Many of you know me only as the guy who played guitar at Summer Soltesz. Oh well, it could be worse...

I've haven't seen or heard from the Albatrossers in a while. I've been reading books.

Here's a new one that I think is brilliantly funny, especially for singles, people in relationships, people out of relationships, people getting married, people not getting married, and music lovers (did I cover everyone?).

It's called "High Fidelity" by Nick Hornsby. The protagonist, Rob Fleming, is a thirty-five year old down-and-out record store owner (Championship Vinyl) in the locale of North London. His girlfriend, Laura, has given him the heave-ho, and he works with Barry and Dick--two hopelessly idiosyncratic music lovers with their own warped way of mucking their way through life.

Top five favorite parts of "High Fidelity":

1. Barry joining a band called Barrytown, then "improving" the band's name to Sonic Death Monkey.

2. Rob's inability to come up with clever dog names.

3. Rob's imaginary retorts to ex-girlfriend Laura's new boyfriend Ian (or Ray).

4. Duck Noire

5. Whether saxophonist and piano player are two job occupations, or just one.

"High Fidelity" rings true; check it out today.

--Pat

-- Pat Kelley (pkelley@rti.org), October 09, 1997