Nick Hornby-the author of popular novels High Fidelity, About a Boy and Fever Pitch-kept an audience full of fans rolling in their seats with his witty British humor and animated readings from his works.
The event, organized by the Duke University Union Major Speakers Committee, took place in Page Auditorium Thursday night and was followed by a book signing.
A casually dressed Hornby walked onto the dark stage lit by a single spotlight in front of a gathering of hundreds of fans to speak about his work.
Stepping into the shoes of several of his characters, Hornby treated his fans to a couple of lively readings, beginning with an abridged version of "NippleJesus," a humorous short story from the collection Speaking with the Angel.
In it, a bouncer becomes a museum guard and falls for the painting he must protect-a crucifixion collage made up of thousands of tiny breasts cut out of porn magazines.
"It has quite a bit of profanity, some blasphemy, some pornography-so it's pretty good," Hornby said. "I left out a good bit so you still have to buy it."
Hornby followed up this reading with an excerpt from his latest novel, A Long Way Down-a unique take on the topic of suicide through the eyes of four main characters. Despite the seemingly dark topic, Hornby read amid bursts of laughter from the audience.
After he shut the book, Hornby opened the floor up to questions from the audience.
When asked about the motivation behind his novels, Hornby likened each book to a growing train track.
"They feel connected to me, and one book draws out another book," he said. "It's a fun thing to do-sitting in a bar and thinking, 'What if these two people met?' I really really enjoy that aspect of writing-sitting in a bar-not writing. Writing is a bit more of a drag."
Hornby added that he saw characteristics of his own personality in Rob Gordon-the protagonist of High Fidelity.
"Rob in High Fidelity is a version of myself," he said. "I think he's a bit more stupid than me."
Those in attendance said they enjoyed hearing Hornby speak and found the readings enlightening.
"I don't really know Hornby really well. I haven't actually read his books, but I saw Fever Pitch," said sophomore Cleland Robertson. "I might actually end up reading one of his books now."
Sophomore Isel del Valle, president of DUU's Major Speakers Committee, said she found Hornby to be an engaging speaker.
"His books are incredibly interesting, and I think he's cool writer, so I asked him to come here," del Valle said.
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