By Anthony Kuzminski
Buy the book at this link
Nick Hornby, best known as the author of Fever Pitch, High Fidelity and About A Boy, is at his finest when he writes about what he knows. Being a musical fanatic, the very fabric of his fandom finds a way into almost all of his novels (especially on High Fidelity), but his latest, Juliet, Naked is all about music…and how we view our lives through it. This 400-page book is full of rich prose, twisting analogies and enough reminders of my own obsessions to scare me. The book’s central characters are Annie and Duncan and Tucker Crowe. Duncan is a middle-aged man obsessed with the ever elusive Tucker Crowe, a rock star who disappeared more than twenty years earlier after releasing his masterpiece break-up album, Juliet. Duncan and Annie has been a couple for as far back as anyone can remember and on a holiday in America, they visit a series of landmarks (if you can call them that) that is relevant to Tucker Crowe’s career. From abandoned recording studios, to ex-girlfriends houses to a toilet in a Minneapolis club where he rumor has it that had a revelation and from that day on never gave another interview or wrote another song. It doesn’t take long to immediately know that Hornby’s characters are vivacious with brewing emotions ready to spill over at any moment. As the words jump off the pages, the emotions wrap themselves around you forcing you not to just turn page after page but to question your own life as well.I sadly (and amusingly) can relate to Duncan at times. While part of his behavior scares me, I can understand where he is coming from. As one becomes invested in an artist and their music, they often can go off the deep end, questioning, pondering and dissecting minutiae details few care about, but die-hard and educated fans believe that these little secrets hold the keys to said artists genius. The issue with Duncan is that he’s more passionate about Tucker Crowe than he is about his own life or his long standing girlfriend Annie. Annie is the crux of the story as she proves to be the character the reader wraps themselves around and roots for. She’s been with Duncan for fifteen years and while on their Tucker Crowe trip of America, she begins to realize that what he wants isn’t necessarily what she wants. Back in England, circumstances converge, which force Annie to branch out and flex her own confidence. Upon their arrival back in England, a CD appears at their house, Juliet, Naked; the raw demos of the Juliet album. Duncan revels in their raw beauty while Annie questions how anyone could love anything that’s fragmentary and not as refined as the actual album. Duncan writes a review, lives off the feedback and believes it’s Crowe’s masterpiece. Annie writes a contrary review, posts it to the net and finds an email response from the ever mysterious Tucker Crowe who thanks her for her review. This is all I am going to share as you can guess how these three people’s lives come together.
The book could be titled The Things We Think But Do Not Say. Duncan, Annie and the Tucker Crowe all have overwhelming and reflective thoughts about their lives. They carefully plot discussions in their head but when confronted with real life, they often say something that doesn’t resemble their real thoughts in any way, shape or form. This is where Hornby’s prose bursts to life. We see one scenario that could play out and want to scream when another presents itself. For as truthful and artistic as Tucker Crowe is, he can’t find the words for the mess his life has become. Duncan is so blinded by his obsession; he can’t make sense of his life. Even when it is rattled to its core, he is more concerned with his own creature comforts in life than other people’s feelings. However, he also has utters words which prove to be moments of awakening for the other characters. Annie feels trapped by everything; her job, her relationships, her age and her life. Her questions about life are the ones that stayed with me long after I finished the book. If these three characters weren’t enough to make you love the book, then the passages about music will. Hornby writes like an obsessive. Simply having one’s albums isn’t enough. You must experience the B-sides, bootlegs and rare radio broadcasts that help us understand the music on a more profound and intimate level. While reading about Tucker Crowe, I was listening to new albums by Michael McDermott and Will Hoge, two acts Hornby would love if he ever discovered them. Both acts have intensely personal albums where one senses that they are drawing from real life. That being said, I have no idea if the songs that infuse Hey La Hey or The Wreckage are autobiographical or not. But it hasn’t stopped me from wondering. If you’re a music junkie, then this book is essential reading and if you’re not, it will help you understand what makes a music fan’s mind tick.
There is nothing worse than a life full of regret. As one ages, we ponder over our life choices and wonder if we chose the right path or if an alternate one would have been more beneficial. Depending on one’s situation, they often view certain tragedies as blessings, yet others may view them as just that, tragedies. Over time, I often bump into old friends and even though I am significantly younger than the characters in Nick Hornby’s latest novel, Juliet, Naked, I encounter people who face demons daily. They thought they wanted a certain life at nineteen or twenty and now that they are in their thirties, they express immense regret for past decisions and indecisions. Some of these misgivings come from misguided career choices, a lack of travel, but the overwhelming majority comes from spoiled relationships. Many friends I encounter meet significant others whom they love deep down, but after five, ten or fifteen years with them, they soon look in the mirror and come to the realization that they have wasted away a significant amount of time on someone who is selfish and cares more about security than love. The question arises, how does one snap out of a funk like this and move on with life? These are the questions that the three main characters from Hornby’s thought-provoking book tackle. Juliet, Naked is more than mere entertainment, but a wake-up call for many. If we seek great rewards, then we must take great risks and that sometimes means exposing your soul. While we all know life is short and time is ticking, sometimes we need to witness a remarkable concert, see a eye-opening movie, hear a song that wakes you up or read a novel (like Juliet, Naked) that reminds you that life is not something to be taken for granted and that the gifts given to us through art should not be wasted, but deliberated and most importantly, put into action.
Anthony Kuzminski is a Chicago based writer and Special Features Editor for the antiMusic Network and his daily writings can be read at The Screen Door and can be contacted at thescreendoor AT gmail DOT com.
