There is always laughter in life Understanding life and why things happen is impossible. Life is like a game, accepting the things life throws at us is the challenge. For some, surrender is the key to life. For others it is important to look on the bright side of life and continue living. Nick Hornby deals with very serious issues in his novels Slam and A Long Way Down. However, it approaches the topics in a more comedic way, creating a more engaging and effective story. In both novels, Hornby addresses serious issues in today's society. While there are lessons to be learned about these themes, he takes a fun approach to telling the story. In Slam several problems arise with a 16 year old boy. The first big issue she talks about is teenage pregnancy: “It happened that night, I know. I never said anything to Alicia, but it was my fault`` (Hornby, Slam 61). Sam made the same mistake his mother made at his age. Hornby manages to make the matter relatively calm and ironic for the reader: “Not so bad, right? It's a mistake, that's all." (Hornby, Slam 62). While it may have been a mistake; it's a bad one. Sam is played by Hornby as a calm, but frustrated character. Having a frustrated character, he is able to blend the 'humor with Sam's frustration: "It seems to me that if you never wear a condom, then you should have triplets or quintuplets" (Hornby, Slam 62 Hornby uses Squires 2's understatement and humor for emphasis). the point and make the reader understand the problem but make it as fun as possible This problem brings others into Sam's life writing style is easily understandable and is not meant to preach, but to relate to the characters in his novels will help an individual who could be Squires 6 deal with these issues Hornby manages to deal with serious topics in a comedic way, which results in a engaging novel. Works Cited Hornby, Nick. A long way down. New York: Riverhead Books, 2005. Print.---. Whisk. New York: Riverhead Books, 2007. Print.Toscan, Richard. "Serious comedy and its reverse." Serious comedy. Riccardo Toscano, 2009. Network. May 31st. 2010..Hansen, Liane and Nick Hornby. "Music inspires the new novel from the author of 'High Fidelity'." NPR. PBS, 2010.Web. May 24th 2010..