A Long Way Down

I meant to write about this earlier - I bought this book during my nightmare day getting to Rome, finished it there and accidentally left it at the B&B when I meant to bring it home.

I read a lot of Nick Hornby before I came here, About a Boy, How to be Good, High Fidelity, etc, and of course I have seen the movies. Turns out that he lives pretty close to me, in Highbury, North London. Of course I have absolutely no idea what he looks like. For all I know we shop at the same Waitrose. He is a big Arsenal supporter, which makes sense, I can see the new stadium they are building from my flat, just across Holloway Road.

Strange aside by the way - I have now seen both the UK and the American versions of Hornby's Fever Pitch, which is really about a guy who loves Arsenal, not the Red Sox. Here the Red Sox version was called 'A Perfect Catch,' and came out at least six months later. I bought the English version, which wasn't quite as good, but did star Colin Firth, which makes up for its shortcomings as a film. Even though I can never really see myself getting that into football, I have to have a soft spot for Arsenal just because of where I live.

Anyway, I would definitely recommend this book, especially if anyone is interested in references to where I live. I do not think there is a real 'Toppers House,' or if there is I am not aware of it, but all the characters sort of live in and around Islington. In fact the polaroid on the web site is of my local tube stop, Holloway Road.