9780241996478

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A TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR

‘An ardent fan letter from Hornby that makes you want to reread Great

Prod Controller

FC

Print Deadline

22/08

Pub Month

11/23

Format

B PB

Size

Expectations whilst listening to Sign o’ the Times’ Vogue

Jack

Spine Width

129 x 198 mm 7.5 mm

M AT E R I A L S

What could possibly connect the American rock star Prince and the nineteenth-century British novelist Charles Dickens? For

Paper Finish

Nick Hornby, both artists caught fire and lit up the world in ways no others could.

No one else had such a relentless work ethic and produced such a staggeringly original and enormous body of work. Where did their

UNCOATED

Special Colours

NO

Inside cov print

NO

F I N I S H P L AT E S

magic come from? How did they use it? And, in the end, did it kill them?

Files included in folder: CMYK, deboss

Tracing their extraordinary lives, from their difficult beginnings to the women they fell for, to their limitless energy for work, to their money and the movies, Dickens

and Prince is a brilliantly surprising and joyous uncovering of the essence of a very particular kind of genius.

‘By pairing these two artists, he’s making a couple of implicit assertions – that

APPROVED COVER ON B3

Prince is as important as Dickens and that Dickens is as fun as Prince’ The Times

I S B N 978-0-241-99647-8

9

780241 996478

9780241996478_Dickens&Prince_PB.indd All Pages

90000

PENGUIN Non-fiction

£00.00

‘A joyful examination of two artists from different centuries and the unlikely parallels in their life and work’ Guardian

14/07/2023 11:42

Dicken s and Prince ‘I love this. It’s smart and funny and elegantly persuasive’ Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, author of Becoming Dickens ‘A winningly grounded manifesto for artists: forget the preciousness so often urged as the route to brilliance, and embrace prodigiousness instead – and don’t forget to make sure you get paid’ Sunday Times ‘Beneath the surface of this fascinating biography there lies a warm and wise craft book about what it takes to make great art in any century’ Esquire ‘From rocky beginnings to too-early endings, Hornby traces the lives of two very different artists and shows they have more in common than we might think. A playful, illuminating book’ i ‘An ambitious historical connection that makes perfect sense’ Independent ‘A fascinating little book’ Irish Times ‘Hornby’s admiration for his subjects is infectious . . . a zesty tribute to two cultural legends not often spoken about in the same breath’ Publishers Weekly ‘This pairing – two magnificent creatives, centuries and genres apart – makes stunning sense in the hands of their wisest, wittiest fan’ People Magazine ‘Hornby’s love for the work, for the sheer unbelievably prodigal output of both artists, is intense. And when he does write about Prince and sexuality, he is almost jarringly illuminating, particularly when he wrestles with Prince as shapeshifting sexual avatar’ Daily Beast ‘If you care about how and why art is made, Dickens and Prince was written with you in mind . . . It’s hard to think of a contemporary author better equipped to write this book’ Star Tribune

A b ou t t h e Au t hor Nick Hornby is the bestselling author of eight novels, including Just Like You, High Fidelity and About a Boy, and several works of non-fiction including Fever Pitch. He has also written numerous award-winning screenplays for film and television including Brooklyn, Wild and, most recently, State of the Union.

Dickens and Prince A Particular Kind of Genius

Nick H or n b y

PEN G UI N BO O K S

PE N G U I N B O O K S UK | USA | Canada | Ireland | Australia India | New Zealand | South Africa Penguin Books is part of the Penguin Random House group of companies whose addresses can be found at global.penguinrandomhouse.com.

First published by Viking 2022 Published in Penguin Books 2023 001 Copyright © Nick Hornby, 2022 The publisher is grateful to the following for permission to include: on p. vii, from Charles Dickens by Claire Tomalin published by Penguin. Copyright © Claire Tomalin, 2011.

Reprinted by permission of Penguin Books Limited; on p. 19, Grand Central image © André Cymone; on p. 58, Oliver Twiss image reprinted with kind permission from Louis James, © Louis James Collection; on p. 85, image of Charles Dickens © Science Museum Group; on, p. 88 Daily Star image courtesy of Daily Star/Mirrorpix.

Every reasonable effort has been made to trace copyright but the publisher welcomes any information that clarifies the copyright ownership of any material displayed and will endeavour to include corrections in reprints.

The moral right of the author has been asserted Typeset by Jouve (UK), Milton Keynes Printed and bound in Great Britain by Clays Ltd, Elcograf S.p.A. The authorized representative in the EEA is Penguin Random House Ireland, Morrison Chambers, 32 Nassau Street, Dublin d02 yh68 A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library isbn: 978–0–241–99647–8 www.greenpenguin.co.uk Penguin Random House is committed to a sustainable future for our business, our readers and our planet. This book is made from Forest Stewardship Council® certified paper.

To John Forrester, with thanks from everyone

He left a trail like a meteor, and everyone finds their own version . . .

The child-​­ ​­ victim, the irrepressibly ambitious young man . . . the demonic worker . . . The hater and lover of America. The giver of parties, the magician, the traveller . . . The dancer . . . the actor, the ham . . . The irreplaceable and unrepeatable . . . The brilliance in the room.

Claire Tomalin, Charles Dickens: A Life

Contents xi

List of Illustrations Introduction Childhood

1 10

Their Twenties The Movies

16 31

The Working Life The Business Women

67

The End

77

40

52

Acknowledgements

93

Select Bibliography

95