Dickens and Prince: A Particular Kind of Genius

Breezy and informative, haven't read much of Hornby's nonfic before but this definitely inspired me to do so.

I hate books that should've been articles, it ends up feeling like someone trying to hit a minimum word count rather than writing from a place of genuine interest.

Would've been a really enjoyable long-form article. It's an interesting topic, looking at how some peoples creative talent can be such a torrent, but that's about as deep as it goes. Plus the entire premise of ‘finding all these similarities between the two artists' starts to feel stretched very quickly. When it's not generic “An artist with a rough childhood!” it's not even similar “They were both brilliant as soon as they started! (apart from Prince who practiced his entire life, released one album to mixed reception, and then made it big)”

It's weird cause you wouldn't think Hornby needs the cash.

I don't know why this book needs to exist.