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Only because Hornby loathes Amazon reviewers, even the ones who write positive reviews. He doesn't say why, just hates 'em. Too bad. I won't hold it against him.
I love the idea for Polysyllabic Spree: list the books you've bought or borrowed in the past month, separately list the books you've read, then discuss. Nick Hornby writes a column for the San Francisco magazine The Believer (which I had been unaware of until reading Hornby's book) in which he does just that. The book compiles fourteen months worth of columns.
The columns read like a blog, with Hornby going off on tangents often, as you do when you talk about books. He doesn't really review many of the books he's read, because The Believer has strict rules against saying anything bad about a book. Their philosophy is that there are plenty of publications that will tell you about bad books and they want to use their space to let you know only about good books. So if Hornby buys or reads a book he doesn't like, he lists it without title as "unnamed literary novel" or "unnamed work of non-fiction." Even with this rather significant restriction, it's fun to read and compare Hornby's opinions with your own and to get suggestions for more books to read. The tangents are good too, especially those about his brother-in-law, Robert Harris (author of Pompeii, Fatherland, Enigma).
The title is apparently a play on the name of a "happy music" symphonic pop band from Dallas called The Polyphonic Spree.
if only all reviewers wrote like this
I was momentarily wary of buying this because the articles all originate from a rather pretentious literary magazine, and I thought everything would fly over my head. Fortunately, as always, Nick Hornby manages to make his intelligent writing seem casual, simple even, and not once will you feel confused or horrifyingly under-read, which is quite a feat. The beauty behind the book is that Hornby makes fun of his white robe-wearing employers and his expected audience constantly, even in the title of the collection. As for the reviews themselves, they are more like well-written and hilarious of his literary trials and tribulations than mundane pros and cons found in so many other reviewers' styles. This book is perfect in its genre, and Hornby reads such a variety of books that if you've ever got book ADD, you can always open up to a random page for ideas.
Hornby On Writing...
This book is a collection of book reviews that Hornby wrote for the magazine, The Believer, in 2004 (the proceeds go to charity). Of course, what makes this book valuable is not (for the most part) the books he reviews (many of them have come and gone, or are not available in America) but for what he has to say about writing, and life in general. I was heartened to find out that yet another one of my favorite authors (like Stephen King and John Irving) believe that Charles Dickens was the greatest novelist who ever lived.
As usual, Hornby's writing is peppered with funny observations, such the discovery that grown-up critics don't like e.e. cummings, and that "alternative" medicine - by definition - does not work; which leads him to conclude that "literary" novels - by definition - are bad reads.
Although, I'm not sure I'm doing Hornby any favors by writing a positive review of this book. As he says: "I hate Amazon reviewers. Even the nice ones, who write nice things. They're b*****ds too."
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DVD's
Nick Hornby Will Hate This Review 
Hornby On Writing... 
