How to Be Good

A wise and hilarious novel morality and what it means to be a "goof person" from the bestselling author of Dickens and Prince, Just Like you, Funny Girl and High Fidelity.

A brutally truthful, compassionate novel about the heart, mind, and soul of a woman who, confronted by her husband’s sudden and extreme spiritual conversion, is forced to learn “how to be good”—whatever that means, and for better or worse…

Katie Carr is a good person…sort of. For years her husband’s been selfish, sarcastic, and underemployed. 

But now David’s changed. He’s become a good person, too—really good. He’s found a spiritual leader. He has become kind, soft-spoken, and earnest. Katie isn’t sure if this is deeply felt conversion, a brain tumor—or David’s most brilliantly vicious manipulation yet. Because she’s finding it more and more difficult to live with David—and with herself. "Hornby is a writer who dares to be witty, intelligent and emotionally generous all at once."—The New York Times Book Review

A darkly funny and thought-provoking ride."—USA Today

"A bitingly clever novel of ideas...[a] profound, worrying, hilarious, sophisticated, compulsive novel."—The Sunday Times (UK)

"Daringly different."—New York Daily News

"How to be good? How to be bloody marvelous more like."—The Mail on Sunday (UK)

"Breezily hilarious and thought-provoking at the same time."—New York Magazine

"Seriousness spiked with humor...a page-turner."—The Washington Times

"A thorny parable...very funny and shrewd."—Salon.com



Nick Hornby is the author of seven internationally bestselling novels (Funny Girl, High Fidelity, About a Boy, How to be Good, A Long Way Down, Slam and Juliet, Naked) and several works of non-fiction including Fever Pitch, Songbook and Ten Years In The Tub. He has written screenplay adaptions of Lynn Barber’s An Education, nominated for an Academy Award, Cheryl Strayed's Wild and Colm Tóibín’s Brooklyn. He lives in London.