Juliet, Naked

I've pretty much enjoyed everything I've read from Mr. Hornby.  As a fellow-writer who attempts to look at the human condition it's hard not to expound upon this man's mad skills in that area.  In High Fidelity he really taped into men, but as he's gone along, and especially here, he is equally skilled in the area of women - phenomenally so.
This book is about passion and art, and how both can be misdirected and confused, misunderstood or over and under-appreciated.  It's about Duncan, the world's largest fan of a, now recluse, rock star Tucker Crowe.  He's got every bootleg, every album, he's spent thousands of hours trying to breakdown the meaning of all his songs, the influences and whatnot - posting them all on his website along with the other "Crowologists".  And his long-suffering girlfriend sits idly by, someone interested herself, but mostly just not sure if there's anything to be done about their relationship.  The rock star's famous album is a break-up album called 'Juliet', and one day an album arrives at Duncan's door, "Juliet, Naked" a never-before-heard bare-bones version of the much-loved album.  Duncan LOVES it.  Annie, his girlfriend HATES it.  And when Duncan writes a glowing review of it online, Annie decides to counter it with her own take - and out of the blue, she's contacted by the reclusive rock star.  And if you want to know the rest, you best pick it up.
There are a lot of lovely and meaningful thoughts about the nature of relationships and how they work, how we think about them - why we sometimes settle, and why we sometimes can't.  I'm behind on this one so I'm sure that all big Hornby fans have already discovered it, but if you're new to Nick Hornby, or behind like me, there is a good chance that you'll find something in this to love as well.
Juliet, Naked: a novel