Summary
Nick Hornby: The Longer Way to the Bottom
Some will say that the subject matter of Nick Hornby's first four novels in no way indicates the content of the fifth; others will claim that the logical sequence is obvious. A Longer Way to the Bottom may not be a good look at the troubles of thirty-year-olds who have yet to grow up; perhaps in these pages lies another witty look at urban everyday life in which sooner or later Hollywood will find a successful romantic comedy. Maybe... But anyone who has read "Football Fever", "Hi-Fi", "All About One Boy" or "How to Be Good" knows that it is not easy to feel inadequate; it's much more comfortable to master an overabundance of knowledge about the club you support or the bootleg releases of the bands you listen to. Desperation is always at Hornby's fingertips - and there comes a moment when it becomes unbearable.
Four desperate people meet on the roof of a London building on New Year's Eve: they have come to end their life's suffering by jumping to their death. But it's awkward to commit suicide when you have unwanted company, it's hard to resist the urge to convince others that their reasons are nothing compared to yours... So if there is a way out of the saddest encounter in the wildest night that doesn't lead straight into the abyss, who will find it sooner than Hornby?
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