Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby
Mark Radcliffe meets another of Nick Hornby's musical obsessives

Mark Radcliffe , The Guardian, Saturday 12 September 2009

Nick Hornby is one of that select group of writers whose new books are keenly anticipated by followers in the way fans of a singer/songwriter await a new album. So it's appropriate that, in his first novel for four years, Juliet, Naked is the title of just such an artifact: a long-awaited release from the reclusive cult musician Tucker Crowe.

Duncan is a Crowe obsessive or "Croweologist" whose empty life is given meaning through his geekish investigations into the Crowe myth. Hornby, as a self-confessed musical anorak, is on familiar ground here. Duncan's self-satisfaction revisits some of the territory covered in High Fidelity, as we encounter another tragicomic musical obsessive whose intimate knowledge of his chosen specialist subject leads him to assume a smug superiority over anyone who doesn't share his passion. I had a friend who refused to be told that the perfectly harmless indie band Hefner were going to be but a footnote in the annals of rock. I myself remain entirely convinced of the true greatness of Wilko Johnson-era Dr Feelgood. Hornby understands perfectly the world we inhabit.
Duncan's long-suffering partner Annie has come to her own appreciation of the Crowe oeuvre in an attempt to have at least one bond with her hapless boyfriend - even if it means holidaying in America in order to visit the toilets of a Minneapolis club where the elusive musician had some sort of epiphany. Again, Hornby sure-footedly documents the hold that a Fever Pitch-like obsession can take. Annie, who hopes for the child that Duncan seems unwilling or unable to give her, must once have found the Crowe fixation cute. Now it would seem tiresome were it not for her own regard for this little-known but highly rated rocker, who hasn't been heard of since 1986.
That was when he released his best work with the album Juliet. The small but committed band of uber-fans, united inevitably in a chatroom, have all but given up on hearing of him again when a new album, Juliet, Naked, suddenly materialises. Basically demo recordings and song sketches for his 1986 masterpiece, it is the subject of an online eulogy by the besotted Duncan. Irritated by both the record and Duncan's blinkered response to it, Annie posts a more realistic review of its glaring inadequacies. The aim of this article is to give Duncan a reality bite, but an unexpected email response comes from someone who shares her honest assessment: Tucker Crowe.

Juliet, Naked by Nick Hornby 250pp, Viking - read the full review at The Guardian online.

And link here for a review from The Telegraph.