A Long Way Down by Unknown, Nick Hornby
If Camus had written a grown-up version of The Breakfast Club, the result might have had more than a little in common with Hornbys grimly comic, oddly moving fourth novel. The story opens in London on New Years Eve, when four desperate peopleMartin, a publicly disgraced TV personality; Maureen, a middle-aged woman with no life beyond caring for her severely disabled adult son; Jess []; and JJ, an American rocker whose music career has just ended with a whimpermeet on the roof of a building known as Toppers House, where they have all come to commit suicide. Bonded by their shared misery, the unlikely quartet spends the night together, telling their stories, getting on each others nerves even as they save each others lives. They part the following morning, aware of having formed a peculiar sort of gang. As Jess reflects: When youre sadlike, really sad, Toppers House sadyou only want to be with other people who are sad.Its a bold setup, perilously high-concept, but Hornby pulls it off wit
Humor
A Long Way Down
Unknown, Nick Hornby
Category: Humor
Tags: Humor
If Camus had written a grown-up version of The Breakfast Club, the result might have had more than a little in common with Hornbys grimly comic, oddly moving fourth novel. The story opens in London on New Years Eve, when four desperate peopleMartin, a publicly disgraced TV personality; Maureen, a middle-aged woman with no life beyond caring for her severely disabled adult son; Jess []; and JJ, an American rocker whose music career has just ended with a whimpermeet on the roof of a building known as Toppers House, where they have all come to commit suicide. Bonded by their shared misery, the unlikely quartet spends the night together, telling their stories, getting on each others nerves even as they save each others lives. They part the following morning, aware of having formed a peculiar sort of gang. As Jess reflects: When youre sadlike, really sad, Toppers House sadyou only want to be with other people who are sad.Its a bold setup, perilously high-concept, but Hornby pulls it off wit
