno ha vivido cuando ha sentido cada una de las circunstancias que ha atravesado. De allí que de nada nos sirva saber los hechos del futuro: no seríamos capaces de entenderlos...o, siquiera, de saberlos incorporados a nuestra identidad. Hornby entiende esto mejor que nadie: sabe que lo que interesa es el camino...cada uno de los pasos sobre la acera. El resto siempre puede contarlo el sol, que todo lo ve...pero que nunca lo siente.
June 22, 2008
I think I'd read a Nick Hornby Novel even if it were just his characters reading ads from a phone book. Part of it is the cool way that those Brits sound when they talk about anything, but the voices of a Hornby character will stay with you for a while. His Narrator in this book, Sam, like the narrators of High Fidelity and About A Boy, has many chuckalicious turns of phrase. But few writers are going to attempt the first person narrative if they can't manage to handle one distinctive voice.
If you want to see how skillfully Hornby manages voices, take a really close reads of any of the exchanges between Sam's girlfriend, Alicia, and her parents -- particularly the scenes in which Sam is present but not saying anything. They comprise only the smallest portions of the overall book, but Hornby makes them distincitve and relevant nonetheless.
Like many of his novels, this one loses a little narrative steam toward the end, and wraps up some pretty complicated issues a little too simply, but not so much so that you the entire novel loses its integrity.
If you want to see how skillfully Hornby manages voices, take a really close reads of any of the exchanges between Sam's girlfriend, Alicia, and her parents -- particularly the scenes in which Sam is present but not saying anything. They comprise only the smallest portions of the overall book, but Hornby makes them distincitve and relevant nonetheless.
Like many of his novels, this one loses a little narrative steam toward the end, and wraps up some pretty complicated issues a little too simply, but not so much so that you the entire novel loses its integrity.
February 26, 2013
Accattivante e gradevole come al solito lo stile di Hornby, ma la storia presenta innegabili forzature, rivelandosi nell’insieme alquanto artefatta e priva di spessore.
L’argomento non è certo dei più semplici da trattare e l’autore lo affronta con il consueto buongusto, in un mix perfetto di concrete considerazioni e trovate godibilissime. Ciò che non funziona, a mio avviso, è la banalità del ricorso al flashforward premonitore per anticipare gli eventi che, unito ad un troppo manifesto intento didascalico-buonista, spegne inesorabilmente quella sorta di magia che rendeva tanto vivi, credibili e affascinanti romanzi come Alta fedeltà e Un ragazzo.
L’argomento non è certo dei più semplici da trattare e l’autore lo affronta con il consueto buongusto, in un mix perfetto di concrete considerazioni e trovate godibilissime. Ciò che non funziona, a mio avviso, è la banalità del ricorso al flashforward premonitore per anticipare gli eventi che, unito ad un troppo manifesto intento didascalico-buonista, spegne inesorabilmente quella sorta di magia che rendeva tanto vivi, credibili e affascinanti romanzi come Alta fedeltà e Un ragazzo.
September 25, 2016
2.5 stars
This book was okay, but only okay.
Slam is the story of Sam, a sixteen-year-old boy totally obsessed with skateboarding and the pro skater, Tony Hawk. Sam meets Alicia at a party and they quickly start seeing each other and almost as quickly stop seeing each other. Then it turns out that Sam and Alicia have got themselves into trouble, and Sam is suddenly looking down the barrel of having to grow up quite quickly.
The plot of the book was okay and centred around Sam coming to terms with the face that he was going to become a dad, but there was nothing really new or ground-breaking. There was nothing that kept me hooked. The characters were okay, but not amazing, and their relationship was completely without feels (which was the point, I think, but it doesn’t make for great reading).
There were a few things in the book that I didn’t really get, but some other things that were spot on. There are a few points where Sam flashes forward into the future and sees what his life is going to be like in a couple of years time. This was okay, but it didn’t add anything to the plot because Sam doesn’t really do anything with the knowledge he’s gained. I also didn’t get his imaginary conversations with Tony Hawk (and to be honest, if I was Tony Hawk and was reading this book, I’d be a bit weirded out).
However, there were some things that were spot on. The way Sam and Alicia are totally absorbed in each other at the beginning of their relationship and how what they think is love gradually fades, and also the way their lives change when the baby comes along - this was so well observed, but I think it would be better pitched at an adult audience rather than a young adult one.
Also, I have to say that both Sam and Alicia’s parents were remarkably cool when they found out their teenage kids were becoming parents. I seriously doubt my own parents would have been so cool if I’d come home and told them I was pregnant at sixteen, or if my brother told them he’d got a girl pregnant. Sam and Alicia’s parents were very ... unfazed. Alicia’s mum actually thinks it’s a good thing because she’ll be a young granny, which I felt was a remarkably glass-half-full attitude to have.
I’ve read a couple of other Nick Hornby books and while they were fine I never really found anything to rave about. I hoped this one might float my boat, but sadly no. Maybe he’s just not the author for me.
I got this book at a second hand shop - I took a punt on it, it didn’t blow me away and I’m glad I only spent twenty-five pence on it. It wasn’t dreadful, but it wasn’t good enough for me to go around recommending it to everyone.
This book was okay, but only okay.
Slam is the story of Sam, a sixteen-year-old boy totally obsessed with skateboarding and the pro skater, Tony Hawk. Sam meets Alicia at a party and they quickly start seeing each other and almost as quickly stop seeing each other. Then it turns out that Sam and Alicia have got themselves into trouble, and Sam is suddenly looking down the barrel of having to grow up quite quickly.
The plot of the book was okay and centred around Sam coming to terms with the face that he was going to become a dad, but there was nothing really new or ground-breaking. There was nothing that kept me hooked. The characters were okay, but not amazing, and their relationship was completely without feels (which was the point, I think, but it doesn’t make for great reading).
There were a few things in the book that I didn’t really get, but some other things that were spot on. There are a few points where Sam flashes forward into the future and sees what his life is going to be like in a couple of years time. This was okay, but it didn’t add anything to the plot because Sam doesn’t really do anything with the knowledge he’s gained. I also didn’t get his imaginary conversations with Tony Hawk (and to be honest, if I was Tony Hawk and was reading this book, I’d be a bit weirded out).
However, there were some things that were spot on. The way Sam and Alicia are totally absorbed in each other at the beginning of their relationship and how what they think is love gradually fades, and also the way their lives change when the baby comes along - this was so well observed, but I think it would be better pitched at an adult audience rather than a young adult one.
Also, I have to say that both Sam and Alicia’s parents were remarkably cool when they found out their teenage kids were becoming parents. I seriously doubt my own parents would have been so cool if I’d come home and told them I was pregnant at sixteen, or if my brother told them he’d got a girl pregnant. Sam and Alicia’s parents were very ... unfazed. Alicia’s mum actually thinks it’s a good thing because she’ll be a young granny, which I felt was a remarkably glass-half-full attitude to have.
I’ve read a couple of other Nick Hornby books and while they were fine I never really found anything to rave about. I hoped this one might float my boat, but sadly no. Maybe he’s just not the author for me.
I got this book at a second hand shop - I took a punt on it, it didn’t blow me away and I’m glad I only spent twenty-five pence on it. It wasn’t dreadful, but it wasn’t good enough for me to go around recommending it to everyone.
January 10, 2017
This book is incredibly bad. It's a giant cliché, it has unlikable characters and it just seems rushed, some parts are way too short and are just like "and by the way that is also a thing that happens" (not that I wanted it to be longer). But other parts could just have been left out completely, they don't contribute anything to the "plot". And the main character is just obsessed with Tony Hawk, it makes the main character look even more stupid than he already is when he quotes out of TH’s book and treats him like a god. I don't give a rat's arse about skating or Tony Hawk and every time he glorifies him it just makes me want to throw the book at a wall, it makes him sound like a twat. And don't get me started on that getting whizzed to the future thingy. I find it a completely lazy way of continuing the story and it makes the whole thing seem even more rushed and dull. Even though I don't enjoy books about these kind of topics, I'm sure that it could have been better, much better. It seems to be just aimed at a small group of people: Idiotic teenagers who adore Tony Hawk and have no idea about life what so ever. This book just makes me feel frustrated and mad, mostly because of the way Sam is portrayed, a main character should be likable and someone you can identify yourself with. I don't know much about writing but I'm sure that the main character of your book shouldn't be a complete imbecile that makes you want to burn the whole book every time he says something stupid (which is way too often). It made me wince so often because of the main character (mostly, the other characters weren't much better). In conclusion, I don't recommend this book unless you are an idiotic teenager who adores Tony Hawk and has no idea about life what so ever.
July 15, 2018
I am writing this review while trying so hard to maintain my linguistic decency because this book was a flaming piece of human and animal waste( it is that bad).I was reorganising my bookshelf and,God knows why, I decided to pick this book up and give it a try.I feel disgusted and betrayed.
The first few chapters gave me a giggle or two, a few smiles and some approving nods,and that is it.I swear after the seventh chapter, I knew that I was going to enter the dreadful realm of stereotypical YA writing and this is an understatement!!The story is so convoluted with irrational "whizzes" to the future as a pathetic attempt to put some science-fiction taste into the story which remained as bland as an overcooked steak.I got the impression that Hornby really REALLY wanted to raise awareness about teen pregnancy, but the manner was frustratingly messy.The plotholes in this novel( if it can be described as one) are so many that Fifty Shades of Grey looks decent and worthwhile.It is like an ongoing internal monologue of angst and whinning coming from an English skateboarding teen who talks to a Tony Hawk poster (cue the edgy music).The thing that really made me ROAR like a famished tiger is the use of questions as an attempt to fill some plotholes.That is an utter NO!!!NOOOO!!! Use your "narrative genius" and finish the story as a novel NOT as an interview.Breaking the fourth wall whenever you feel stuck in the moving sands of a story of your own creation is a pathetic attempt to reach closure.
I am going to give Hornby another chance by reading High Fidelity since I bought it with this "thing".
This book is a HUUUUGGEE DISAPPOINTMENT!!!
The first few chapters gave me a giggle or two, a few smiles and some approving nods,and that is it.I swear after the seventh chapter, I knew that I was going to enter the dreadful realm of stereotypical YA writing and this is an understatement!!The story is so convoluted with irrational "whizzes" to the future as a pathetic attempt to put some science-fiction taste into the story which remained as bland as an overcooked steak.I got the impression that Hornby really REALLY wanted to raise awareness about teen pregnancy, but the manner was frustratingly messy.The plotholes in this novel( if it can be described as one) are so many that Fifty Shades of Grey looks decent and worthwhile.It is like an ongoing internal monologue of angst and whinning coming from an English skateboarding teen who talks to a Tony Hawk poster (cue the edgy music).The thing that really made me ROAR like a famished tiger is the use of questions as an attempt to fill some plotholes.That is an utter NO!!!NOOOO!!! Use your "narrative genius" and finish the story as a novel NOT as an interview.Breaking the fourth wall whenever you feel stuck in the moving sands of a story of your own creation is a pathetic attempt to reach closure.
I am going to give Hornby another chance by reading High Fidelity since I bought it with this "thing".
This book is a HUUUUGGEE DISAPPOINTMENT!!!
December 28, 2020
Esilarante, molto simpatico. 4,5
November 21, 2025
Hat mich irgendwie nicht ganz so eingefangen. Vielleicht weil männlicher Protagonist (sorry) vielleicht weil ich in den Schreibstil einfach nicht so richtig reingekommen bin. Den Inhalt fand ich vor allem sehr realistisch und vielleicht hat es mir gerade deshalb nicht so viel Spaß gemacht sondern eher Sorgen und Unwohlsein. Das macht es aber ja nicht schlechter, hab ich nur einfach jetzt gerade nicht gebraucht. Fand Sam wirklich einfach nervig und unsympathisch und seeeeehr kindisch aber er war auch 15 also mein Gott
March 16, 2013
Sam is a skater. Not a roller skater, but a skateboarder. He loves Tony Hawk and working out new skateboard tricks. He also loves his mum, even though she's young enough to be an older sister. But everything changes when his ex-girlfriend delivers the news: she's pregnant.
Now that he faces fatherhood as a very young man, Sam must make adult-sized choices. He's determined to do the right thing. His father didn't, and he's grown up seeing how it has affected his mother. But sometimes doing the right thing takes a lot more than a guy could ever guess.
With so many real and fictional stories of young men who skip out on unexpected pregnancies, it's refreshing to see the perspective of a teen who takes the onus of early parenthood seriously. Hornby's sense of humor allows readers to see Sam as a genuine person with a unique--and sometimes quirky--perspective on life.
This book is a great choice for young adults. Although many aspects will play better with guys, many teen girls are likely to enjoy it as well. Yes, there are a few messages, but Hornby isn't preachy or overbearing. Slam is a fun book that addresses serious issues that affect more young people every year.
*****
The reviewer may have received a free copy of this novel from the publisher, author, or other representative in this book’s interest. This has no impact on the quality or consideration of the review.
Now that he faces fatherhood as a very young man, Sam must make adult-sized choices. He's determined to do the right thing. His father didn't, and he's grown up seeing how it has affected his mother. But sometimes doing the right thing takes a lot more than a guy could ever guess.
With so many real and fictional stories of young men who skip out on unexpected pregnancies, it's refreshing to see the perspective of a teen who takes the onus of early parenthood seriously. Hornby's sense of humor allows readers to see Sam as a genuine person with a unique--and sometimes quirky--perspective on life.
This book is a great choice for young adults. Although many aspects will play better with guys, many teen girls are likely to enjoy it as well. Yes, there are a few messages, but Hornby isn't preachy or overbearing. Slam is a fun book that addresses serious issues that affect more young people every year.
*****
The reviewer may have received a free copy of this novel from the publisher, author, or other representative in this book’s interest. This has no impact on the quality or consideration of the review.
July 28, 2019
Blerrrrrgh. The thing about Nick Hornby is, he's really good at writing men who're gormless twats but get away with it because they're at least trying and they're sort of lovable too. This protagonist was 100% gormless twattery and 0% lovability, and even being a teenage boy does not account for quite this much relentless idiocy. Also, I realised too late that this book was about a teen pregnancy (should've checked out more summaries, I guess - I'd only looked at the actual copy's blurb, which literally says that a 16-year-old skater has some sort of life-changing accident, which I think I can be forgiven for utterly misreading :p). I lost patience with that the moment I realised that yes, we were really going to roll with a chain of events and decisions that belonged much more firmly in the 60s than the noughts, and nope, nobody was going to bother educating this teenage girl about what her actual options were . Throw in a really grating style and a bizarre occasional time travel twist that comes off less like charming magical realism and more like someone should really rush this boy to hospital for a psych evaluation because he's suffering from severe hallucinations, and voila, here's one straight for the donations pile.
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