Nick Hornby has a bit of a reputation as a writer whose appeal is largely to young, pop culturally-obsessed men. While it's true that his earlier novels do focus on not-yet-fully-formed young men and their often unsolicited journeys towards adulthood, I always thought he was a writer remarkably sensitive and sympathetic to all his characters, male or female.
Hornby's newest novel, Juliet, Naked, is a wonderful, sweet book. The story focuses on three characters approaching or exiting middle aged, and how they deal with the regret of unfulfilled lives.
Duncan is a teacher who only comes to life when talking, listening to or writing about reclusive singer-songwriter Tucker Crowe. Annie is in a dead-end long-term relationship with Duncan and in a dead-end job as a seaside museum curator. And then there's Tucker Crowe, who has not recorded in over two decades and has been a disinterested observer of his own withdrawal from both his creative life.
I'll leave for you to discover how a small, uncharacteristically assertive action of Annie's - a dissenting post on Duncan's all-things-Tucker-Crowe website - sets into motion a series of events that forces all of these characters out of their respective ruts.
What's wonderful about Hornby's writing is that he understands and is compassionate towards all of his characters. You can think that Duncan is a sad, small man whose obsessive expertise regarding Crowe's small catalogue is a poor excuse for an actual life, but Hornby lets you understand how he got that way, and respects Duncan's intelligence and passion, however misapplied.
(I understand Duncan - his core belief that you can judge the value of people by the value of their cultural taste - and while I'd like to think (please, please) that I've never taken his road, I understand all too well how someone might make the mistakes he's made.)
I also love the way Hornby presents what seems to be a very British worldview - pessimism combined with unfailing politeness. His characters manage to give pointed, incisive criticism to each other, yet retain a social propriety that you may find charming or frustrating, depending I suspect on whether you are or are not British. Either way, though, the characters are human and alive and just like people you know.
Finally, although Juliet, Naked is not a music book, Hornby writes about music with the expertise of someone who, like Duncan, has given a lot of thought about art, and artists. Here, he writes with command about the mindset of the cult fan, the "more-obscure-the-better" value model the cult fan embraces, and where, exactly, the cult artist himself fits in this ecosystem (hint: artists generate great work but may not be the best judges of their worth).
Hornby is a rare writer who crafts literary novels for mass audiences. He is proof of an argument he has made about many great recording artists in his music writing - that you can create art of great, lasting value while remaining a crowd-pleaser. In that respect, he doesn't aspire to be Tucker Crowe, prototypical cult artist - he wants to be the Beatles.
