I recently spotted “Giving Up the Ghost” by Eric Nuzum and on a whim I picked it up. I knew nothing about it so I’m not sure what attracted me. Was it the fact that it seemed to have the world’s longest book title? (The full title is: “Giving Up the Ghost: A Story About Friendship, 80s Rock, a Lost Scrap of Paper, and What It Means to Be Haunted.”) Actually, I’m sure it was the intriguing mix of topics in the subtitle, specifically 80’s rock.
This book follows several narrative threads. One main one is that the author is “haunted” by a vision of a little girl in a blue dress. This story line discusses the impact of this vision on him while growing up as well as his later adult investigations to try to determine if ghosts exist. While some of these adventures are interesting and help round out the overall story, I found a different thread of the book much more compelling. For it’s also a book about his young adulthood which involves Eric trying to find his place in the world, dealing with some drug and mental issues during that time, and most poignantly, about a female friend.
He does a great job expressing general teenage angst combined with his specific issues and experiences. But more importantly, he had a somewhat enigmatic friend named Laura who was there through good times and bad. Aspects of their relationship are a bit odd (he seems to know very little about her outside their direct relationship, he always waits in his car for her – never approaching her door, etc.), but such can be the relationships of teenagers. In the end this book is a beautiful tribute to Laura specifically and perhaps to friends we’ve all had at points in our lives that may have helped us through.
As for the music (I mean, after all, music is the entire reason for this website), it’s not the major story line but instead there is a strong vein related to music does run throughout, whether it’s the feeling he gets from a favorite record (by one Mr. Brian Eno), the sharing of music and cassettes among friends (Killing Joke, Talking Heads, Guadalcanal Diary…well, you know, good 80’s music), or starting his own band. Some of the smaller moments will bring back memories for “outsiders” who may have grown up around that time. And I don’t want to spoil it, but there is a scene with him DJ’ing at a college radio station that had me laughing out loud. It’s great when a book grabs you unexpectedly like this one did for me.