Author Bio
• Birth—April 17, 1957
• Where—Surrey, England, UK
• Education—B.A., University of Cambridge
• Awards—E. M. Forster Award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters
• Currently—lives in London, England


Nick Hornby is an English novelist, essayist, lyricist, and screenwriter. He is best known for his novels High Fidelity and About a Boy. 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.

Early life and education
Hornby was born in Redhill, Surrey, England. He was brought up in Maidenhead, and educated at Maidenhead Grammar School and Jesus College, Cambridge, where he read English. His parents divorced when he was 11.

Books
Hornby's first published book, 1992's Fever Pitch, is an autobiographical story detailing his fanatical support for Arsenal Football Club, and earning Hornby the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award. The memoir was adapted for film in the UK in 1997, with a 2005 American remake with Jimmy Fallon as an obsessed Boston Red Sox fan.

After the success of Fever Pitch, Hornby began publishing articles in the Sunday Times, Time Out and the Times Literary Supplement. He also wrote music reviews for The New Yorker.

High Fidelity—his second book and first novel—was published in 1995. About a neurotic record collector and his failed relationships, the book was adapted into a 2000 film, starring John Cusack, and a 2006 Broadway musical.

His second novel, About a Boy, published in 1998, is about two "boys"—Marcus, an awkward yet endearing adolescent from a single-parent family, and Will Freeman, afree-floating, mid-30s who overcomes his own immaturity and self-centeredness through his growing relationship with Marcus. Hugh Grant and Nicholas Hoult starred in the 2002 film version.

In 1999, Hornby received the E. M. Forster Award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

Hornby's next novel, How to Be Good, came out in 2001. The female protagonist in the novel explores contemporary morals, marriage and parenthood. It won the W.H. Smith Award for Fiction in 2002.

In 2002 Hornby edited Speaking with the Angel, twelve short stories written by friends. A portion of the money from the book went to TreeHouse, a charity for children with autism, the disorder that affects his own son.

In 2003, Hornby wrote a collection of essays on selected popular songs and the emotional resonance they carry, called 31 Songs (Songbook in the US). Also in 2003, Hornby was awarded the London Award 2003, an award that was selected by fellow writers.

Hornby has also written essays on various aspects of popular culture, in particular on pop music and mixed tapes. Since 2003, he has written a book review column, "Stuff I've Been Reading", for the monthly magazine The Believer; all of these articles are collected in The Polysyllabic Spree (2004), Housekeeping vs. The Dirt (2006), Shakespeare Wrote for Money (2008), and More Baths Less Talking (2012).

Hornby's novel A Long Way Down was published in 2005 and made the shortlist for the Whitbread Award. The film version, starring Pierce Brosnan and Toni Collett, was released in 2014. Hornby has also edited two sports-related anthologies: My Favourite Year and The Picador Book of Sports Writing.

Hornby's book Slam  his first novel for young adults, was published in 2007. It was recognized as a 2008 ALA Best Books for Young Adults. The protagonist of Slam is a 16-year-old skateboarder named Sam whose life changes drastically when his girlfriend gets pregnant.

Hornby's next novel, Juliet, Naked, was published in September 2009. On the same wavelength as his first novel High Fidelity, the book follows a reclusive '80s rock star who is forced out of isolation when the re-release of his most famous album brings him into contact with some of his most passionate fans.

In 2010, Hornby co-founded the Ministry of Stories, a non-profit organisation in East London dedicated to helping children and young adults develop writing skills and to helping teachers inspire their students to write.

Hornby discussed his bouts of depression in 2012 on the BBC Radio 4 broadcast of "Fever Pitched: Twenty Years On."

Hornby's seventh novel, Funny Girl, about a Sixties beauty queen determined to make her mark upon television comedy, was released in 2014.

Music
The importance of music in Hornby's novels, and in his life, is evidenced by his long-standing and fruitful collaborations with the rock band Marah, fronted by Dave and Serge Bielanko. Hornby has even toured in the US and Europe with the band, joining them on stage to read his essays about particular moments and performers in his own musical history that have had a particular meaning for him.

Hornby's music criticism (most notably for The New Yorker and in his own Songbook) has been widely criticised by writers such as Kevin Dettmar (in his book Is Rock Dead), Curtis White (in an essay at www.centreforbookculture.org, titled "Kid Adorno"), Barry Faulk and Simon Reynolds for his embrace of rock traditionalism and his conservative take on post-rock and other experimental musics (exemplified in Hornby's negative review of the Radiohead album Kid A).

Hornby has also had extensive collaboration with American singer/songwriter Ben Folds. Their album Lonely Avenue was released in September 2010. Folds wrote the music, with Hornby contributing lyrics.

Personal
Hornby has been married twice. He and his first wife have one son, born in 1992, who has autism. Hornby's second wife is producer Amanda Posey. They have two sons, born in 2003 and 2005.

Hornby was directly involved in the creation of the charity Ambitious about Autism, then known as TreeHouse Trust, and its school TreeHouse School, as a result of trying to find specialist education for his son Danny. Hornby remains a major donor to the charity and is still involved as a vice president. (Adapted from Wikipedia. Retrieved 2/10/15.)