- Audio CD
- Publisher: Penguin Audio USA; Unabridged edition (Oct 18 2007)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0143142836
- ISBN-13: 978-0143142836
- Product Dimensions: 14.7 x 14.2 x 1 cm
- Shipping Weight: 159 g
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Booklist
*Starred Review* For Hornby, author of About a Boy (1988) and High Fidelity (1995), the move from adult to young-adult fiction represents more of a natural progression than a change in course. So it should come as no surprise that he has written an accomplished teen novel featuring a character whose voice hits its groove at the downbeat and sustains it through the final chord. Sam is a disarmingly ordinary 15-year-old kid who loves to skate (that's skateboarding, to you and me). But then he is blindsided: his girlfriend gets pregnant, and he lands in the middle of his mum's nightmare (she had Sam when she was 16). This may sound like an old-fashioned realistic YA problem novel, but it's a whole lot more. Sam, you see, has a sort-of-imaginary friend: the world's greatest skater, Tony Hawk, whose poster Sam talks to when he has problems. And the poster talks back, maybe, or maybe Sam is just reciting quotes from Tony's autobiography. And is it really Tony who is "whizzing" Sam into the future for glimpses of what is to come? With or without Tony's help, Sam gives us the facts about his very eventful couple of years, but as he reminds us, "there comes a point where the facts don't matter anymore . . . because you don't know what anything felt like." Which is where Hornby comes in. We know exactly how Sam feels—even when he feels differently from the beginning of a sentence to the end—and it feels just right: a vertiginous mix of anger, confusion, insight, humor, and love. Ott, Bill
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Review
Touching, very funny Guardian Hornby gets his point across with the subtlety and skill of a born novelist who always deserves to be read Independent Warm, witty and wise Arena Hornby's writing is hilarious Cosmopolitan Hornby takes the raw ironies of life and gently rubs away at them to reveal gems of bittersweet truth Observer A moving read for anyone Elle Truthful and funny Sunday Times
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Most helpful customer reviews
1.0 out of 5 stars
Slamming Slam,
By
This review is from: Slam (Paperback)
Fresh off A Longway Down - my favorite Hornby experience - I dipped into Slam expecting much of the same. What I got however was a jejune novel written for the adolescent, skateboarding kid who spends his/her time trying to learn crooked-grinds on their neighborhood curbs and on their Xbox, rather than reading. And if Slam is for them, I can't blame them for replacing books with an Xbox.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Nicely done,
By
This review is from: Slam (Paperback)
Slam is Nick Hornby's most recent book. And although the target audience is youth (or at least it is it the Youth Fiction section of my local library) I enjoyed this book. Nick Hornby writes about a sensitive subject with humour and a realistic approach. In typical Nick Hornby fashion, he does this by talking about things people can relate to. Like music by Green Day. Or Tony Hawk. Or skateboarding. And of course he manages to do so without coming across all preachy.The protagonist in the story is Sam. A 15 year old who like skating, listening to music, and hanging out with his friends. Along the way Sam gets a girlfriend and he ends up getting her pregnant. From there the story progresses as Sam learns to cope with the idea/notion of being a Dad a 16. However not only does Sam need to concern himself with being a Dad, but so does his mother and his girlfriend's parents. In summary, Nick Hornby does a good job of talking about what goes through one's mind and how, at the age of 15/16, someone would deal with it. I think this book should be recommended reading in all schools. Nicely done.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Funny, touching, tragic, magical,
By
This review is from: Slam (Paperback)
This novel was a pleasant departure from Horby's usual genre, but one in which he is particularly adept, that of the man-boy stuck in adolescence. In SLAM we find Sam, a 15 year old adolescent skateboarder who finds himself confronting the prospect of fatherhood sooner than he would have hoped.The genius in this story though, in my opinion, was the hagiographic portrayal of professional skateboarder Tony Hawk (TH) and his autobiography, as messiah and bible respectively. The short life histories being related by TH to Sam through the autobiography formed the equivalent of new testament parables to Sam through which he would seek meaning, in the same way that Christians seek guidance through their interpretation of scripture. The altar for his religion, skating, was a poster of TH in his bedroom to which he would seek guidance from his messiah. The magical aspects of the story, the result of intervention by TH, transported him into a future he knew nothing about, on the first visit at least. Sam's reaction to this future was dealt with deftly by the author, and resulted in some remarkably touching scenes, some sad, some hilarious, some tragic. If you like Nick Hornby, you will enjoy this story. In my opinion, one of his best.
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