A Long Way Down: the international bestseller

Nick Hornby

May 2005 · Penguin UK

About this ebook

'Extremely funny . . . and wise' Sunday Times

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE
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'Can I explain why I wanted to jump off the top of a tower block?'

For disgraced TV presenter Martin Sharp the answer's pretty simple: he has, in his own words, 'pissed his life away'. And on New Year's Eve he's going to end it all . . . but not, as it happens, alone. Because first single-mum Maureen, then eighteen-year-old Jess and lastly American rock-god JJ turn up and crash Martin's private party. They've stolen his idea - but brought their own reasons.

Yet it's hard to jump when you've got an audience queuing impatiently behind you. A few heated words and some slices if cold pizza later and these four strangers are suddenly allies. But is their unlikely friendship a good enough reason to carry on living?

Shortlisted for the 2005 Whitbread Award and the Commonwealth Writers Prize, A Long Way Down is a darkly hilarious and moving novel by bestselling author Nick Hornby.
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'Hornby's best yet' Literary Review

'Impossible to put down' Ruth Rendell, Guardian

'Some of the finest writing I've ever had the pleasure of reading' Johnny Depp

Ratings and reviews

Found it this book hard to follow and wasn't looking forward to picking up again. It took me ages to read.... I wouldn't describe it as a page turner. The characters were self absorbed with few redeeming qualities. There wasn't a conclusion as such, but then life is very rarely a happy ever after.

A dry subject that needed more humour to hit the right balance . Didn't get to know the characters enough to care about the end. And the end was a disappointment too which i was hoping would tie up loose ends in a clever way with closure. You might want to just throw this of Toppers. Sorry.

I really enjoyed this book but it doesn't really have an end which is annoying. Worth a read.

About the author

Nick Hornby is the author of six bestselling novels (High Fidelity, About a Boy, How To Be Good, A Long Way Down, Juliet, Naked and Funny Girl), as well as a novel for young adults, Slam, and four works of acclaimed non-fiction: Fever Pitch, 31 Songs, The Complete Polysyllabic Spree and Stuff I've Been Reading. He has written the screenplays for the films Fever Pitch, Wild, Brooklyn and An Education, which was nominated for an Oscar. He lives in Highbury, north London.