Kenny

What a life. Drop the drawl.

Revisado: 01-09-19

A fascinating, unflinching biography. Jane Leavy takes on the life story of a childhood hero (hers and millions of others) and does him the honor of telling the truth. Paradoxically, by demystifying The Mick, she succeeds in bringing us closer to him, by helping us understand his frailties and humanity. This is a great biography -- the Mick's story for grown ups.

The two voices in the Audible version -- hers for an introduction and the recounting of a weekend-long interview, his for chapters recounting Mantle's life -- works well. My only complaint is John Bedford Lloyd's choosing to speak all of the quotations attributed to Mantle in a faux country drawl. So what if Mantle spoke with a drawl. The insistence of calling attention to it persistently comes off as patronizing, almost ridiculing. Is Mantle the only person quoted in this whole book who spoke with an accent? The voice attributed to Mantle is a major distraction and, for me, a significant flaw in this Audible version.

Still, Jane Leavy's thorough research and excellent writing make this book well worth listening to, even with the drawl.

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esto le resultó útil a 4 personas

Excellent reading of a truly astonishing novel

Revisado: 11-25-18

Infinite Jest is one of the most challenging novels of our time. It scrambles chronology, jumps around in point of view, and has over 200 characters, an arcane plot, 388 end notes, and an extravagant vocabulary. Not only is it massive -- 1,079 pages in print, 56 hours and 11 minutes on tape, with another 7 hours and 43 minutes for end notes -- it's also dense. Sections can go for many pages with barely a paragraph break. It takes serious stamina and commitment to read or listen to Infinite Jest.

All the same, Infinite Jest is as rewarding as anything I've ever read. By turns funny, bizarre, and heartbreaking, it is satire and fiction of the highest order. The work and study the novel demands are well worth it. It's a great, great novel.

Sean Pratt's reading is marvelous. Moreover, he's done the reading world a true service by performing this entire book. I did not try to listen to the book only but instead listened and read, and read and listened. I am a slow reader and intimidated by long books. I'm pretty sure I would not have had the patience and stamina to finish this book without the aid of Sean Pratt's reading. He was a delight to listen to and masterful throughout. If you are ready to take on Infinite Jest, I can't recommend Sean Pratt's reading highly enough.

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Amusing story but a flawed reading

Revisado: 11-25-18

The reader's voice has a youthful, sultry character that fits the story's narrator well. But something is off. At times the reader seems to mumble — or at least speak unclearly enough as to be hard understand. She also tends to read in a monotone that makes it difficult to separate what the narrator says out loud in dialogue from the narrator's running commentary on her dialogue. In truth, I could not easily differentiate where the narrator's spoken dialogue stared and ended without looking at the punctuation in the book.

This is a comic detective story, and pretty whacky, in a playful, amusing way. But the weird turns in the story line make it all the harder to follow the action and details when the reader isn't always annunciating clearly. I gave up on listening and wound up reading the last half of the book.

As for the story itself, I'm glad I finished. The comic ride had its moments. But overall, I learned the genre of comic detective stories isn't going to become one of my favorites.

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esto le resultó útil a 7 personas

Beautiful

Revisado: 08-31-18

Beautifully lyric and mind expanding. As amusing, at times, as heartbreaking. A great and memorable novel.

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Pure Courage

Revisado: 08-24-17

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Roxane Gay's searing honest will leave you speechless and hurting. But facing the truths of her life lifts her and us. Grateful she told her story and for the chance to hear it in her own voice.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Great novel wonderfully read

Revisado: 08-10-17

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Ari Fliakos gives this novel a great reading. It's a long, intricate, hilarious tale, and heart warming, too. The Nix has won high praise -- comparisons to Thomas Pynchon, David Foster Wallace, John Irving, and Dickens -- and now I see why. Fliakos reads masterfully throughout, dramatizing characters with a fine touch. A great listen.

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Fascinating

Revisado: 06-17-17

The idea of this book, to look at history through the lens of food culture, while telling the story of that food culture, is new to me. John T. Edge carries it out masterfully. He connects a million dots in highly engaging, lyric prose. To hear him read is a treat and a bonus.

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esto le resultó útil a 2 personas

Excellent reading poorly recorded

Revisado: 03-22-17

Would you try another book from Toni Morrison and/or Toni Morrison?

Of course. I'd just expect acceptable recording quality.

Any additional comments?

This is a powerful story wonderfully read by Toni Morrison. The recording, however, was terribly poor. The tonal range was dull. It was difficult to decipher words and phrases without turning the volume up to painful levels. If you were reading a book where the print continuously faded to the point you couldn't read it without a magnifying glass, or maybe not at all, that would be the equivalent of this listening experience. Surely Audible engieers can improve the quality of this recording. In addition, the Audible chapters had zero correspondence to the chapters in the novel. Mechanical, irrelevant breaks make listening considerably less convenient. Audible uses the excuse that different devices have different requirements. I don't give credence to that excuse. I would far prefer for Audible chapters to conform to the original book on the device I am listening to. That seems a reasonable standard for an Audible book to meet.

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Elegiac alright

Revisado: 12-23-16

A poignant tale of fallible, loving people. Vance grew up amidst harrowing dysfunction and but with timely help made his way through. He speaks unflinchingly and mostly wisely, but closes out oddly smug.

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A modern classic

Revisado: 07-19-16

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

A hard-rending history beautifully told. We can all know so much more about our nation because of this book. Ms. Wilkerson deserves the highest praise and our sincere gratitude. Make time for this book in your life.

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