Rocktober

Put this one down for Top Five moments of 2009!  Last month I was able to meet one of my favorite authors at a book signing at the Central Library.  Nick Hornby was in town for a reading of his new novel Juliet, Naked.  Since first reading High Fidelity in the late '90s I was surprised to find that someone can write the way I think.  I've read everything he has published (with the exception of two anthologies that I own but have not read; I'm saving them Lost-style).  In all of Hornby's novels there is at least one character that I completely relate to and it is almost always unflattering.  While almost every book of his centers on relationships, he is at his best when he writes about music, sports, movies and pop culture in a way that shines a light on how ridiculous yet rewarding the obsessive nature of fandom can be.

Mandy's parents gave me Juliete, Naked  for my birthday (thanks again) and I plowed through it as quickly as I could finishing it while in line for the book reading.  Mandy and I were about the fifth in line and I was curious as to how many people would show up.  The auditorium was filled to capacity and the library had to turn people away and guess which nerd(s) had the front row...

That's right somehow we managed to get the first two seats in the front row.  The reading and question and answer period were very entertaining and Mandy can vouch for me when I say that the question I asked did not embarrass myself.  When it came time for us to meet Mr. Hornby he couldn't have been nicer.  We talked music (Bruce of course) and he managed to make 60 seconds feel longer, he's a very sincere guy.    

P.S.  Last weekend Mandy and I caught a screening of An Education of which Hornby wrote the screenplay and his wife produced.  We liked the film (B) but we were even more impressed with newcomer Carey Mulligan, look for her and Alfred Molina come Oscar time.