The Song Is You: A Novel (Random House Reader's Circle)
Amazon Best of the Month, April 2009: A man who's not quite young anymore, his relationship trouble, and his iPod: at first glance Arthur Phillips'sThe Song Is Yousounds like strictly Nick Hornby territory, but it turns out to be a lot closer toThe Red Shoes, a story of love and art in which the two are confused and jealously compete. And as inThe Red Shoes, but so rarely in other works of art, it's the art-making that carries the most power and mystery. Julian Donahue is a "creative": a skilled director of commercials who has come to know his limits. Cait O'Dwyer is a singer, and a bit of a comet that Julian somehow catches the tail of. Their courtship--as Julian evades a marriage split by an unbearable loss and Cait shoots single-mindedly toward stardom--is an intricately constructedpas de deuxthat is both surprising and convincing throughout. It's Phillips's first novel set in the present sincePrague, and in its artful structure, style, and heart it's a match for that smart and charming debut.--Tom Nissley--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.