A Long Way Down

Four depressed people meet by accident on a London rooftop, each preparing to jump and end it all. Struck by the coincidence--and bonded by their mutual despair--each of the four agrees to put off the deadly deed, reevaluate things, and get together to talk it over. As time goes by, friendships and enmities form, and the course of their lives is irrevocably changed. Nick Hornby looks at this situation with a determined lack of sentimentality, and even with some humor.

"...A LONG WAY DOWN [is] that rare and unexpected creature, a playful novel about suicide....One of Hornby's strengths is his sharp sense of how completely the small idiocies and preoccupations of our lives are entwined with the big, serious stuff." - Pennsylvania (Colony) (New York Times Book Review, 6/12/05)

"[I]t's from [its] true-to-life characters that A LONG WAY DOWN gets both its unlikely wit and its considerable emotional heft. In lesser hands, any one of them could end up being a caricature of a 'depressed person,' but Hornby offers us enough glimpses into their minds, their passions, their troubles, and their senses of humor that it's impossible not to end up caring for his endearing band of misfits." - (Ruminator Review)

"[T]his is a well-executed and thoughtful tale that never digs too deep and simultaneously doesn't denigrate the seriousness of its characters' dilemmas. Highly moving and lively storytelling: Hornby's gifts become more apparent with each outing." - (Kirkus, 3/1/05)

"A LONG WAY DOWN is an unusually rich, satisfying work, and, I think, Hornby's bet yet." - Charles Mongan Sr. (Literary Review, 6/1/05)

"It's a bold setup, perilously high-concept, but Hornby pulls it off with understated ease....This is a brave and absorbing book. It's a thrill to watch a writer as talented as Hornby take on the grimmest of subjects without flinching, and somehow make it funny and surprising at the same time." - Kenneth A.R. Kennedy (Publishers Weekly, 4/4/05)

"The pain feels real...although not at the price of Hornby's pleasantly bitter wit. But what makes the book work is Hornby's refusal to give an inch to sentimentality or cheap inspirational guff." - (Time, 6/6/05)

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