Juliet, Naked

By: Nick Hornby

Narrated by: Bill Irwin

Length: 8 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

From the beloved New York Times best-selling author, a quintessential Nick Hornby tale of music, superfandom, and the truths and lies we tell ourselves about life and love.

Annie loves Duncan - or thinks she does. Duncan loves Annie, but then, all of a sudden, he doesn't. Duncan really loves Tucker Crowe, a reclusive Dylanish singer-songwriter who stopped making music 10 years ago. Annie stops loving Duncan, and starts getting her own life. In doing so, she initiates an e-mail correspondence with Tucker, and a connection is forged between two lonely people who are looking for more out of what they've got.

Tucker's been languishing (and he's unnervingly aware of it), living in rural Pennsylvania with what he sees as his one hope for redemption amid a life of emotional and artistic ruin - his young son, Jackson. But then there's also the new material he's about to release to the world: an acoustic, stripped-down version of his greatest album, Juliet - entitled, Juliet, Naked.

What happens when a washed-up musician looks for another chance? And miles away, a restless, childless woman looks for a change? Juliet, Naked is a powerfully engrossing, humblingly humorous novel about music, love, loneliness, and the struggle to live up to one's promise.

©2009 Nick Hornby (P)2009 Penguin

Critic reviews

"Charming... Nobody captures the zealous devotion and bizarre intensity of amateur music snobs better.” (The Washington Post)

“Hornby seems, as ever, fascinated by the power of music to guide the heart, and in this very funny, very charming novel, he makes you see it matters.” (The New York Times Book Review)

"Rich and perceptive." (The Wall Street Journal)

Music to My Ears

Nick Hornby returns to the territory of High Fidelity, the book that put him on the map and that remains his best work (not that the rest is anything less than pretty darn good). It's about a relationship set to the soundtrack of their lives, but unlike High Fidelity, which was about a lot of different music, Juliet Naked is about one particular (fictional) musician.

As a huge pop/rock aficionado since I first saw the Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show, as an ongoing follower of all of the twists and turns of rock music over the last half century (as is Hornby), it's wonderful to read books about real people, their relationships, and their relationship to music. The couple at the center of Juliet Naked are devoted to a Bruce Springsteen-like figure in a way that defines their life and their relationship. How that unorthodox triangle evolves is the best aspect of this story.

Music, comedy, and literature, all in one package. For me, it doesn't get much better. I find it hard to laugh out loud when I'm by myself. I believe comedy is a communal experience at its best, everyone's laughter feeding off everyone else's laughter. That said, this book in audio did make me laugh out loud at times. Chuckle mostly, but once in a while, laugh out loud.

The narrators help make that happen. Bill Irwin is one of three, each taking over when the narrative switches between the three main characters. They're all good, but Bill Irwin, I haven't heard him narrate before. I'm a fan of his acting and clown work. I don't even call him Bill Irwin -- to me, he'll always be Mr. Noodle (from Sesame Street, which I watched with my daughters when they were little). We met him at the stage door of a Broadway show he was in. My daughters were were too shy to talk to him, but not me -- I told him that I liked Mr. Noodle as much as the kids. So, to hear him narrate is a treat for me. How many people can say they're Bill Irwin fans? Why would they? But I am.

Juliet Naked by Nick Hornby

I loved this book. I did not want it to end. I wanted Mr. Hornby to keep revealing things about music and our obsessions about things. It brought back many things about my own obsessions about music and art as I try to put my history of the 60's and 70's into prospective as I get older. I have always liked Mr. Hornby's work, High Fidelity, Long way down, ect. I will now reread some of these and some of his other works and see if I see more the second time I read them.

Another solid story from Mr. Hornby

I've been a long time fan of Nick Hornby having read all his novels. I adore his distinctive British humor, but more importantly his very interesting and complex male characters. As a woman -- especially one who has a wonderful father, brother, husband and two sons -- I dislike the way men are often portrayed as unthinking buffoons. Mr. Hornby refuses to go down that road and is why I love his stories. Juliet, Naked does not disappoint. All the characters are interesting and flawed, but not exasperatingly so. This production is brilliant in using multiple narrators to convey the various points of view and musical cues to signal these changes. Very well done.

PS - when my sons get older I plan on making them read the entire Nick Hornby library -- especially "Slam".

Phenomenal.

Would you consider the audio edition of Juliet, Naked to be better than the print version?

The audio version really brought the story to life. At first, I was skeptical about the different voices used to represent the three main characters, but I soon realized how wonderful and vivid they made the listening experience.

What did you like best about this story?

I liked how the audio brought the perspectives of the main characters into focus. Of course, I love Nick Hornby's writing. He makes me laugh out loud!

Have you listened to any of Bill Irwin’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

First time I've ever listened to a Bill Irwin performance. I enjoyed it very much.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The book made me laugh, mostly. It was really touching and funny.

So this is how good an audiobook can be

I'm not reviewing the content of the book, quite excellent, especially if you are a Nick Hornby fan, but rather the recording. It was brilliant using the three narrators. I also enjoyed the musical segue ways.

nothing

This book was about nothing.absolutely nothing. Don't read it. Just watch the movie instead. Save yourself.

Totally different that my usual and I liked it!

Nervous about the male narrator, but it was fine. I got this based on other reviews, and I really enjoyed the story. It is always a gamble with new authors but I won out on this one. It is nice to enjoy something that is not my usual fluff books.

Better from Nick

I loved the performances by the readers. Book was interesting, thoughtful, and funny. Hard to describe, but I enjoyed it much more than the last Hornby novel I read. If you liked High Fidelity you might enjoy this one in a different way, as well.

Well played, once I got through it.

Where do I begin. Great book about music and the strange personalities that are found fandoms across the globe. As usual, characters are gripping and multi-dimensional, without being aloof or, well, fictitious. You feel as if you know everyone in the story.

Didn't feel as if the plot itself was much to speak about. Basically a story about a bunch of people who eventually meet. Nothing really "happens" aside from their emotions and reactions. A character-driven story, in that case, as many of Hornby's are.

Recommended for fans of Anglo-American relations and singer-songwriters.

Great characters and a fun story

Both my wife and I Really enjoyed this book on a couple of long car rides. Very well written dialogue, characters and a compelling story. Slightly mysterious ending but with enough clues for you to write it in your head. I thought the actors were excellent. My only quibble is that as the narration switches between a couple of the main characters, so does the narrator. That mostly works well, except when the same actor does other other characters that you already know in another voice. Fails in several of the gendered switches. But we got over it.