Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby

I stayed up till almost 3 last night (this morning?) and finished reading Juliet, Naked. I tried going to sleep around 1:30 but the dry Arizona air was hot, I was itchy, and I knew that book was sitting a few feet away. So, I turned on the light again.
 
This book title lends itself so well to a nice play on words. I posted in my Facebook status earlier this week that I was:

Off to bed to read Juliet, Naked. Nick Hornby is such a good writer!


One friend "liked" it, and I had the following comments:

• Virginia asked:  Wasn't sure if that was the book title or if you like to read in the buff. :-)
• Mary commented:  LOL -- I thought the same thing. TMI!!

Mums the word on that comment. Yikes! But thank goodness for punctuation and capitalization. The book is SO GOOD! Read it. If you've never read any of Nick Horby's books, this is a great one to start with. It has a universal theme (fan obsession). In this case, it's a washed up music group. Who among us hasn't wished for a return from a band, an actor, an author?

And again, Hornby's writing is so good. You just have to read it to know what I mean. Here's one instance where his insight and attention to detail is amazing. Duncan, the number one obsessed fan is musing about Tucker Crowe, the reclusive singer Duncan idolizes:

Tucker Crowe was his life partner. If Crowe were to die--to die in real life, as it were rather than creatively--Duncan would lead the mourning. (He'd already written the obituary. Every now and again he'd worry out loud about whether he should show it to a reputable newspaper now, or wait until it was needed.)

To me, Hornby almost writes like a woman, in his details, thought process, and the way his mind circles around something picking it apart like I know I do from time to time. Guess that's not a female thing, just a thing.

Hornby has written five other novels (About a Boy and High Fidelity to name two) and a small boatload of nonfiction books, which I'm going to have to turn to next. I haven't read Slam, a novel for teens, so I'll give it a go as well. Try him, you'll like him!

Book Read:  Juliet, Naked
Author:  Nick Hornby
ISBN:  978-1-59448-887-0