The Last Book I Read

It a really weird sensation when you start to read a book, and elements of the story seem to mirror what you're going through at the time. In this case, one main character in Juliet, Naked has a mild heart attack, leading him to think about a whole lot of things he'd previously ignored. I just had a heart attack scare, but those same kinds of issues were floating around in my head for weeks afterward, which corresponded with the time I was reading this book (which I had actually purchased months earlier). It really shouldn't surprise me, given that the author is Nick Hornby, whose main characters are usually men who grew up consumed with sports and movies and especially music, and can't seem to entirely shake the perspectives so deeply affected by their immersion in popular culture. The quintessential Hornby hero is Rob from High Fidelity, but there are strong similarities between him and both Tucker Crowe (the recluse musician) and Duncan (his obsessive academic fan) in this book. As is also often the case in Hornby's work, the women come across as more mature; not exactly free from the anxieties of growing older so common in his male characters, but definitely more inclined to deal with them head on. In Juliet, Naked, that role is played by Annie, who starts out somewhat tired of Duncan's over-the-top hero worship but later becomes smitten herself, though on a much more realistic (if unlikely) way. The title refers to a record album, a stripped down (hence "naked," like the Beatles Let It Be Naked of a few years back) re-release of Tucker's magnum opus appearing years after he more or less disappeared from public life. The mix of the relationship story with that of the mystery of Tucker Crowe's music career is well done, but that's kind of Hornby's forte at this point. It's not as funny as High Fidelity or as touching (to me) as About a Boy or Slam, but it still struck a chord. As my opening comment suggests, it often seems like Hornby knows well guys like me. In fact he may very well be one himself. And I think it's worthwhile to sometimes look into even a fictional mirror, take a good look, and to realize I'm not all that different from a lot of other folks out there. There's something reassuring about that.