Hello George (2026) Book Review

Hello George is a wonderful new novella by Jon Fried, one half of the musical duo known as The Cucumbers. The book is closely tied to The Cucumbers' new album, As You Heard Me. Though the songs came first, the music is the soundtrack to the book. Each can be enjoyed separately, but certainly you can get even more enjoyment from the book if you are familiar with the songs on the CD (and more enjoyment from the CD if you've read the book). The book tells the story of Barry, a music publisher who is sent an unusual four-song demo tape that he falls in love with. One of the songs on it becomes a hit for country music star George Krott. Yet he knows nothing about the songwriter, Daisy Steinberg, and is determined to track her down and learn all he can about this delightful voice.

It's a book for those of us who fall in love with CDs and records (as we once did with cassettes), who fall in love with a voice on a tape. And if you're the type of person who reads about music, you're exactly the kind of person this book is for. The type of person who wants to know more about music, about a song, about a singer. You might fall in love with this book the way you fall in love with a singer, with a song, with an album. The cassette pictured on the book's cover is also the one featured on the CD cover, and it is the demo tape sent to Barry (which is the music that makes up the first four tracks of the CD).

The story is told from Barry's perspective, so his excitement about these songs becomes our excitement, his journey becomes our own. And even if you are not familiar with the music on the new Cucumbers CD, your head will certainly be filled with some music that you do know. Music fans will be able to relate to many passages in this book, and have an opinion, one way or the other, on something like this: "For many, if not most, the songs that matter are the old songs, the ones that imprint in the raw mud of adolescence and remain stuck in the remnant of that pain and pleasure center. For me, there are always new ones. It comes with the dayjob. Even if I don't love them, or love them despite myself, they take over, they do the job of pushing other songs aside – especially helpful when your marriage is fading out and you're stuck on some old breakup ballad" (p. 19). The old songs certainly do matter, and often they're the ones that get stuck in my head, but for me, it's the new songs that are exciting, that take me to different places, that open up unexpected vistas before me. I assume that's the case for most people who read music blogs, that they're the people who want to hear an artist's new material, who want to hear new artists, new music. Here is another passage music fans will especially relate to: "When you play songs for people, they sound different, as if you're listening through their ears, or what you imagine their ears are hearing. A song you've loved can seem stupid, trite, annoying. This one sounded lighter than air, as if might float up into the sky and just disappear, its sweetness a fading aftertaste" (p. 21). I love turning a friend onto a song, especially when I hear something even more special in the song that I imagine that person is picking up on. But, yeah, every once in a while, I realize that person is not digging it, and the song sounds somehow weaker. That never ruins a song for me, however. I just have to give it a few days, then come at it with my own ears again.

And for music critics (a label I've never applied to myself), there is a great bit of dialogue, where Daisy asks Barry, "Are you a music writer?" Barry replies, "You mean a critic? Nah, too harsh." Daisy then tells him, "You seem like someone who would find something good to say about everything." This is Barry's reply: "If by that you mean that's why I say good things about your work, no. I can be hideously judgmental. I just wouldn't want to say it in public. I picture the poor musicians reading it, suffering from my oh-so-great opinion" (p. 16). Perhaps that's part of why I only review music I love on this blog. Mostly it's an attempt to be positive in an increasingly negative world, to let folks know about some of the excellent music that's out there to help them through the day, but I think there is a bit of not wanting to hurt people's feelings as well. Daisy calls that "sweet," while Barry says it's "cowardly." Maybe it is a bit of both. Certainly there is a lot of shitty music out there. But why focus on that? And this book feels quite positive. Sure, there is a troubled marriage in there, and the country star has a continuing problem with alcohol, but this story is about the love of music. It is a love story of two kinds, really, and it leaves us with a good feeling. 

Hello George was published on February 14, 2026, the same day that As You Heard Me was released.