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Bestselling author Nick Hornby (ÒHigh Fidelity,Ó ÒFever Pitch,Ó ÒAbout a Boy,Ó ÒJuliet, NakedÓ) is a virtuoso at love gone wrong. In his new short story, ÒEveryoneÕs Reading Bastard,Ó Hornby paints a wincingly comic picture of just how messy modern relationships can become, as his characters hit delightful new lows of cruelty, misery, and pettiness. Newspaper columnist Elaine Harris has always written about her life with husband Charlie. Her editor and her legions of readers count on full disclosure from her, but what no oneÑleast of all CharlieÑanticipates, only a week after the couple decide to end their marriage, is the speed and inventiveness with which she begins to try him in the court of public opinion. On Monday morning, itÕs a smirk by a forgettable former lover that first clues him in that somethingÕs wrong. Then, before heÕs settled in at his desk, another co-worker salutes Charlie with the title of ElaineÕs new column: ÒBastard!Ó A quick check online leads him to the column, the subtitle leaving little doubt as to what heÕs in for: ÒLife with an Ex. HeÕs Gone but Not Forgotten.Ó CharlieÕs only hope is that Elaine will get bored and abandon the weekly columnÑa colorful litany of his failures as a partner, father, breadwinner, and loverÑor that it wonÕt catch on. But soon enough itÕs a multimedia feeding frenzy, and everyoneÕs reading Bastard! And for Charlie, thatÕs a bitch. Only a storyteller like HornbyÑwhoÕs given us so many unforgettable novels of comedy and heartbreakÑcould conceive of an average guy trying to survive an exÕs wrath gone viral. Witty and wise, outlandish and human, his latest rollicking account of loveÕs fallout should be instructive: Sometimes no one wins. Sorry, Charlie.