I really wish I could write a positive, even glowing review of "A Long Way Down" by Nick Hornby but I can't.  My summary review is "Get it from the library or borrow it from a friend".  I really couldn't recommend buying this book.

Nick Hornby's 'High Fidelity' was a great novel because (I find) it is equally enjoyed by women and men.  Men relate to the story and women enjoy it because it so accurately portrays the complex mind of the 'lad'.  Nick Hornby explained how men think in one novel better than an entire industry of women's magazines has been able to do for 50 years.

A Long Way Down is good idea, bad execution.  I am guessing that Hornby didn't want to write this book from the perspective of a single character but that is exactly what he should have done.  It is not a negative thing to say that Hornby isn't that great at writing the perspective of a teenage girl or middle age woman.  The novel would have been stronger if he had written it solely from the character of Martin, a middle age divorced father who was a morning show TV personality.  Why does someone like Martin act like such a jerk and do these reprehensible things?  That would have been interesting and likely something Hornby could have written well.

I don't think Hornby really explores the topics promised by the book's jacket cover - life, death, etc.  The character depth was not there and so none of these deep topics was really covered.  But more importantly, I didn't enjoy reading this book which was a shame since I enjoyed Hornby's other books so much.