'Juliet, Naked' by Nick Hornby - Book Review

In Juliet, Naked, Hornby's honest characterizations are all in place -- bared souls, all qualities and imperfections. The novel is anchored by Annie, an endearing middle-aged woman whose relationship with Duncan, a somewhat obsessed fan of a singer songwriter named Tucker Crowe, is coming to an end even as a strange, deeper and possibly "more real" relationship with the songwriter her soon-to-be ex-lover is obsessed with begins.

Let's just get the cliched statement out there. (I'd try to write a review and get around it, but sometimes it's fun to be cliched.) Nick Hornby returns with a novel that deals with a stripped down view of love. Ha! The universal question he addresses in Juliet, Naked: Can people honestly attain love and keep it when the truth is laid bare? Oh, and can someone who borderline psychotically loves a pop artist ever truly love anyone else as much?

This is a circus story with some painful moments in the ride. Duncan thinks he knows everything about Tucker Crowe, the songwriter who once composed a masterpiece, an album entitled Juliet. He lives with Annie, but wastes much of her life and their ongoing affair when he trades her in for a young student. This is much like when he decides Juliet, Naked, the demo acoustic version of the famed album that leaks, is better than the original. But what if he's wrong? What if the original Juliet is better? What if Annie is better than the younger, newer girl? And what if Tucker Crowe agrees with Annie's review of the Naked album -- that it's rubbish -- and then actually contacts her to reveal that 99% of the facts on Duncan's fan site are fabricated legend? Oh, and what if Tucker and Annie start to like their correspondence...

It may sound contrived, but the sharpness to Nick Hornby's writing is that he knows what it's like to truly love...a band, or a sport. And maybe a human being, too. He's confessed his obsessions through his novels, High Fidelity and Fever Pitch, but Hornby also likes dealing with humans and how we grow up (if we do) and how we find love (if we can). This is what makes his fans and potential newcomers enjoy his stories -- seeking the possibility that we can have all these imperfections and still find something better with each other.

P.S. Another author who shares a similar compassion and empathy like Hornby is none other than Cameron Crowe, former writer of Rolling Stone and writer/director of Jerry Maguire and Almost Famous. Makes me wonder if his last name helped Hornby find his singer songwriter.