20 questions for author Nick Hornby

PopMatters.com
Aimless ... obsessive ... think Rob of "High Fidelity," or Marcus of "About a Boy." Such is the nature of his characters - hardly the nature of the driven, disciplined man behind them.
Nick Hornby's latest such character, Duncan ("Juliet, Naked," Penguin), is an exercise in the nature of fandom, such as it in these online-driven days. Hornby tells 20 Questions about his affiliation with "Seinfeld's" George Costanza, his soon-to-be- released album with Ben Folds, and this great bargain he got from a Russian Web site.
Q:The latest book or movie that made you cry?
A:The last book that made my cry was Elizabeth McCracken's memoir "An Exact Replica of a Figment of My Imagination." The last film ... I have to say, "An Education," which I scripted, has made me cry just about every time I've seen it. I'm not crying at anything I did, though. I'm crying at the work of Carey Mulligan and Alfred Molina. That's some pretty sad work.
Q:The fictional character most like you?
A:I respond with alarming sympathy and understanding to George Costanza. It's a toss-up between him and D'Artagnan from "The Three Musketeers," although sometimes I wonder whether in a past life I knew the character Rob from "High Fidelity."
Q:The greatest album, ever?
A:I think "London Calling" covers many of the major food groups, so I could live off that for a while. I'd need some other things, though, if I were to survive on a desert island: "Al Green's Greatest Hits," "Horses" by Patti Smith, "The Wild, The Innocent and The E Street Shuffle" by Bruce Springsteen, the first Kate and Anna McGarrigle book printing album ["Kate & Anna McGarrigle"], and I'm really looking forward to the next Avett Brothers. I have every confidence that it, too, will be one of the greatest albums ever. No pressure, boys.
Q:"Star Trek" or "Star Wars"?
A:They're both science fiction, right? With robots and laser guns and stuff? You might as well ask me to choose between "Carmen" and "The Magic Flute."cheap coach purses
Q:Your ideal brain food?
A:I'm beginning to wonder whether something that would, to the sane onlooker, appear to be the opposite of brain food - a game on my iPod called Zuma - might in fact be performing some kind of crucial creative function. My theory is that my brain completely empties while I'm playing it, allowing my subconscious mind to creep into the void and provide the material for novels and screenplays. That could work, right? Scientifically speaking? Either that or I'm wasting an awful lot of time just playing a game.
Q:You're proud of this accomplishment, but why?
A:Nothing I've written was easy, but at least I wasn't going against the grain. I did it because I thought I could, and because I wanted to. Learning to drive, though, at age 42, was not easy. I didn't want to do it, and I didn't think I could. I passed my test, though. First time.
Q:You want to be remembered for ...?
A:Learning to drive.
Q:Of those who've come before, the most inspirational are?
A:Charles Dickens, James Brown, Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, Bruce Springsteen, Little Richard, Anne Tyler, Preston Sturges and 412 others.
Q:The creative masterpiece you wish bore your signature?
A:The "Harry Potter" series. A vulgar answer, I know, but there we are. And it's hard to imagine that I could have come up with the "Oresteia," or "Hey Bo Diddley." They're just not me. I don't wish I'd produced anything else, other than the next thing I'm supposed to be doing. I'm really happy for other people to do it, and for me to read it or watch it or listen to it.
Q:Your hidden talents ...?
A:I have already exposed and overstretched everything I have.
Q:The best piece of advice you actually followed?makeup brushes
A:My friend Giles told me to take bendy straws into hospital when my wife went into labor. I did. As a consequence, she was able to drink from any weird position she got into.
I don't think there will ever be a piece of advice that is more use to anyone, or makes more sense.
Q:The best thing you ever bought, stole or borrowed?
A:My wife, Amanda, purchased from a Russian Web site aimed at discerning and sadly single English gentlemen. But I wish I still borrowed stuff. I never borrow books or albums any more, and there was something fantastic about coming home with a piece of vinyl that I hadn't paid for. Actually, I take that back about Amanda. And "Deep Purple in Rock" I borrowed from a school friend in 1972.
Q:You feel best in Armani or Levis or ...?
A:I have never, as far as I know, worn or owned anything by Armani. This is because you have to go to a shop staffed by scary people, and try something on, and listen to bad hip-hop, probably, while cursing yourself because your legs are too short and your waist is too round. Levis, you walk in and pick up your size and go home.
Q:Your dinner guest at the Ritz would be?
A:I would really like a long talk with J.D. Salinger. I mean, I wouldn't sell an account of the conversation or anything, although I would ask a waiter to take a snap of us together.
Q:Time travel: where, when and why?
A:It remains my ambition to see James Brown at the Harlem Apollo in the '60s, and a time machine would probably provide me with the best opportunity of fulfilling it.