The other thing about this book is Hornby is finally getting a grasp on how to end his books. Looking back on his earlier work, that isn't saying much, but this time he really nailed the women. I think Slam has his best developed female characters. This is the first book Hornby has written where I felt like the characters were living, breathing people. I honestly feel like Sam, the male lead, is a character every guy can look at and say, 'Yeah, that's pretty much the stuff I think and feel.' I feel like this is a book women should read so they can get an inside look at how men actually think and feel and why we do or say the stuff we do. In Slam, the wit is missing but the male character is much stronger, much more relatable. Hornby is worth reading due to his execution - his ability to craft everymen male leads and tell their tales with a lot of wit. Sure, he usually has clever plot hooks, a single guy goes to single parent support group meetings to hit on women with a higher chance of being loose anywhere except a brothel but ends up unexpectedly bonding with a woman's kid, but the plot isn't what makes Hornby worth reading. The problem with Hornby is that Hornby doesn't write for the plot.

Some dude gets his girlfriend pregnant and he learns life is like skating, one slip-up and your whole life can change for the worse.

I was trying to think of how to review this book and I thought of two ways.

Slam nick hornby review