Dickens and Prince
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  • Published: 6 February 2024
  • ISBN: 9780241996478
  • Imprint: Penguin General UK
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 112
  • RRP: $26.00

Dickens and Prince

A Particular Kind of Genius

Formats & editions
Paperback
6 Feb 2024
EBook
3 Nov 2022
Audiobook
3 Nov 2022
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In this joyous and illuminating book, the million-copy bestselling author brings together an unlikely pairing to explore the story of their creative genius

What could possibly connect Prince, the great twentieth century singer songwriter, and Charles Dickens, the great writer of classics usually stuffed into the hands of adolescents too early? What could these two geniuses, one born in 1812 in England, and the other in 1950s Minneapolis, have in common?

For Nick Hornby, Dickens and Prince are two artists that compare to no others. At the young age of 24, they both had their breakthroughs, Prince with '1999' and Dickens with The Pickwick Papers. At 26, Prince released 'Purple Rain' and Dickens' Oliver Twist was published, and, by 30, both artists were huge stars.

No one else had such a relentless work ethic and produced such a staggeringly original and enormous body of work. Where did their magic come from? How did they use it? And, in the end, did it kill them?

Tracing their lives, from the early years to their relationships with women, their finances to their inability to stop working, Dickens and Prince is a brilliantly surprising and joyous uncovering of the essence of a very particular and unique type of genius.
  • Published: 6 February 2024
  • ISBN: 9780241996478
  • Imprint: Penguin General UK
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 112
  • RRP: $26.00
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About the author

Nick Hornby

Nick Hornby was born in 1957. He is the author of five novels, High Fidelity, About a Boy, How To Be Good, A Long Way Down (shortlisted for the Whitbread Award) and Slam; three works of non-fiction, Fever Pitch (winner of the William Hill Sports Book of the Year Award), 31 Songs (shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award) and The Complete Polysyllabic Spree; and a Pocket Penguin book of short stories, Otherwise Pandemonium.

Nick Hornby lives and works in Highbury, north London.

Also by Nick Hornby

High Fidelity: Popular Penguins
Fever Pitch: Popular Penguins
Just Like You
State of the Union
A Long Way Down
Funny Girl
Stuff I've Been Reading
See all

Praise for Dickens and Prince

I love this. It's smart and funny and elegantly persuasive

Robert Douglas-Fairhurst, author of Becoming Dickens

Well, here's something you didn't expect - a joint biography of Charles Dickens and the pocket-sized popster Prince. And why not? The Fever Pitch chappie explores the nature of genius and what unites the inimitable Boz and the Imp of the Perverse

The Times, Best Books for Autumn

From rocky beginnings to too-early endings, Hornby traces the lives of two very different artists and shows they have more in common than we might think. Dickens & Prince is a playful, illuminating book

The i, 40 Best Books to Read this Autumn

An enjoyable and educational read that will leave fans of either figure positively enlightened

The Independent

An ardent fan letter from Hornby that makes you want to reread Great Expectations whilst listening to Sign o'the Times

Vogue

A joyful examination of two artists from different centuries and the unlikely parallels in their life and work

Guardian

A winningly grounded manifesto for artists: forget the preciousness so often urged as the route to brilliance, and embrace prodigiousness instead – and don’t forget to make sure you get paid

Sunday Times

Beneath the surface of this fascinating biography there lies a warm and wise craft book about what it takes to make great art in any century

Esquire

A fascinating little book

Irish Times

Hornby’s admiration for his subjects is infectious . . . a zesty tribute to two cultural legends not often spoken about in the same breath

Publishers Weekly

This pairing – two magnificent creatives, centuries and genres apart – makes stunning sense in the hands of their wisest, wittiest fan

People Magazine

Hornby’s love for the work, for the sheer unbelievably prodigal output of both artists, is intense. And when he does write about Prince and sexuality, he is almost jarringly illuminating, particularly when he wrestles with Prince as shapeshifting sexual avatar

Daily Beast

A fascinating little book

Irish Times

A winningly grounded manifesto for artists

The Sunday Times