About a Boy

Use these questions or activities to help gauge students’ familiarity with and spark their interest in the context of the work, giving them an entry point into the text itself.

Short Answer

Creator Nick Hornby had a significant impact on 1990s and 2000s popular culture in the forms of literature and film. Why do you think Hornby’s work has made such a lasting impact? How does it capture the essence of life during these time periods?

Teaching Suggestion: Students may have seen Hornby’s movies or read his books in the past; students familiar with his work will be able to answer this question directly. For those students who are unfamiliar with Hornby’s works or the movies they inspired, it might be useful to reframe the prompt to ask why other authors with whom they are familiar become so important in their field and/or why certain books make excellent film adaptations and others do not.

• “An Interview with Nick Hornby 2022” discusses how the author finds inspiration and immerses himself in popular culture.
• “How Does Culture Influence Literature” is a brief summary of the many factors involved in the complex relationship between culture and a work of literature, and how each influences the other.