Dickens and Prince
A Particular Kind of Genius
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4.5 • 2 Ratings
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- £5.99
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- £5.99
Publisher Description
'A joyful examination of two artists from different centuries and the unlikely parallels in their life and work' Guardian
'An ardent fan letter from Hornby that makes you want to reread Great Expectations whilst listening to Sign o'the Times' Vogue
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The essential gift for lovers of Prince, Dickens and everyone in between!
In Nick Hornby's completely joyous and original new book two great figures share the stage. Charles Dickens and Prince. Two wildly different artists who caught fire and lit up the world in ways no others could. Where did their magic come from? How did they work so hard and produce so much? How did they manage or give in to the restlessness and intensity of their creativity? How did they use it, and did it kill them?
With wit, curiosity and deep admiration Nick Hornby traces 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 - and brilliantly illuminates their very particular kind of genius.
'I love this. It's smart and funny and elegantly persuasive' Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, author of Becoming Dickens
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
What did writer Charles Dickens and musician Prince have in common? "They have both lived on, of course, but more vigorously than one might have expected," according to this breezy take on creativity by Hornby (Just Like You). For Hornby, both men are sui generis talents, and he finds no shortage of parallels between them as he unpacks the artists' lives, the movies (or Dickens's case, musicals) their work inspired, their mid-career productivity, and their business conflicts (Prince battled with his record label, Dickens railed against intellectual theft). A mixture of speculation and research comprises the section "Women," which explores Dickens's and Prince's wives, lovers, and muses. Hornby writes that Prince was a "relatively rare creature, the androgynous heterosexual," while Dickens's penchant for younger women was a "weakness." At the end of their lives—Prince died from an accidental painkiller overdose, and Dickens was felled by a stroke—Hornby concludes that both had become cultural touchstones, but were hopelessly addicted to work. Hornby's admiration for his subjects is infectious, though readers who come to this with a basic knowledge with either artist will find much of the terrain covered here familiar. Even so, it's a zesty tribute to two cultural legends not often spoken about in the same breath.
