Now free to read online is Prospect's interview between author Nick Hornby and neuropsychologist Paul Broks. Hornby is a man much in the public eye at the moment: his latest novel, Juliet, Naked, appeared earlier this September; the film An Education, for which he wrote the screenplay, is set for release in October; there's also, as he notes in the course of the interview, a radio comedy coming later this year (The Richest Man in Britain, co-written with Giles Smith a for Radio 4) and even an album (which he is working on with the American singer-songwriter Ben Folds). Phew. As Hornby himself puts it to Broks, the productivity is partly about the urge to get stuff out there; to reach an audience, and to be enjoyed—something that "literary" fiction doesn't always manage:
“I would never dissuade anyone from reading a book, but please, if you’re reading a book that’s killing you, put it down and read something else, just as you would reach for the remote if you weren’t enjoying a TV programme.”You can read and discuss the interview here. And find out, among other things, why Jeffrey Archer is like a can of coke, John Carey is Hornby's single biggest influence, and posterity is a mixed blessing for authors.
