#7: High Fidelity

I know, I know.  How hadn’t I read this before? It’s a romcom fundamental! It was published in 1995! Well, friends, now I have, and isn’t it a belter?

Rob’s life is going nowhere.  He owns a record store that he sort of hates, everyone around is more successful than him, and Laura has just left him.  There’s plot, sure, but really it’s Rob making a hash of things, calling up ex-girlfriends to work out what went wrong, being ornery, and trying to make sense of his life.  The novel is a total masterclass in voice.  Rob’s ego and insecurity are served up on a lip-smacking platter, offering an insight into the male mind that hasn’t lost its power in the thirty years since publication.  A decidedly unromantic, pragmatic look at life and love and meaning that nonetheless delivers a happy ending without schmaltz.

I called it a romcom but really this book is a funny, prickly masterpiece about growing up and stopping sulking.  Which we could all do with sometimes.