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Otherwise Pandemonium / Not a Star
Otherwise Pandemonium features two Nick Hornby stories, both packed with the trademark wit and poignancy that have made him one of the UK's most popular writers. The first one was previously published in McSweeney's Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales (Penguin, 2004), the second one was written specially for this volume.
64 pages, Paperback
First published October 6, 2005
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457 people want to read
About the author
Nick Hornby
137 books10.2k 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 69 reviews
November 24, 2017
A short, light read by way of a change; and I haven’t read Nick Hornby for a while.
The first story concerns a boy’s “first time” and his life as a frustrated/frustrating 15 year old. He makes an unexpected discovery which involves his newly acquired video recorder which will eventually lead to the “first time”. But it’s not remotely what you’d expect. 3*s
The second concerns Mark’s enormous pecker. The DVD/video player theme is common to both. To say more might well spoil the fun. Not a Star is very, very funny and I give it 5!
The first story concerns a boy’s “first time” and his life as a frustrated/frustrating 15 year old. He makes an unexpected discovery which involves his newly acquired video recorder which will eventually lead to the “first time”. But it’s not remotely what you’d expect. 3*s
The second concerns Mark’s enormous pecker. The DVD/video player theme is common to both. To say more might well spoil the fun. Not a Star is very, very funny and I give it 5!
April 21, 2020
Otherwise Pandemonium: 3 stars
Not a Star: 4 stars
Not a Star: 4 stars
September 10, 2023
Is it a bit mean giving this a three star rating? It’s well written in its way, but it’s very light and flimsy. It’s funny though, in a lightly smutty Carry On Benny Hill kind of way. And enjoyable. So maybe a 3 1/2.
December 29, 2018
Ok I sort of cheated. Really short book that I killed in a day. But it’s an author I like. Cool stories. Needed this one to complete my goodreads goal and I’m still about 300 pages away from finishing the Follett book
December 6, 2022
55 page fix
May 22, 2018
Nice little short stories, the second of which is by far the better of the two- an amusing take on a family finding out about the son's job as a porn star. A quick read for an idle half hour.
March 2, 2015
I'm a fan of Nick Hornby's. I think he's a genius when it comes to dialogue and he is a keen observer of the smaller, more intimate part of the human condition. He doesn't do literary grandstanding, he makes you laugh and cry and full of feelings and I think his quality is generally underrated.
But these two stories were a big strange.
The first one is about a woman who finds out that her middle-of-the-road son stars in porn movies because he has a ginormous cock, and the whole thing leads her to a sweet little epiphany about her life. This one had an amazing beginning. It's very funny! I think it trickled off a bit towards the end though.
The second one reminded me a lot of "Slam", the same teenage boy voice who is so much smarter than any grown-up and certainly every writer who ever wrote a book (so basically like every 15 year old boy), the same single -parent mother family situation and the take on time travel. It has a pretty good premise, but I feel like it would have been better as a full book, and as a consequence feels cut off and unfinished. But that wouldn't work because, again, it's so much like "Slam". Still definitely worth a read, though.
All in all, 3.5 Stars.
But these two stories were a big strange.
The first one is about a woman who finds out that her middle-of-the-road son stars in porn movies because he has a ginormous cock, and the whole thing leads her to a sweet little epiphany about her life. This one had an amazing beginning. It's very funny! I think it trickled off a bit towards the end though.
The second one reminded me a lot of "Slam", the same teenage boy voice who is so much smarter than any grown-up and certainly every writer who ever wrote a book (so basically like every 15 year old boy), the same single -parent mother family situation and the take on time travel. It has a pretty good premise, but I feel like it would have been better as a full book, and as a consequence feels cut off and unfinished. But that wouldn't work because, again, it's so much like "Slam". Still definitely worth a read, though.
All in all, 3.5 Stars.
March 9, 2020
I have such a love for Nick Hornby. His ability to just put you in the head of completely different people never ceases to amaze me. This is a short story book with only two stories in it. One is from the first person perspective of a teenage boy, and the second is from the perspective of a middle-aged woman. Both stories are great, of course, but the graceful ease in which he moves from one to another just blows my mind. I didn't even have to adjust between the two completely different voices. It just works. He just works. Maybe if I continue to read his books over and over I might actually manage the same? I would LOVE to write men with the accuracy and skill that Nick Hornby writes women.
February 9, 2014
I'm bias and will 100% admit that. I have a huge literary hard-on for Nick Hornby.
That being said, I usually don't read many short story collections. This short book has 2 stories. The first one is his typical somewhat awkward/humorous and the second is totally different than anything I've read by him.
I thought I'd loathe it, the first few pages of the story were very..annoying? Scattered? Not due to bad writing but due to the narrator - which he constructed perfectly. But, in the end, the story was quite good and surprising.
That being said, I usually don't read many short story collections. This short book has 2 stories. The first one is his typical somewhat awkward/humorous and the second is totally different than anything I've read by him.
I thought I'd loathe it, the first few pages of the story were very..annoying? Scattered? Not due to bad writing but due to the narrator - which he constructed perfectly. But, in the end, the story was quite good and surprising.
May 11, 2019
This volume contains two Nick Hornby stories connected by the VCR that’s common to both of them: through these two short sketch-tales, Hornby perhaps seeks to illustrate the common modern experience of the screen. The stories are also fundamentally about sex, which is as pervasive a power in our times as the telecast.
In the first story, Otherwise Pandemonium, Hornby creates what seems to be a parody of Genre Fiction but is probably not. This story first appeared in the McSweeney’s Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales ;alongside Stephen King and the likes; and deals with a fifteen year old losing his virginity in a story that has a beginning, a “weird middle” and a happy ending. This is, in fact, a story about having sex which also happens to drop some hints at a dystopian future; “The Time of the Static”; and involves some sci-fi, just shying short of taking the “Stephen King route”.
Hornby’s unnamed protagonist is angsty in a typically teenage way, is typically afraid of what others think of him, and writes often in what resembles a dialogue between the reader and himself . Otherwise Pandemonium is a very unusual take at things, but its wit and humour are quite exemplary of Hornby’s popularity.
The second story, Not A Star ; written specifically for this edition; is an absurd and hilarious story of a mother who finds out about her son being a porn actor, which leads her to a nice evening with a cup of coffee with her
mother and her sister, and a quest for knowledge on whether her fathers’ penis was like her son’s. The parents have always contended that the son is ‘not special ‘ and is unremarkable, but now they find out many truths about his being. However, as he argues, he isn't a porn star .
This story is funny, and explores literal penis envy, conceptions of the body, the body-personality dynamic, the idea of family and such structures, amongst other things, like humour. With a smattering of innuendoes and funny situation developments, this story may, for some, be a riot.
Both stories are concluded with the act of performing sex, to two different but similarly "happy" ends. Thus, the two tales posit the VCR and the practice of sex as defining characteristics of our age.
This was a good read, but it felt somewhat inadequate as a sampler of Hornby. I liked the first tale better, for its narratorial voice and the devices employed felt mature; which is essential in any writing aimed at/about adolescents.
In the first story, Otherwise Pandemonium, Hornby creates what seems to be a parody of Genre Fiction but is probably not. This story first appeared in the McSweeney’s Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales ;alongside Stephen King and the likes; and deals with a fifteen year old losing his virginity in a story that has a beginning, a “weird middle” and a happy ending. This is, in fact, a story about having sex which also happens to drop some hints at a dystopian future; “The Time of the Static”; and involves some sci-fi, just shying short of taking the “Stephen King route”.
Hornby’s unnamed protagonist is angsty in a typically teenage way, is typically afraid of what others think of him, and writes often in what resembles a dialogue between the reader and himself . Otherwise Pandemonium is a very unusual take at things, but its wit and humour are quite exemplary of Hornby’s popularity.
The second story, Not A Star ; written specifically for this edition; is an absurd and hilarious story of a mother who finds out about her son being a porn actor, which leads her to a nice evening with a cup of coffee with her
mother and her sister, and a quest for knowledge on whether her fathers’ penis was like her son’s. The parents have always contended that the son is ‘not special ‘ and is unremarkable, but now they find out many truths about his being. However, as he argues, he isn't a porn star .
This story is funny, and explores literal penis envy, conceptions of the body, the body-personality dynamic, the idea of family and such structures, amongst other things, like humour. With a smattering of innuendoes and funny situation developments, this story may, for some, be a riot.
Both stories are concluded with the act of performing sex, to two different but similarly "happy" ends. Thus, the two tales posit the VCR and the practice of sex as defining characteristics of our age.
This was a good read, but it felt somewhat inadequate as a sampler of Hornby. I liked the first tale better, for its narratorial voice and the devices employed felt mature; which is essential in any writing aimed at/about adolescents.
December 20, 2017
I couldn't even finish this SHORT STORY book because it was just that bad. Going through the last SIX pages was just too much for me. It's so boring, so horribly written, and just not interesting in the least bit.
The first story seemed promising at first by the very first page, but then it just got confusing. Which, whatever, maybe Nick really thinks this is how young teens think? Just a jumble of thoughts and going out of order with things? It just didn't seem to fit with the story that was being told. You can add a thought pattern and personality to a story without it being so confusing and uninteresting. I think the concept was cool. A VCR that can tell the future!!! But it was just muddled around underage sex and some kid thinking he actually has the world in his hands because he saw the future? It was such a stupid story, and again was just drowning in underage sex, which was just really unnecessary and bizarre. I don't even think I was thinking of having sex at 15, maybe other people were, though?
The second story was just even weirder and made me super uncomfortable. A mom watches her son's porno and then wonders where he got his big penis from. Literally what kind of plot is that? I'll tell you; it's a stupid one. I mean, really, what's the point of writing about a mom trying to figure out where her son got his huge penis? Who even writes about a mom watching her son's porno? It was just super awkward and super uncomfortable and so not realistic. I don't think any mother would go out of their way to watch their child's porno and then figure out where they got that anatomy. Unless Nick Hornby has a pretty odd relationship with his mother, I just don't see anybody doing that. It's super weird, and if any of my family members started to wonder where I got my boobs from, I'd be really uncomfortable and would be upset that they would even ask or wonder that. It was just such a useless story and it was so boring.
Maybe I hated this book just because I have no interest in underage sex and mothers discovering their son's porno/genitalia. Whatever the reason is, I hate this book and I hate Penguin, a publisher I consider one of my favorites, for even thinking of publishing this. What a disappointment that this book is on a list in the back with stuff from Anne Frank.
The first story seemed promising at first by the very first page, but then it just got confusing. Which, whatever, maybe Nick really thinks this is how young teens think? Just a jumble of thoughts and going out of order with things? It just didn't seem to fit with the story that was being told. You can add a thought pattern and personality to a story without it being so confusing and uninteresting. I think the concept was cool. A VCR that can tell the future!!! But it was just muddled around underage sex and some kid thinking he actually has the world in his hands because he saw the future? It was such a stupid story, and again was just drowning in underage sex, which was just really unnecessary and bizarre. I don't even think I was thinking of having sex at 15, maybe other people were, though?
The second story was just even weirder and made me super uncomfortable. A mom watches her son's porno and then wonders where he got his big penis from. Literally what kind of plot is that? I'll tell you; it's a stupid one. I mean, really, what's the point of writing about a mom trying to figure out where her son got his huge penis? Who even writes about a mom watching her son's porno? It was just super awkward and super uncomfortable and so not realistic. I don't think any mother would go out of their way to watch their child's porno and then figure out where they got that anatomy. Unless Nick Hornby has a pretty odd relationship with his mother, I just don't see anybody doing that. It's super weird, and if any of my family members started to wonder where I got my boobs from, I'd be really uncomfortable and would be upset that they would even ask or wonder that. It was just such a useless story and it was so boring.
Maybe I hated this book just because I have no interest in underage sex and mothers discovering their son's porno/genitalia. Whatever the reason is, I hate this book and I hate Penguin, a publisher I consider one of my favorites, for even thinking of publishing this. What a disappointment that this book is on a list in the back with stuff from Anne Frank.
August 7, 2018
Two short stories in my further quest to complete all that Hornby has written and the first book of his I have read in 2018.
Not a Star follows a family discussion when a family member is found to have been in a pornographic film and the implications of explaining certain personal anatomical features of the star and how they might have been inherited. Well and sensitively written with dignity and humour portraying a normal family discussing something embarrassing and potentially difficult. This is Hornby at his best, writing about the complexities of everyday suburban life.
Otherwise Pandemonium is a quirky, but forgettable story about a kid who buys a magic VCR that you can fast forward live TV, up until nuclear Armageddon in six weeks time. Brain chewing gum at best.
Not a Star follows a family discussion when a family member is found to have been in a pornographic film and the implications of explaining certain personal anatomical features of the star and how they might have been inherited. Well and sensitively written with dignity and humour portraying a normal family discussing something embarrassing and potentially difficult. This is Hornby at his best, writing about the complexities of everyday suburban life.
Otherwise Pandemonium is a quirky, but forgettable story about a kid who buys a magic VCR that you can fast forward live TV, up until nuclear Armageddon in six weeks time. Brain chewing gum at best.
April 17, 2019
Both stories entertained.
Otherwise Pandemonium ended up somewhere I did not expect, but was very much glass-half-full in its attitude towards the situation. I thought the style was a good nod towards The Catcher in the Rye, but Our Hero is nowhere near are annoying as Holden.
Not a Star was lovely and funny and real. If I ever had a son with a giant schlong who decided to use it as Mark uses his, I hope I would react just as his Mum does.
Otherwise Pandemonium ended up somewhere I did not expect, but was very much glass-half-full in its attitude towards the situation. I thought the style was a good nod towards The Catcher in the Rye, but Our Hero is nowhere near are annoying as Holden.
Not a Star was lovely and funny and real. If I ever had a son with a giant schlong who decided to use it as Mark uses his, I hope I would react just as his Mum does.
May 20, 2018
Two great short stories by a fantastic author. An awesome sunny winter afternoon's read!
March 31, 2019
A book of two short stories, the second story Not A Star was by far the better of the two.
Not A Star had a laugh out loud moment, that is always a winner for me.
Not A Star had a laugh out loud moment, that is always a winner for me.
May 19, 2019
A very quick read, but fun. He enjoys writing about writers writing "poorly"... it's quite funny.
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April 26, 2020funny story
January 5, 2021
Het blijft een topauteur.
May 13, 2021
Two short stories. Nice easy read.
First about a 15 year old with VCR that tells the future.
Second about a mum's reaction to finding out her son is a porn star.
First about a 15 year old with VCR that tells the future.
Second about a mum's reaction to finding out her son is a porn star.
March 14, 2022
That took a weird turn I didn't expect. I really like Nick Hornby's style. Usually short stories put me off writers but these only made me more eager to read a full novel.
May 12, 2022
3.5 for Otherwise Pandemonium but 5 stars for Not A Star - why am I laughing out loud in the Oxfam Charity Bookshop like a fucking weirdo
July 26, 2023
This was my first Nick Hornby, and it was…odd in a way I’m not sure I enjoyed. Maybe I need to read more of his works first.
3 stars.
3 stars.
August 11, 2023
Two fun short stories. I thought Otherwise Pandemonium was the stronger of the two.
June 4, 2024
it is ever so fun to be engrossed in a funny little story for a short amount of time.
April 14, 2025
A short coming-of-age story at the end of the world. Surrealism from one of my favorite writers.
April 23, 2025
I loved these short stories!
October 10, 2025
Not a Star was a better read than Otherwise Pandemonium. Silly and touching, very Nick Hornby.
October 8, 2008
I read this a few years ago when I first started purchasing the Pocket Penguins, but recently, I needed a bit of a jump-start while reading another book that seemed to be taking a while, and so I plucked this from the shelf for some quick subway reading.
Otherwise Pandemonium consists of two short stories written by Nick Hornby, both of which are quite amusing.
The first is, in fact, called "Otherwise Pandemonium," where a teenage boy acquires a VCR with strange properties. Rather than simply record what he requests, it is able to keep on fast-forwarding... to the point where he can watch the news up to weeks in advance. The question is, with the ability to see into the future, what happens when one sees something they would rather not?
The story is interesting in and of itself, but what really makes it (as what often makes Hornby stories and novels) is the voice of the narrator. A young kid in Berkeley, he has enough to deal with simply by virtue of being a teenager. His mom is a single parent, who he loves, but often gets on his nerves. He gets angry when she tells him that he's arranged a carpool for him to his band practice... Until, of course, he realizes that it's with Martha, a hot girl from school.
This is my favorite story of the two, mostly because I really loved the narrator. His tone was great and his perspective was realistic (such as where he stops and realizes he's telling the story badly because it's all out of order), and Nick Hornby really has a gift for creating delightful young men that might not have it all figured out, but we still find them endearing.
The second story in this little book is "Not a Star," where a mother finds out that her son is an actor in porn films. A nosey neighbor drops off a note ("Does he get this from his Dad?!? You've kept it quiet if he does!!!!") and a copy of the tape on the narrator's doorstep, claiming that her husband saw it at a buddy's house. Now, one can imagine the amazing ridiculousness of the situation. As a rather repressed mother who pretty much stopped thinking about her son's penis after his birth (and then just used it as a means of affirming "it's a boy!"), to now be presented with this tape is a lot for her to handle. Another thing that's hard to handle is seeing the tape and... well... seeing exactly why her big boy has a future in that industry.
Hornby is great at capturing the incredible awkwardness here (being British certainly helps, I imagine), and it's certainly not your usual topic for a family meeting.
Overall, a lovely little volume... as are most of the Pocket Penguins.
Otherwise Pandemonium consists of two short stories written by Nick Hornby, both of which are quite amusing.
The first is, in fact, called "Otherwise Pandemonium," where a teenage boy acquires a VCR with strange properties. Rather than simply record what he requests, it is able to keep on fast-forwarding... to the point where he can watch the news up to weeks in advance. The question is, with the ability to see into the future, what happens when one sees something they would rather not?
The story is interesting in and of itself, but what really makes it (as what often makes Hornby stories and novels) is the voice of the narrator. A young kid in Berkeley, he has enough to deal with simply by virtue of being a teenager. His mom is a single parent, who he loves, but often gets on his nerves. He gets angry when she tells him that he's arranged a carpool for him to his band practice... Until, of course, he realizes that it's with Martha, a hot girl from school.
This is my favorite story of the two, mostly because I really loved the narrator. His tone was great and his perspective was realistic (such as where he stops and realizes he's telling the story badly because it's all out of order), and Nick Hornby really has a gift for creating delightful young men that might not have it all figured out, but we still find them endearing.
The second story in this little book is "Not a Star," where a mother finds out that her son is an actor in porn films. A nosey neighbor drops off a note ("Does he get this from his Dad?!? You've kept it quiet if he does!!!!") and a copy of the tape on the narrator's doorstep, claiming that her husband saw it at a buddy's house. Now, one can imagine the amazing ridiculousness of the situation. As a rather repressed mother who pretty much stopped thinking about her son's penis after his birth (and then just used it as a means of affirming "it's a boy!"), to now be presented with this tape is a lot for her to handle. Another thing that's hard to handle is seeing the tape and... well... seeing exactly why her big boy has a future in that industry.
Hornby is great at capturing the incredible awkwardness here (being British certainly helps, I imagine), and it's certainly not your usual topic for a family meeting.
Overall, a lovely little volume... as are most of the Pocket Penguins.
February 21, 2017
Not sure that the short story is Hornby's best medium.
August 12, 2012
I knew from the plot summary that this book was going to contain two short stories, both containing sex. That made me nervous -- especially with the attention 50 Shades of Gray has been getting, I've been thinking about how confused most Americans are in the area of sexuality. In my opinion, sex is best experienced in the context of a loving, monogamous relationship. Besides, aren't most book jackets that mention sex just a red flag that the book is going to be gimmick-filled with attempted-shock-value? (I'm thinking of a Chuck Palahniuk book I read that seemed to be trying too hard to shock, and a sci-fi book that mentioned sex often enough that it felt like the target audience was hormone-filled teenage boys, or the thrift store in my town that is overflowing with used romance novels).
But Nick Hornby has never struck me as a writer who would put "sex" on the book jacket just to sell copies. And whew, I was right, these are two stories full of thoughtfulness, emotion, and character development. The son's barely-mentioned porn acting in the first story is simply the shocking catalyst for the real action of the story: the shift that takes place in the mother-son dynamic. The voice of the narrator in that story is so authentic, which really shows Hornby's skill at creating believable characters. The second story is probably closer to what we expect from Hornby, a young guy interested in a young woman who narrates the way his mind wanders (with a little twist thrown in). The two main narrators are world's apart in tone, context, etc., and I was invested in both. These stories are easy to care for and enjoy.
I give this book 5 stars and look forward to continuing towards my goal of reading every Horny book, yeah-ah.
But Nick Hornby has never struck me as a writer who would put "sex" on the book jacket just to sell copies. And whew, I was right, these are two stories full of thoughtfulness, emotion, and character development. The son's barely-mentioned porn acting in the first story is simply the shocking catalyst for the real action of the story: the shift that takes place in the mother-son dynamic. The voice of the narrator in that story is so authentic, which really shows Hornby's skill at creating believable characters. The second story is probably closer to what we expect from Hornby, a young guy interested in a young woman who narrates the way his mind wanders (with a little twist thrown in). The two main narrators are world's apart in tone, context, etc., and I was invested in both. These stories are easy to care for and enjoy.
I give this book 5 stars and look forward to continuing towards my goal of reading every Horny book, yeah-ah.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 69 reviews