How to Be Good

How to Be Good is a 2001 novel by the English writer Nick Hornby.^[1][2] It centers on characters Katie Carr, a doctor, and her husband, David Grant. The story begins when David stops being "The Angriest Man In Holloway" and begins to be "good" with the help of his spiritual healer, DJ GoodNews (who also shows up briefly in Hornby's A Long Way Down). The pair go about this by nominally convincing people to give their spare bedrooms to the homeless, but as their next scheme comes around, "reversal" (being good to people one has not been good to in the past), this proves to be fruitless and thus David gives up his strivings and his plans for a book on how to be good, appropriately named "How to be Good."

How to Be Good

First edition cover
Author	Nick Hornby
Language	English
Genre	Novel
Publisher	Viking Press
Publication date	31 May 2001
Publication place	England
Media type	Print (Hardcover and Paperback) & Audio CD
Pages	256 pp
ISBN	0-670-88823-0
OCLC	46393465
Preceded by	About a Boy
Followed by	A Long Way Down

The protagonist, Katie, briefly encounters a minor character named Dick whose description and attitude towards music are reminiscent of the character of the same name from Hornby's first novel, High Fidelity.

Reception

Upon release, How to Be Good was generally well-received among British press. ^[3]

Audiobook

How to be Good is available on audiobook, both abridged and unabridged. The abridged version is read by Frances Barber and the unabridged version is read by Clare Higgins.