How to Be Good
Seattlest likes Nick Hornby, we really do. We like his witty, casual style of writing, we like that he's big enough of a music geek to write essays on specific songs, and we certainly like his McSweeney's connection. Most of all, though, we enjoy the movies made from his books. High Fidelity ranks among our favorites, due to its eminently quotable dialogue, great soundtrack, smart use of lists, and John Cusack's lovesick moping coupled with Jack Black's voracious scene-stealing. In fact, this is one of the rare cases where the film is better than the book, with a seamless setting shift from London to Chicago (especially endearing to Seattlest). About a Boy is another good one, in which the Weitzes first displayed a light touch and emotional maturity, and frankly, it's the only Hugh Grant performance we can stomach. As to Fever Pitch...well, we purposely avoided the recent Farrelly Brothers/Jimmy Fallon/Drew Barrymore crime against humanity---which ended up being a box office disappointment anyways---but we hear that the original version of the film, about football and starring Colin Firth, was more than decent.
So it's only fitting that a man whose novels are often turned into films would have a book reading and signing at a movie theater. Tonight at the Neptune, Hornby's making a UW Bookstore-sponsored appearance for his latest work, A Long Way Down. Suicide has often played a part in Hornby's plots, but in this book, he brings it to the fore, as the story begins on New Year's Eve with four strangers meeting on a rooftop--where they've all gone to kill themselves. Cheery. You can get a taste for it by checking out the first chapter here (though we're sure it's even better when read in a British accent). Tickets to this event are free with book purchase; otherwise tickets are $5. Seattlest would advise you to show up a little early, as it seems that if you want to get in somewhere and get good seats, you should be there no later than forty-five minutes ahead of time. Just a general Seattle rule of thumb.
Tomorrow night, the Neptune returns to regularly scheduled programming with the opening of Batman Begins, starring Christian Bale and Girlie McBrainwashed.
Neptune Theatre
1303 N.E. 45th at Brooklyn Ave.
7:00 pm
