TERRY GROSS: Well, that's the theory of how his relationships work - you know, you have to find somebody whose taste conforms to yours, and taste is everything. But there was an important and essential truth contained in the idea, and the truth was that these things matter, and it's no good pretending that any relationship has a future if your record collections disagree violently or if your favorite films wouldn't even speak to each other if they met at a party. It amused us at the time, although Barry being Barry went one stage further he compiled the questionnaire and presented it to some poor woman he was interested in, and she hit him with it. It was intended, A, to dispense with awkward conversation and, B, to prevent a chap from leaping into bed with somebody who might, at a later date, turn out to have every Julio Iglesias record ever made. NICK HORNBY: (Reading) A while back, when the Dick and Barry and I agreed that what really matters is what you like, not what you are like, Barry proposed the idea of a questionnaire for prospective partners, a two- or three-page multiple-choice document that covered all the music, film, TV, book bases. She asked him to read a passage from his then-new novel, showing how Rob and his record store employees, Dick and Barry, judged people by their tastes in popular culture. That was in 1995, and that's also when Terry Gross spoke with Nick Hornby. KRAVITZ: (As Rob) Here's how not to plan a career - one, split up with girlfriend two, ditch college three, go to work in struggling record shop four, become owner of said record shop and stay there for rest of life and five - well, there is no five.īIANCULLI: This new Hulu 'High Fidelity' TV series arrives 20 years after the movie version with John Cusack, and it arrives 25 years after Nick Hornby first published his 'High Fidelity' novel.

We'll hear from him in a moment.īut first, here's a scene from the Hulu series with Zoe Kravitz as the list-obsessed central character from 'High Fidelity.' They come straight from the 1995 novel 'High Fidelity,' written by British writer Nick Hornby. It's an attention-getting approach to casting, going from a white man to a black woman, but there's a universality to the character's attitudes and obsessive top five lists. She's playing the same role John Cusack played in the 2000 movie version of 'High Fidelity' - the owner of a used record store, who has very strong and specific opinions about music, romance and lots of other things.

ZOE KRAVITZ: (As Rob) Desert island all-time top five most memorable heartbreaks in chronological order are as follows - Kevin Bannister (ph), Cat Monroe (ph), Simon Miller (ph).īIANCULLI: That's Zoe Kravitz as the lead character in the new Hulu series 'High Fidelity,' which streams its entire season today.

I'm David Bianculli, sitting in for Terry GROSS.

High fidelity book