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| Bonus points: Tell me what you see in this book cover image. |
If you've ever seen the movies High Fidelity or About a Boy, you know something of Nick Hornby's style. I'd describe it as a superior combination of bright, witty, ironic, and altogether human. Laugh-out-loud funny at times, while painfully real. He creates amazingly engaging and flawed characters.
In Juliet, Naked we meet Duncan and Annie, two fairly colorless individuals who have been living together without passion or, perhaps even love, for 15 years. Home is the lifeless seaside English town of Gooleness. Perhaps so named because it rhymes with, but is the opposite of, "coolness." For their entire relationship, Annie has played second fiddle to Duncan's adoration and obsession with Tucker Crowe, a reclusive only-moderately-successful rocker described as a combination of Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, and Leonard Cohen. More than 20 years ago, Tucker abruptly disappeared from the music scene, leaving a small cult following behind. The discovery of an unreleased album (Juliet, Naked) which Annie boldly (and negatively) reviews on the Tucker Crowe fan website, starts in motion a chain reaction which brings these three together with life-changing and thought-provoking results.
If you want to be entertained in a smart, thoughtful way, this is the book for your summer reading. Pick up Juliet, Naked. (And stop thinking about picking up Juliet, naked. Do you even know a Juliet? Who's named Juliet these days?)
4 comments:
I read this book several years ago when the Well Read Hostess had it as her online book club selection. I really really liked it -- and always imagined Kate Winslet playing Annie in the movie - if there was a movie. It was interesting in that none of the characters were particularly likable - yet I found myself rooting for (some of) them.
And I actually did know a Juliet in college - she stole my roommate's boyfriend so we didn't like her very much.
I'll have to add this to my "to read" list:)Right behind Water for Elephants.
OK, I'm going to buy it on Kindle right now! (I also harbor a less and less guilty pleasure in my e-book reader. I love that I can still drag 5-8 books on my travels--without the deep muscle pain from a heavy backpack!)
I also knew a Juliet(te) in college--but she was wise enough to go by "Julie." And in defense of the name, the Juliette I knew was absolutely lovely!
As for the book cover--it's quite ingenious. My first thought was: ovaries & uterus (later spotted the male complement below). Second was, oh, they're earbuds! Third, I saw the male and female faces in a modified version of the classic vase/face illusion. I'll read the book just for the cover now (even without your review).
Oh, that is one trivial disadvantage of e-books. No cover art to admire!
I haven't read Juliet, Naked yet, but I just added it to my eWishlist on my eReader which brings me to the reason for this comment. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my Nook! I carry it with me everywhere so I always have a book at hand, more than 1 in fact. I do not miss hard copy "books" (sorry Kim!). And it requires only an occasional cleaning of the touch screen as opposed to weekly dusting of books on shelves. I can hide behind the anonymity of the device so no one has to know what I'm reading. Right now I'm (re)reading the works Jane Austen, making my way thru Tolstoy's "Anna Karenina" AND enjoying Janet Evanovich's "Sizzling Sixteen" depending upon my mood. When I started my new job, I had to endure curious inquiries in the lunch room, but that has died down and somedays I'm joined in silent companionship by other eReaders. On another note, I don't know anyone named Juliet, but I heartily agree with Emily's reason for disliking the Juliet that she once knew.
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