Juliet, Naked
Juliet, Naked
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Juliet, Naked

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Juliet, Naked

Juliet, Naked is a novel by the British author Nick Hornby published in 2009. It tells the story of Annie, the long-suffering girlfriend of obsessed music fan Duncan, and the object of his obsession, singer-songwriter Tucker Crowe.

The plot revolves around the release of Juliet, Naked, the first new Tucker Crowe album in over two decades. The novel has been compared with Hornby's first novel, High Fidelity. Hornby has identified parenting, love, and relationships as the book's themes.

Duncan, an obsessive music fan, receives a CD of Juliet, Naked, an album of solo acoustic demos of the songs on the album Juliet by his favourite artist, Tucker Crowe. Duncan's girlfriend, Annie, opens it first and listens to it on her own. Duncan is angry, especially when she expresses her dislike for it. He writes an enthusiastic review for the fan website he runs. Annie writes a passionate article criticising it and receives an email response from Tucker Crowe himself. Further email correspondence ensues, much of which consumes Annie's thoughts.

Tucker Crowe is in Pennsylvania preparing for a visit from his daughter Lizzie, whom he has never met. He has five children from four relationships; his youngest son Jackson and Jackson's mother, Cat, are the only ones he lives with. Lizzie reveals that she is visiting because she is pregnant.

Duncan meets a new colleague called Gina, whom he sleeps with. He tells Annie of his affair and she insists he move out. The next day Annie talks to her judgmental therapist Malcolm. Duncan regrets leaving Annie but she refuses to take him back. Cat breaks up with Tucker, but Tucker remains to look after Jackson. Annie places a photo of Tucker and Jackson on her fridge and invites Duncan round to make him see it, gleeful that he doesn't know the significance of it, and tells him she is in a relationship with him.

She ponders the years she has wasted with Duncan and ends up going to the pub with her friend Ros; she meets Gav and Barnesy, two Northern Soul dancers. Barnesy comes back to her house and tells her he loves her, but leaves after she says she won't sleep with him. Annie discusses the incident the next day with Malcolm. Tucker learns that Lizzie has lost the baby, and he and Jackson fly to London to see Lizzie. On arrival at the hospital in London, Tucker has a heart attack and is admitted. Lizzie invites all his children and their mothers to visit for a family reunion.

A mini-narrative describes the events which caused Tucker to end his career after hearing that he had a daughter, Grace, from the relationship before/during Juliet.[clarification needed] Annie visits him in the hospital, and he suggests staying at her house to avoid the family reunion. The next day Annie visits again, and Annie discovers he had not yet met with Grace. Tucker tells her about Grace and Juliet, and Annie insists he call his family.

They discuss his work; Tucker sees it as inauthentic rubbish, while Annie thinks it is deep and meaningful music while clarifying that while the music is good, it doesn't mean that Tucker as a person is good. She also admits that she was in a relationship with Duncan, whom Tucker knows of from the website. Annie encourages Tucker to meet Duncan, but he refuses. The next day, they bump into Duncan. Tucker introduces himself, but Duncan doesn't believe him. After considering it, Duncan comes over, and Tucker shows Duncan his passport as proof. They have tea together, and Tucker clarifies some of Duncan's beliefs about him, while Duncan expresses his love of his music.

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