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Imserba Webstore - Juliet, Naked
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List Price: $29.95
Our Price: $19.77
Your Save: $ 10.18 ( 34% )
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Manufacturer: Penguin Audio
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Average Customer Rating:  
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Binding: Audio CD
Dewey Decimal Number: 823.914
EAN: 9780143144908
Feature: ISBN13: 9780143144908
Format: Audiobook
ISBN: 0143144901
Label: Penguin Audio
Manufacturer: Penguin Audio
Number Of Items: 8
Publication Date: 2009-09-29
Publisher: Penguin Audio
Studio: Penguin Audio
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Editorial Reviews:
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Unabridged CDs • 7 CDs, 9 hours
From the beloved New York Times-bestselling author, a quintessential Nick Hornby tale of music, superfandom, and the truths and lies we tell ourselves about life and love.
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Spotlight customer reviews:
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Customer Rating:
Summary: Close To Home
Comment: I only had to know a couple of things to buy this book -- it was by Nick Hornby and it was about an obscure reclusive musician.
Sure enough, I could relate to several of the characters and situations in the book.
Shortly after my wife also enjoyed reading the book, we received a new CD anthology that included a song by our close friend, an obscure and reclusive rock star. There was a picture included that mis-identified our friend, and we howled with delight that this was just the sort of situation that Hornby's Duncan would have taken to heart and obsessed over. And spread to the far corners of the seas.
This book is especially fun if you have a passion for something a bit out of the mainstream. Me, I'm exclusively into those obscure musicians working on their own little mountain tributaries, far from the main stream. So, it was a delight to read.
I sometimes find it hard to write about the music I love so much, and it's great to see somebody writing well about music nobody has heard -- or made.
If they do make it into a movie, our friend could easily create the songs to the playlist on Hornby's fictitious album.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Hornby returns to the arena of obsessive fandom that drove 'High Fidelity'
Comment: 'Juliet, Naked' is a return to form for Nick Hornby. It doesn't quite meet the heights of About a Boy, but it's surely a better read than A Long Way Down, which left me cold. In this new book, Hornby returns to the arena of obsessive fandom that drove High Fidelity: A Novel. But this is a different and unique offering vs. High Fidelity.
You read the first third of the story thinking that Hornby will follow the arc of Duncan, his dedicated 'Croweologist.' But Duncan moves aside and leaves the tale to his erstwhile partner, Annie, and Tucker Crowe - misunderstood and mysterious musical 'genius' - himself. Hornby skillfully interweaves Duncan's vision of Crowe's life vs. the life Crowe himself is actually leading. Needless to say, these are quite different realities.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Starts great but I found that Tucker Crowe's character dragged the story down a little near the end
Comment: I haven't read anything by Nick Hornby before, although I have seen two films that were based on his novels (and both were quite good). I should qualify my review by saying that I was a little skeptical starting the novel, thinking it might be a little too `relationship drama' for my personal tastes. A romantic comedy may be a perfectly good option for a night at home watching a DVD with my lovely wife, but reading is a solitary experience, and generally speaking, I prefer darker nastier fare than what Juliet Naked promises its readers.
But I really enjoyed the first half of the novel. In particular I found Duncan (and Duncan seen through the eyes of Annie, his long suffering girlfriend) to be quite hilarious. Duncan is a fan of a relatively obscure singer/songwriter who disappeared abruptly in the mid-eighties shortly after the release of his most critically acclaimed album, Juliet. A mystic builds around the singer, Tucker Crowe, who has become a recluse in the spirit of JD Salinger. Duncan is the eminent Crowologist, an obsessive fan who maintains a web site devoted to Tucker lore, alleged sightings of the singer, and interpretations of his song lyrics. We meet Annie and Duncan while they are on vacation in the US, making pilgrimage to the bar bathroom where Tucker decided to walk away from his career.
But the novel started to lose me a little when Tucker Crowe enters the fray. After the demo tapes of Juliet are released, as a CD called Juliet Naked, Duncan writes a gushing review and posts it on his website, declaring it a masterwork. Annie posts a contrary review and soon after, she starts receiving (and then exchanging) emails from the reclusive singer. Annie and Tucker develop a romance of sorts but it never really generates much in the way of sparks, humor or warmth and compared to Annie and Duncan, Tucker isn't nearly as entertaining a character.
Neither Duncan nor Tucker change much as a result of anything that happens in the novel. They are both hopelessly incapable of creating any kind of meaningful relationship with women. In Tucker's case, he leaves a trail of abandoned children and former lovers in his wake. So this then, is really Annie's story. Annie comes to realize that she has fallen into a rut and gradually makes small changes to regain control of her life. This is a novel about regret and realizing that you have to make a conscious decision to get what you want out of life, otherwise it'll come and go before you know it. The ending is ambiguous and it isn't clear what the future holds for Annie, but the reader can see that she's on her way to changing the course of her life. I like that Hornby didn't give the novel an artificially happy ending or have Annie have a ridiculous and unrealistic 'epiphany moment'.
All in all I found this to a pretty entertaining novel. I'm something of a music buff and Hornby's insight into music, musicians, and the fans that obsess on them is priceless. The prose is filled with great lines, sharp dialogue and some genuine laugh-out-loud moments. Annie is a fully realized and engaging character and Duncan adds plenty of humor to the novel. In the end, my middling review is mostly a result of Tucker, who doesn't bring much to the table.
Bottom line: I found this to be a good light read - funny, insightful - but the final third lacked something, and in the end, it felt a little flat to me. I enjoyed it enough though that I plan to check out some of Hornby's more celebrated novels. 3 ½ stars.
Customer Rating:
Summary: Entertaining
Comment: Juliet, Naked is an entertaining and oftentimes amusing story about three people whose lives are intertwined through music and the internet. Tucker Crowe, a reclusive musician who hasn't recorded since the 1980s, Duncan, perhaps his biggest fan and Annie, Duncan's longtime live-in girlfriend. The novel opens as Duncan and Annie are visiting America from England, but focussing strictly on the important points of Tucker's musical careerm including the club bathroom where he reputedly had an epiphany and simply stopped performing and recording music. The novel is its strongest and most entertaining in these opening sequences. Duncan is completely over the top, but Annie puts up with him and Hornby communicates that relationship with much humor. As the novel continues, an album called "Juliet, Naked" which consists of Tucker's unaccompanied music from his earlier "Juliet" album is released. Through the magic of the internet, Annie and Tucker "meet" and strike up an email friendship. Obsessions continue, relationships crumble and it is basically all very well done. Hornby is a very talented writer. High Fidelity is one of the best novels about music ever written. Juliet, Naked, while enjoyable, is certainly no High Fidelity. It is still an entertaining, light read with an original story line. Enjoy!
Customer Rating:
Summary: Not all Hornby is the same....
Comment: What is wrong with you people? Stop drinking the kool-aid.....Yes, he is a great author - but come on, just because he has written some good books in the past doesn't mean that we have to kiss his butt for this turd of a book. I have read all of Hornby's stuff and will probably give him the benefit of the doubt and read his next book too, but don't make this one to be anything special.....
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