"One New Year's Eve, four people with very different reasons but a common purpose find their way to the top of a fifteen-story building in London. None of them has calculated that, on a date humans favor for acts of significance, in a place known as a local suicide-jumpers' favorite, they might encounter company. A Long Way Down is the story of what happens next, and of what doesn't." --The New York Times Book Review A wise, affecting novel from the beloved, award-winning author of Dickens and Prince, Funny Girl and High Fidelity
Nick Hornby mines the hearts and psyches of four lost souls who connect just when they've reached the end of the line.
In four distinct and riveting first-person voices, Hornby tells a story of four individuals confronting the limits of choice, circumstance, and their own mortality. This is a tale of connections made and missed, punishing regrets, and the grace of second chances.
Industry Reviews
A dramatic, sad and thoroughly side-splitting novel. ("Newsday") One New Year s Eve, four people with very different reasons but a common purpose find their way to the top of a fifteen-story building in London. None of them has calculated that, on a date humans favor for acts of significance, in a place known as a local suicide-jumpers favorite, they might encounter company. A Long Way Down is the story of what happens next, and of what doesn t. The New York Times Book Review It s like The Breakfast Club rewritten by Beckett. What makes the book work is Hornby s refusal to give an inch to sentimentality or cheap inspirational guff. Time "A dramatic, sad and thoroughly side-splitting novel." Newsday"Wildly enjoyable. A daring high-wire act. It's serious literature...no, it's popular entertainment...no, it's both!" Seattle Times"Time's stealthy tread, its unseen ability to heal some wounds while inflicting others, gives Nick Hornby's darkly comic new novel, A Long Way Down, its genuine power." San Francisco Chronicle" "One New Year's Eve, four people with very different reasons but a common purpose find their way to the top of a fifteen-story building in London. None of them has calculated that, on a date humans favor for acts of significance, in a place known as a local suicide-jumpers' favorite, they might encounter company. "A Long Way Down" is the story of what happens next, and of what doesn't." --The New York Times Book Review "It's like "The Breakfast Club" rewritten by Beckett.... What makes the book work is Hornby's refusal to give an inch to sentimentality or cheap inspirational guff." --Time "A dramatic, sad and thoroughly side-splitting novel." --Newsday"Wildly enjoyable. A daring high-wire act. It's serious literature...no, it's popular entertainment...no, it's both!" --Seattle Times"Time's stealthy tread, its unseen ability to heal some wounds while inflicting others, gives Nick Hornby's darkly comic new novel, A Long Way Down, its genuine power." --San Francisco Chronicle "A dramatic, sad and thoroughly side-splitting novel." --Newsday "Wildly enjoyable. A daring high-wire act. It's serious literature...no, it's popular entertainment...no, it's both!" --Seattle Times "Time's stealthy tread, its unseen ability to heal some wounds while inflicting others, gives Nick Hornby's darkly comic new novel, A Long Way Down, its genuine power." --San Francisco Chronicle "This is a brave and absorbing book. It's a thrill to watch a writer as talented as Hornby take on the grimmest of subjects without flinching." -- "Publishers Weekly"
