Gentlemen of the Road
A Tale of Adventure
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Buy for $9.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Andre Braugher
-
By:
-
Michael Chabon
About this listen
Number-one San Francisco Chronicle best seller
Named one of the best books of the year by the Chicago Tribune
“A picaresque, swashbuckling adventure.” (The Washington Post Book World)
They’re an odd pair, to be sure: pale, rail-thin, black-clad Zelikman, a moody, itinerant physician fond of jaunty headgear, and ex-soldier Amram, a gray-haired giant of a man as quick with a razor-tongued witticism as with a sharpened battle-ax.
Brothers under the skin, comrades in arms, they make their rootless way through the Caucasus Mountains, circa a.d. 950, living as they please and surviving however they can - as blades and thieves for hire and as practiced bamboozlers, cheerfully separating the gullible from their money.
But when they are dragooned into service as escorts and defenders to a prince of the Khazar Empire, they soon find themselves the half-willing generals in a full-scale revolution - on a road paved with warriors and whores, evil emperors and extraordinary elephants, secrets, swordplay, and such stuff as the grandest adventures are made of.
Praise for Gentlemen of the Road
“Within a few pages I was happily tangled in [Chabon’s] net of finely filigreed language, seduced by an old-school-style swashbuckling quest.... laced with surprises and humor.” (San Francisco Chronicle)
“[Chabon] is probably the premiere prose stylist - the Updike - of his generation.” (Time)
“The action is intricate and exuberant.... It’s hard to resist its gathering momentum, not to mention the sheer headlong pleasure of Chabon’s language.” (The New York Times Book Review)
“[A] wild, wild adventure... abounds with lush language... This book roars to be read aloud.” (Chicago Sun-Times)
©2007 Michael Chabon (P)2007 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Summerland
- A Novel
- By: Michael Chabon
- Narrated by: Michael Chabon
- Length: 15 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ethan Feld is having a terrible summer: His father has moved them to Clam Island, Washington, where Ethan has quickly established himself as the least gifted baseball player the island has ever seen. Ethan's luck begins to change, however, when a mysterious baseball scout named Ringfinger Brown and a 765-year-old werefox enter his life, dragging Ethan into another world called the Summerlands.
-
-
5-Star Narration Elevates 3.25-Star Story
- By Gillian on 04-18-16
By: Michael Chabon
-
The Yiddish Policemen's Union
- A Novel
- By: Michael Chabon
- Narrated by: Peter Riegert
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For 60 years Jewish refugees and their descendants have prospered in the federal district of Sitka, a temporary safe haven created in the wake of the Holocaust and the shocking 1948 collapse of the fledgling state of Israel. The Jews of the Sitka District have created their own little world in the Alaskan panhandle, a vibrant and complex frontier city that moves to the music of Yiddish. But now the district is set to revert to Alaskan control, and their dream is coming to an end.
-
-
Didn't finish...
- By Ann E O'Connor on 10-16-17
By: Michael Chabon
-
Moonglow
- A Novel
- By: Michael Chabon
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 14 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Moonglow unfolds as the deathbed confession, made to his grandson, of a man the narrator refers to only as "my grandfather". It is a tale of madness, of war and adventure, of sex and desire and ordinary love, of existential doubt and model rocketry, of the shining aspirations and demonic underpinnings of American technological accomplishment at midcentury, and, above all, of the destructive impact - and the creative power - of the keeping of secrets and the telling of lies.
-
-
Wonderful novel, terrible narrator
- By Joyce M. Bernheim on 12-30-16
By: Michael Chabon
-
Wonder Boys
- By: Michael Chabon
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A wildly successful first novel made Grady Tripp a young star, and seven years later he still hasn't grown up. He's now a writing professor in Pittsburgh, plummeting through middle age, stuck with an unfinishable manuscript, an estranged wife, a pregnant girlfriend, and a talented but deeply disturbed student named James Leer.
-
-
A strong, early Chabon (sounds like grading wine)
- By Darwin8u on 03-09-14
By: Michael Chabon
-
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
- By: Michael Chabon
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 26 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's 1939, in New York City. Joe Kavalier, a young artist who has also been trained in the art of Houdiniesque escape, has just pulled off his greatest feat: smuggling himself out of Hitler's Prague. He's looking to make big money, fast, so that he can bring his family to freedom. His cousin, Brooklyn's own Sammy Clay, is looking for a partner in creating the heroes, stories, and art for the latest novelty to hit the American dreamscape: the comic book. Inspired by their own fantasies, fears, and dreams, they create the Escapist.
-
-
A World I DON'T Ever Want to Escape From.
- By Darwin8u on 06-12-12
By: Michael Chabon
-
The Long Ships
- By: Frans G. Bengtsson, Michael Meyer, Michael Chabon
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 20 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bengtsson's hero, Red Orm-canny - courageous and above all lucky - is only a boy when he is abducted from his Danish home by the Vikings and made to take his place at the oars of their dragon-prowed ships. Orm is then captured by the Moors in Spain, where he fights for the Caliph of Cordova. Escaping from captivity, Orm washes up in Ireland, where he marvels at those epicene creatures, the Christian monks, and from which he then moves on to play an ever more important part in the intrigues of the various Scandinavian kings and clans and dependencies.
-
-
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful story
- By Kindle Customer on 08-28-18
By: Frans G. Bengtsson, and others
-
Summerland
- A Novel
- By: Michael Chabon
- Narrated by: Michael Chabon
- Length: 15 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ethan Feld is having a terrible summer: His father has moved them to Clam Island, Washington, where Ethan has quickly established himself as the least gifted baseball player the island has ever seen. Ethan's luck begins to change, however, when a mysterious baseball scout named Ringfinger Brown and a 765-year-old werefox enter his life, dragging Ethan into another world called the Summerlands.
-
-
5-Star Narration Elevates 3.25-Star Story
- By Gillian on 04-18-16
By: Michael Chabon
-
The Yiddish Policemen's Union
- A Novel
- By: Michael Chabon
- Narrated by: Peter Riegert
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For 60 years Jewish refugees and their descendants have prospered in the federal district of Sitka, a temporary safe haven created in the wake of the Holocaust and the shocking 1948 collapse of the fledgling state of Israel. The Jews of the Sitka District have created their own little world in the Alaskan panhandle, a vibrant and complex frontier city that moves to the music of Yiddish. But now the district is set to revert to Alaskan control, and their dream is coming to an end.
-
-
Didn't finish...
- By Ann E O'Connor on 10-16-17
By: Michael Chabon
-
Moonglow
- A Novel
- By: Michael Chabon
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 14 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Moonglow unfolds as the deathbed confession, made to his grandson, of a man the narrator refers to only as "my grandfather". It is a tale of madness, of war and adventure, of sex and desire and ordinary love, of existential doubt and model rocketry, of the shining aspirations and demonic underpinnings of American technological accomplishment at midcentury, and, above all, of the destructive impact - and the creative power - of the keeping of secrets and the telling of lies.
-
-
Wonderful novel, terrible narrator
- By Joyce M. Bernheim on 12-30-16
By: Michael Chabon
-
Wonder Boys
- By: Michael Chabon
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A wildly successful first novel made Grady Tripp a young star, and seven years later he still hasn't grown up. He's now a writing professor in Pittsburgh, plummeting through middle age, stuck with an unfinishable manuscript, an estranged wife, a pregnant girlfriend, and a talented but deeply disturbed student named James Leer.
-
-
A strong, early Chabon (sounds like grading wine)
- By Darwin8u on 03-09-14
By: Michael Chabon
-
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
- By: Michael Chabon
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 26 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's 1939, in New York City. Joe Kavalier, a young artist who has also been trained in the art of Houdiniesque escape, has just pulled off his greatest feat: smuggling himself out of Hitler's Prague. He's looking to make big money, fast, so that he can bring his family to freedom. His cousin, Brooklyn's own Sammy Clay, is looking for a partner in creating the heroes, stories, and art for the latest novelty to hit the American dreamscape: the comic book. Inspired by their own fantasies, fears, and dreams, they create the Escapist.
-
-
A World I DON'T Ever Want to Escape From.
- By Darwin8u on 06-12-12
By: Michael Chabon
-
The Long Ships
- By: Frans G. Bengtsson, Michael Meyer, Michael Chabon
- Narrated by: Michael Page
- Length: 20 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Bengtsson's hero, Red Orm-canny - courageous and above all lucky - is only a boy when he is abducted from his Danish home by the Vikings and made to take his place at the oars of their dragon-prowed ships. Orm is then captured by the Moors in Spain, where he fights for the Caliph of Cordova. Escaping from captivity, Orm washes up in Ireland, where he marvels at those epicene creatures, the Christian monks, and from which he then moves on to play an ever more important part in the intrigues of the various Scandinavian kings and clans and dependencies.
-
-
Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful story
- By Kindle Customer on 08-28-18
By: Frans G. Bengtsson, and others
-
Manhood for Amateurs
- The Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father, and Son
- By: Michael Chabon
- Narrated by: Michael Chabon
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a devoted son, as a passionate husband, and above all as a father, Chabon's memories of childhood, of his parents' marriage and divorce, of moments of painful adolescent comedy and giddy encounters with the popular art and literature of his own youth, are like a theme played by the mad quartet of which he now finds himself co-conductor. At once dazzling, hilarious, and moving, Manhood for Amateurs is destined to become a classic.
-
-
Terrible
- By Ken on 10-14-09
By: Michael Chabon
-
A Dead Djinn in Cairo
- A Tor.Com Original
- By: P. Djèlí Clark
- Narrated by: Suehyla El-Attar
- Length: 1 hr and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Egypt, 1912. In an alternate Cairo infused with the otherworldly, the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities investigate disturbances between the mortal and the (possibly) divine. What starts off as an odd suicide case for Special Investigator Fatma el-Sha’arawi leads her through the city’s underbelly as she encounters rampaging ghouls, saucy assassins, clockwork angels, and plot that could unravel time itself, in P. Djèlí Clark's Tor.Com Original, A Dead Djinn in Cairo.
-
-
Imaginative, captivating, amazing!!!
- By 2560431 on 11-09-19
By: P. Djèlí Clark
-
Lovecraft's Monsters
- By: Neil Gaiman, Ellen Datlow - editor
- Narrated by: Bernard Clark
- Length: 15 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Prepare to meet the wicked progeny of the master of modern horror. In Lovecraft's Monsters, H. P. Lovecraft's most famous creations--Cthulhu, Shoggoths, Deep Ones, Elder Things, Yog-Sothoth, and more--appear in all their terrifying glory. Each story is a gripping new take on a classic Lovecraftian creature. Contributors include such literary luminaries as Neil Gaiman, Joe R. Lansdale, Caitlin R. Kiernan, Karl Edward Wagner, Elizabeth Bear, and Nick Mamatas.
-
-
PURPLE WARMTH
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 02-04-17
By: Neil Gaiman, and others
-
The Black Echo: Harry Bosch Series, Book 1
- By: Michael Connelly
- Narrated by: Dick Hill
- Length: 13 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For maverick LAPD homicide detective Harry Bosch, the body in the drainpipe at Mulholland Dam is more than another anonymous statistic. This one is personal...because the murdered man was a fellow Vietnam "tunnel rat" who had fought side by side with him in a hellish underground war. Now Bosch is about to relive the horror of Nam.
-
-
What a Terrific Book
- By Daniel McAfee on 08-01-08
By: Michael Connelly
-
The Rum Diary
- A Novel
- By: Hunter S. Thompson
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 6 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Begun in 1959 by a twenty-two-year-old Hunter S. Thompson, The Rum Diary is a brilliantly tangled love story of jealousy, treachery, and violent alcoholic lust in the Caribbean boomtown that was San Juan, Puerto Rico, in the late 1950s.
-
-
Either a Priest or a Fool
- By Darwin8u on 10-01-15
-
The Lincoln Highway
- A Read with Jenna Pick (A Novel)
- By: Amor Towles
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini, Marin Ireland, Dion Graham
- Length: 16 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In June, 1954, eighteen-year-old Emmett Watson is driven home to Nebraska by the warden of the juvenile work farm where he has just served fifteen months for involuntary manslaughter. His mother long gone, his father recently deceased, and the family farm foreclosed upon by the bank, Emmett's intention is to pick up his eight-year-old brother, Billy, and head to California where they can start their lives anew. But when the warden drives away, Emmett discovers that two friends from the work farm have hidden themselves in the trunk of the warden's car.
-
-
I'm totally opposite
- By Meaghan Bynum on 10-10-21
By: Amor Towles
-
Watership Down
- By: Richard Adams
- Narrated by: Peter Capaldi
- Length: 17 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Fiver could sense danger. Something terrible was going to happen to the warren; he felt sure of it. They had to leave immediately. So begins a long and perilous journey of survival for a small band of rabbits. As the rabbits skirt danger at every turn, we become acquainted with the band, its humorous characters, and its compelling culture, complete with its own folk history and mythos. Fiver’s vision finally leads them to Watership Down, an upland meadow. But here they face their most difficult challenges of all.
-
-
Capaldi is FANTASTIC; tech editing, not as much
- By Becca on 05-19-19
By: Richard Adams
-
Wolf Hall
- By: Hilary Mantel
- Narrated by: Simon Slater
- Length: 24 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the ruthless arena of King Henry VIII's court, only one man dares to gamble his life to win the king's favor and ascend to the heights of political powerEngland in the 1520s is a heartbeat from disaster. If the king dies without a male heir, the country could be destroyed by civil war. Henry VIII wants to annul his marriage of twenty years, and marry Anne Boleyn.
-
-
Divorced, beheaded, died...
- By Tim on 09-30-11
By: Hilary Mantel
-
His Dark Materials: Once upon a Time in the North
- By: Philip Pullman
- Narrated by: David Harewood
- Length: 2 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In this prequel episode from Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials universe, Lee Scoresby—Texan aeronaut and future friend to Lyra Belacqua—is just 24 years old, and he's recently won his hot-air balloon in a poker game. He finds himself floating North to the windswept Arctic island of Novy Odense, where he and his hare daemon Hester are quickly tangled in a deadly plot involving an oil magnate, a corrupt mayoral candidate, and Lee's longtime nemesis from the Dakota Country, a hired killer with at least twenty murders to his name.
-
-
Great story
- By Wendy Strgar, sagebrushbooks on 10-04-24
By: Philip Pullman
-
Flashman
- Flashman, Book 1
- By: George MacDonald Fraser
- Narrated by: David Case
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The story of what happened to Flashman, the caddish bully of Tom Brown's Schooldays, after he was expelled in drunken disgrace from Rugby school in the late 1830s. This is the first of George Macdonald Fraser's hilarious satires starring Harry Paget Flashman.
-
-
Real history, real drama, real comedy
- By Bob on 08-04-13
-
The Once and Future King
- By: T. H. White
- Narrated by: Neville Jason
- Length: 33 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The complete "box set" of T. H. White's epic fantasy novel of the Arthurian legend. The novel is made up of five parts: "The Sword in the Stone", "The Witch in the Wood", "The Ill-Made Knight", "The Candle in the Wind", and "The Book of Merlyn".
-
-
My favorite book this year.
- By Robert on 12-13-12
By: T. H. White
-
This Tender Land
- By: William Kent Krueger
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 14 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
1932: Located on the banks of the Gilead River in Minnesota, Lincoln School is home to hundreds of Native American boys and girls who have been separated from their families. The only two white boys in the school are orphan brothers Odie and Albert, who, under the watchful eyes of the cruel superintendent Mrs. Brickman, are often in trouble for misdeeds both real and imagined. The two boys' best friend is Mose, a mute Native American who is also the strongest kid in school. And they find another ally in Cora Frost, a widowed teacher who is raising her little girl, Emmy, by herself.
-
-
"Didn't need the underlying social message"
- By Curtis on 09-23-19
Critic reviews
Related to this topic
-
Raiders from the North: Empire of the Moghul
- By: Alex Rutherford
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 14 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Raiders from the North ushers in a bold, panoramic new historical series that tells the unknown story of the Moghul emperors, chronicling the rise and fall of one of the most powerful, opulent, and glittering dynasties in history.
-
-
History Lesson
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 09-08-12
By: Alex Rutherford
-
Silk Road
- By: Colin Falconer
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 14 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Holy Land, 1260. Josseran Sarrazini is chosen to escort the Pope's emissary on an embassy to the all-conquering Mongol horde in an effort to save all Christendom from destruction. But although he serves as a Templar warrior, Josseran is not all that he appears to be. Now they have to spend nine months in each other's company on the most dangerous and most inhospitable journey on the earth - across the legendary deserts of Persia, through the horrific black hurricanes of the Taklimakan, along the entire spider's web of the Silk Road to Khubilai Khan's legendary capital at Xanadu.
-
-
Could be better
- By Gary on 02-11-20
By: Colin Falconer
-
Transformation
- Rai-Kirah, Book 1
- By: Carol Berg
- Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell
- Length: 16 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seyonne is a man waiting to die. He has been a slave for 16 years, almost half his life, and has lost everything of meaning to him: his dignity, the people and homeland he loves, and the Warden's power he used to defend an unsuspecting world from the ravages of demons. Seyonne has made peace with his fate. With strict self-discipline he forces himself to exist only in the present moment and to avoid the pain of hope or caring about anyone.
-
-
Seriously Excellent
- By Sharon on 09-25-13
By: Carol Berg
-
Ransom
- By: David Malouf
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 4 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the story of the relationship between two grieving men at war: fierce Achilles, who has lost his beloved Patroclus in the siege of Troy; and woeful Priam, whose son Hector killed Patroclus and was in turn savaged by Achilles. A moving tale of suffering, sorrow, and redemption, Ransom is incandescent in its delicate and powerful lyricism and its unstated imperative that we imagine our lives in the glow of fellow feeling.
-
-
Ponderous narration, tortured prose
- By Gail N. on 01-26-20
By: David Malouf
-
Flesh and Spirit
- Lighthouse, Book 1
- By: Carol Berg
- Narrated by: Allen O'Reilly
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The rebellious son of a long line of pureblood cartographers and diviners, Valen has spent most of his life trying to escape what society - and his family - have ordained for him. His own mother has predicted that he will meet his doom in water, blood, and ice. Her divination seems fulfilled when a comrade abandons Valen in a rainy wilderness half-dead, addicted to an enchantment that converts pain to pleasure, and possessing only a stolen book of maps.
-
-
FIGHTING TO ADD MORE WORDS TO THIS COLLECTION
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 07-13-14
By: Carol Berg
-
Legend
- Drenai Series
- By: David Gemmell
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Druss, Captain of the Axe: the stories of his life were told everywhere. Instead of the wealth and fame he could have claimed, he had chosen a mountain lair, high in the lonely country bordering on the clouds. There the grizzled old warrior kept company with snow leopards and awaited his old enemy, death.
-
-
Two Legends Come to Audible
- By Carol on 06-26-17
By: David Gemmell
-
Raiders from the North: Empire of the Moghul
- By: Alex Rutherford
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 14 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Raiders from the North ushers in a bold, panoramic new historical series that tells the unknown story of the Moghul emperors, chronicling the rise and fall of one of the most powerful, opulent, and glittering dynasties in history.
-
-
History Lesson
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 09-08-12
By: Alex Rutherford
-
Silk Road
- By: Colin Falconer
- Narrated by: Emily Woo Zeller
- Length: 14 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The Holy Land, 1260. Josseran Sarrazini is chosen to escort the Pope's emissary on an embassy to the all-conquering Mongol horde in an effort to save all Christendom from destruction. But although he serves as a Templar warrior, Josseran is not all that he appears to be. Now they have to spend nine months in each other's company on the most dangerous and most inhospitable journey on the earth - across the legendary deserts of Persia, through the horrific black hurricanes of the Taklimakan, along the entire spider's web of the Silk Road to Khubilai Khan's legendary capital at Xanadu.
-
-
Could be better
- By Gary on 02-11-20
By: Colin Falconer
-
Transformation
- Rai-Kirah, Book 1
- By: Carol Berg
- Narrated by: Kevin Stillwell
- Length: 16 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Seyonne is a man waiting to die. He has been a slave for 16 years, almost half his life, and has lost everything of meaning to him: his dignity, the people and homeland he loves, and the Warden's power he used to defend an unsuspecting world from the ravages of demons. Seyonne has made peace with his fate. With strict self-discipline he forces himself to exist only in the present moment and to avoid the pain of hope or caring about anyone.
-
-
Seriously Excellent
- By Sharon on 09-25-13
By: Carol Berg
-
Ransom
- By: David Malouf
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 4 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is the story of the relationship between two grieving men at war: fierce Achilles, who has lost his beloved Patroclus in the siege of Troy; and woeful Priam, whose son Hector killed Patroclus and was in turn savaged by Achilles. A moving tale of suffering, sorrow, and redemption, Ransom is incandescent in its delicate and powerful lyricism and its unstated imperative that we imagine our lives in the glow of fellow feeling.
-
-
Ponderous narration, tortured prose
- By Gail N. on 01-26-20
By: David Malouf
-
Flesh and Spirit
- Lighthouse, Book 1
- By: Carol Berg
- Narrated by: Allen O'Reilly
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The rebellious son of a long line of pureblood cartographers and diviners, Valen has spent most of his life trying to escape what society - and his family - have ordained for him. His own mother has predicted that he will meet his doom in water, blood, and ice. Her divination seems fulfilled when a comrade abandons Valen in a rainy wilderness half-dead, addicted to an enchantment that converts pain to pleasure, and possessing only a stolen book of maps.
-
-
FIGHTING TO ADD MORE WORDS TO THIS COLLECTION
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 07-13-14
By: Carol Berg
-
Legend
- Drenai Series
- By: David Gemmell
- Narrated by: Sean Barrett
- Length: 13 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Druss, Captain of the Axe: the stories of his life were told everywhere. Instead of the wealth and fame he could have claimed, he had chosen a mountain lair, high in the lonely country bordering on the clouds. There the grizzled old warrior kept company with snow leopards and awaited his old enemy, death.
-
-
Two Legends Come to Audible
- By Carol on 06-26-17
By: David Gemmell
-
Casca the Eternal Mercenary
- Casca Series, Book 1
- By: Barry Sadler
- Narrated by: Gene Engene
- Length: 7 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
This is audiobook number one in the Casca Series. When they flew Casey into the hospital at Nha Trang, the medics were sure he would die. That he didn't was only the first surprise. The second, and bigger one, was that Casey had been fighting for two thousand years, ever since that day on Golgotha when he thrust his lance into the side of the man on the cross.
-
-
An interesting story for every Soldier to read.
- By Jonathan Love on 09-22-11
By: Barry Sadler
-
A Warrior's Journey
- Dragonlance: Ergoth Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Paul B. Thompson
- Narrated by: Dennis Holland
- Length: 13 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The mighty Ergothian empire is gripped by civil war. Centuries before the first Cataclysm sunders Ansalon, two imperial dynasties struggle for supremacy. Brutal warlords jockey for power, while corrupt wizards sell their skills to the highest bidder. Unnatural monsters prey on the unwary. Amid this chaos and upheaval, a brave young peasant shakes the towers of the mighty as his fate and the destiny of Krynn collide.
-
-
Only buy on sale
- By Mr Dangerous on 08-06-24
By: Paul B. Thompson
-
Child of Vengeance
- A Novel
- By: David Kirk
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 15 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Japan in the late 16th century was a land in turmoil. Lords of the great clans schemed against one another, served by aristocratic samurai bound to them by a rigid code of honor. Bennosuke is a high-born but lonely teenager living in his ancestral village. His mother died when he was a young boy, and his powerful warrior father Munisai has abandoned him for a life of service to his Lord, Shinmei. Bennosuke has been raised by his uncle Dorinbo, a Buddhist monk who urges the boy to forgo the violence of the samurai and embrace the contemplative life.
-
-
Clever weaving of history and fiction.
- By JW Crummett on 02-25-16
By: David Kirk
-
Sanctuary
- Dragonlance: Elven Exiles, Book 1
- By: Tonya C. Cook, Paul B. Thompson
- Narrated by: Ax Norman
- Length: 12 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
The first book in a brand new trilogy by well-loved Dragonlance authors! Two of the authors of the Elven Nations trilogy now continue the story of the elves! The fortunes of war have driven the once-great elven nations into exile in the desert land of Khur. The elves must overcome extraordinary perils including treachery to establish a new homeland.
-
-
Barely ok...
- By Mr Dangerous on 06-21-23
By: Tonya C. Cook, and others
-
The Book of Kells
- By: R. A. MacAvoy
- Narrated by: Alan Robertson
- Length: 14 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A contemporary man, John Thornburn (a meek, non-violent and unpredictable artist) and woman, Derval (his tough, confrontational, strong and warrior-like lover) time travel to ancient Ireland to avenge a Viking attack. Packed with fascinating details of historical time and place in Irish history and delicately balanced on the border between realism and fantasy, the story centers around one of the most famous and beautiful illuminated manuscripts in history, the legendary but entirely real Book of Kells.
-
-
The Book of Irish Fantasy
- By S. Wells on 12-10-12
By: R. A. MacAvoy
-
Battle of Kings
- By: M. K. Hume
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 17 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In the town of Segontium a wild storm washes a fugitive ashore. He brutally rapes the granddaughter of the ruler of the Deceangli tribe, leaving her to bear his son, Myrddion Merlinus (Merlin). Spurned as a demon seed, the child is raised by his grandmother and, as soon as he turns nine, he is apprenticed to a skilled alchemist who hones the boy’s remarkable gift of prophecy. Meanwhile, the High King of the Britons, Vortigern, is rebuilding the ancient fortress at Dinas Emrys.
-
-
Underrated book author and narrator!
- By Zachary on 04-15-22
By: M. K. Hume
-
Firstborn
- Dragonlance: Elven Nations Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Paul B. Thompson, Tonya C. Cook
- Narrated by: Steve Coulter
- Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
When the leader of the Silvanesti elves dies, conflict threatens to drive his sons apart. While Sithas wishes the elves to withdraw more and more from any contact with other races, Kith-Kanan and his Wildrunners forge connections and trade goods with the humans of Ergoth. As the world of Krynn watches, a new elven nation rises from the strife.
-
-
After all this time
- By Jesse on 04-17-13
By: Paul B. Thompson, and others
-
Phoenix Unbound
- The Fallen Empire Series, Book 1
- By: Grace Draven
- Narrated by: Katharine Lee McEwan
- Length: 14 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Every year, each village is required to send a young woman to the Empire's capital - her fate to be burned alive for the entertainment of the masses. For the last five years, one small village's tithe has been the same woman. Gilene's sacrifice protects all the other young women of her village, and her secret to staying alive lies with the magic only she possesses. But this year is different. Azarion, the Empire's most famous gladiator, has somehow seen through her illusion - and is set on blackmailing Gilene into using her abilities to help him escape his life of slavery.
-
-
Nothing special. Highly predictable
- By J. C. Schmidt on 10-10-18
By: Grace Draven
-
Forge of Darkness
- Kharkanas Trilogy, Book 1
- By: Steven Erikson
- Narrated by: Daniel Philpott
- Length: 31 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Forge of Darkness takes listeners to Kurald Galain, the warren of Darkness, and tells of a realm whose fate plays a crucial role in the fall of the Malazan Empire and surrounds one of the Malazan world’s most fascinating and powerful characters, Anomander Rake. It’s a conflicted time in Kurald Galain, where Mother Dark reigns above the Tiste people. But this ancient land was once home to many a power...and even death is not quite eternal. The commoners’ great hero, Vatha Urusander, longs for ascendency and Mother Dark’s hand in marriage, but she has taken another Consort, Lord Draconus.
-
-
A Precursor Epic Fantasy - A Rewarding Beginning!
- By Michael on 11-08-12
By: Steven Erikson
-
Wars of the Roses
- Stormbird
- By: Conn Iggulden
- Narrated by: John Curless
- Length: 16 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In 1437, the Lancaster king Henry VI ascends the throne of England after years of semi-peaceful regency. Named "The Lamb," Henry is famed more for his gentle and pious nature than his father's famous battlefield exploits; already, his dependence on his closest men has stirred whispers of weakness at court. A secret truce negotiated with France to trade British territories for a royal bride - Margaret of Anjou - sparks revolts across English territory.
-
-
100% Fiction and 0% Real History
- By Mary Elizabeth Reynolds on 04-25-18
By: Conn Iggulden
-
The Bone Doll's Twin
- Tamir Triad, Book 1
- By: Lynn Flewelling
- Narrated by: Victor Bevine, Lynn Flewelling
- Length: 16 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As people start to recall the Oracle's prophecy, Erius begins to quietly kill off his female relatives who pose the only threat to his monarchy. Constantly in fear for her life, Princess Ariani the King's sister, gave birth to twins, a boy and a girl. But Ariani is married to Lord Rhius, the patron of the powerful wizard Iya, and Iya has sinister plans for the babes.
-
-
Not a bad beginning, but . . .
- By bluestatereader on 12-29-10
By: Lynn Flewelling
-
Black Wolves
- By: Kate Elliott
- Narrated by: Richard Ferrone
- Length: 28 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
He lost his honor long ago. Captain Kellas was lauded as the king's most faithful servant until the day he failed in his duty. Dismissed from service, his elite regiment disbanded, he left the royal palace and took up another life. Now a battle brews within the palace that threatens to reveal deadly secrets and spill over into open war. The king needs a loyal soldier to protect him. Can a disgraced man ever be trusted?"
-
-
Very engaging. Can't wait for book 2
- By Claudia Alderman on 01-15-16
By: Kate Elliott
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
Telegraph Avenue
- A Novel
- By: Michael Chabon
- Narrated by: Clarke Peters
- Length: 18 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the summer of 2004 draws to a close, Archy Stallings and Nat Jaffe are still hanging in there - longtime friends, bandmates, and co-regents of Brokeland Records, a kingdom of used vinyl located in the borderlands of Berkeley and Oakland. Their wives, Gwen Shanks and Aviva Roth-Jaffe, are the Berkeley Birth Partners, a pair of semi-legendary midwives who have welcomed, between them, more than a thousand newly minted citizens into the dented utopia at whose heart - half tavern, half temple - stands Brokeland Records.
-
-
26,784 sq in (and 4.5 miles) surrounded by REALITY
- By Darwin8u on 09-11-12
By: Michael Chabon
-
Moonglow
- A Novel
- By: Michael Chabon
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 14 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Moonglow unfolds as the deathbed confession, made to his grandson, of a man the narrator refers to only as "my grandfather". It is a tale of madness, of war and adventure, of sex and desire and ordinary love, of existential doubt and model rocketry, of the shining aspirations and demonic underpinnings of American technological accomplishment at midcentury, and, above all, of the destructive impact - and the creative power - of the keeping of secrets and the telling of lies.
-
-
Wonderful novel, terrible narrator
- By Joyce M. Bernheim on 12-30-16
By: Michael Chabon
-
The Yiddish Policemen's Union
- A Novel
- By: Michael Chabon
- Narrated by: Peter Riegert
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For 60 years Jewish refugees and their descendants have prospered in the federal district of Sitka, a temporary safe haven created in the wake of the Holocaust and the shocking 1948 collapse of the fledgling state of Israel. The Jews of the Sitka District have created their own little world in the Alaskan panhandle, a vibrant and complex frontier city that moves to the music of Yiddish. But now the district is set to revert to Alaskan control, and their dream is coming to an end.
-
-
Didn't finish...
- By Ann E O'Connor on 10-16-17
By: Michael Chabon
-
Summerland
- A Novel
- By: Michael Chabon
- Narrated by: Michael Chabon
- Length: 15 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ethan Feld is having a terrible summer: His father has moved them to Clam Island, Washington, where Ethan has quickly established himself as the least gifted baseball player the island has ever seen. Ethan's luck begins to change, however, when a mysterious baseball scout named Ringfinger Brown and a 765-year-old werefox enter his life, dragging Ethan into another world called the Summerlands.
-
-
5-Star Narration Elevates 3.25-Star Story
- By Gillian on 04-18-16
By: Michael Chabon
-
Wonder Boys
- By: Michael Chabon
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A wildly successful first novel made Grady Tripp a young star, and seven years later he still hasn't grown up. He's now a writing professor in Pittsburgh, plummeting through middle age, stuck with an unfinishable manuscript, an estranged wife, a pregnant girlfriend, and a talented but deeply disturbed student named James Leer.
-
-
A strong, early Chabon (sounds like grading wine)
- By Darwin8u on 03-09-14
By: Michael Chabon
-
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh
- By: Michael Chabon
- Narrated by: Chris Andrew Ciulla
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Michael Chabon masterfully renders the funny, tender, and captivating first-person narrative of Art Bechstein, whose confusion and heartache echo the tones of literary forebears like The Catcher in the Rye's Holden Caulfield and The Great Gatsby's Nick Carraway. The Mysteries of Pittsburgh incontrovertibly established Chabon as a powerful force in contemporary fiction, even before his Pulitzer Prize-winning The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. An unforgettable story of coming of age in America, it is also an essential milestone in American fiction.
-
-
Disappointing
- By George S. Pichon Jr. on 04-13-18
By: Michael Chabon
-
Telegraph Avenue
- A Novel
- By: Michael Chabon
- Narrated by: Clarke Peters
- Length: 18 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As the summer of 2004 draws to a close, Archy Stallings and Nat Jaffe are still hanging in there - longtime friends, bandmates, and co-regents of Brokeland Records, a kingdom of used vinyl located in the borderlands of Berkeley and Oakland. Their wives, Gwen Shanks and Aviva Roth-Jaffe, are the Berkeley Birth Partners, a pair of semi-legendary midwives who have welcomed, between them, more than a thousand newly minted citizens into the dented utopia at whose heart - half tavern, half temple - stands Brokeland Records.
-
-
26,784 sq in (and 4.5 miles) surrounded by REALITY
- By Darwin8u on 09-11-12
By: Michael Chabon
-
Moonglow
- A Novel
- By: Michael Chabon
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 14 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Moonglow unfolds as the deathbed confession, made to his grandson, of a man the narrator refers to only as "my grandfather". It is a tale of madness, of war and adventure, of sex and desire and ordinary love, of existential doubt and model rocketry, of the shining aspirations and demonic underpinnings of American technological accomplishment at midcentury, and, above all, of the destructive impact - and the creative power - of the keeping of secrets and the telling of lies.
-
-
Wonderful novel, terrible narrator
- By Joyce M. Bernheim on 12-30-16
By: Michael Chabon
-
The Yiddish Policemen's Union
- A Novel
- By: Michael Chabon
- Narrated by: Peter Riegert
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For 60 years Jewish refugees and their descendants have prospered in the federal district of Sitka, a temporary safe haven created in the wake of the Holocaust and the shocking 1948 collapse of the fledgling state of Israel. The Jews of the Sitka District have created their own little world in the Alaskan panhandle, a vibrant and complex frontier city that moves to the music of Yiddish. But now the district is set to revert to Alaskan control, and their dream is coming to an end.
-
-
Didn't finish...
- By Ann E O'Connor on 10-16-17
By: Michael Chabon
-
Summerland
- A Novel
- By: Michael Chabon
- Narrated by: Michael Chabon
- Length: 15 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Ethan Feld is having a terrible summer: His father has moved them to Clam Island, Washington, where Ethan has quickly established himself as the least gifted baseball player the island has ever seen. Ethan's luck begins to change, however, when a mysterious baseball scout named Ringfinger Brown and a 765-year-old werefox enter his life, dragging Ethan into another world called the Summerlands.
-
-
5-Star Narration Elevates 3.25-Star Story
- By Gillian on 04-18-16
By: Michael Chabon
-
Wonder Boys
- By: Michael Chabon
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 11 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A wildly successful first novel made Grady Tripp a young star, and seven years later he still hasn't grown up. He's now a writing professor in Pittsburgh, plummeting through middle age, stuck with an unfinishable manuscript, an estranged wife, a pregnant girlfriend, and a talented but deeply disturbed student named James Leer.
-
-
A strong, early Chabon (sounds like grading wine)
- By Darwin8u on 03-09-14
By: Michael Chabon
-
The Mysteries of Pittsburgh
- By: Michael Chabon
- Narrated by: Chris Andrew Ciulla
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Michael Chabon masterfully renders the funny, tender, and captivating first-person narrative of Art Bechstein, whose confusion and heartache echo the tones of literary forebears like The Catcher in the Rye's Holden Caulfield and The Great Gatsby's Nick Carraway. The Mysteries of Pittsburgh incontrovertibly established Chabon as a powerful force in contemporary fiction, even before his Pulitzer Prize-winning The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay. An unforgettable story of coming of age in America, it is also an essential milestone in American fiction.
-
-
Disappointing
- By George S. Pichon Jr. on 04-13-18
By: Michael Chabon
-
Manhood for Amateurs
- The Pleasures and Regrets of a Husband, Father, and Son
- By: Michael Chabon
- Narrated by: Michael Chabon
- Length: 8 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
As a devoted son, as a passionate husband, and above all as a father, Chabon's memories of childhood, of his parents' marriage and divorce, of moments of painful adolescent comedy and giddy encounters with the popular art and literature of his own youth, are like a theme played by the mad quartet of which he now finds himself co-conductor. At once dazzling, hilarious, and moving, Manhood for Amateurs is destined to become a classic.
-
-
Terrible
- By Ken on 10-14-09
By: Michael Chabon
-
The Final Solution
- By: Michael Chabon
- Narrated by: Michael York
- Length: 3 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
Retired to the English countryside, an 89-year-old man, rumored to be a once-famous detective, is more concerned with his beekeeping than with his fellow man. Into his life wanders Linus Steinman, nine years old and mute, who has escaped from Nazi Germany with his sole companion: an African gray parrot. What is the meaning of the mysterious strings of German numbers the bird spews out-a top-secret SS code? The keys to a series of Swiss bank accounts? Or do they hold a significance both more prosaic and far more sinister?
-
-
Fun Listen!
- By My account was compromised. on 03-03-21
By: Michael Chabon
-
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
- By: Michael Chabon
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 26 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
It's 1939, in New York City. Joe Kavalier, a young artist who has also been trained in the art of Houdiniesque escape, has just pulled off his greatest feat: smuggling himself out of Hitler's Prague. He's looking to make big money, fast, so that he can bring his family to freedom. His cousin, Brooklyn's own Sammy Clay, is looking for a partner in creating the heroes, stories, and art for the latest novelty to hit the American dreamscape: the comic book. Inspired by their own fantasies, fears, and dreams, they create the Escapist.
-
-
A World I DON'T Ever Want to Escape From.
- By Darwin8u on 06-12-12
By: Michael Chabon
-
Pops
- By: Michael Chabon
- Narrated by: Michael Chabon
- Length: 2 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
For the September 2016 issue of GQ, Michael Chabon wrote a piece about accompanying his son Abraham Chabon, then 13, to Paris Men's Fashion Week. Possessed with a precocious sense of style, Abe was in his element chatting with designers he idolized and turning a critical eye to the freshest runway looks of the season; Chabon Sr., whose interest in clothing stops at "thrift-shopping for vintage western shirts or Hermès neckties," sat idly by, staving off yawns and fighting the impulse that the whole thing was a massive waste of time.
-
-
Manhood for Amateurs, Part Deux
- By Darwin8u on 05-21-18
By: Michael Chabon
-
Kingdom of Olives and Ash
- Writers Confront the Occupation
- By: Michael Chabon, Ayelet Waldman
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders, Gabra Zackman
- Length: 16 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
A groundbreaking collection of essays by celebrated international writers bears witness to the human cost of 50 years of Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. In Kingdom of Olives and Ash, Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman, two of today's most renowned novelists and essayists, have teamed up with the Israeli NGO Breaking the Silence and a host of illustrious writers to tell the stories of the people on the ground in the contested territories.
-
-
An emotionally and ethically charged book
- By Loni Shelef on 11-18-17
By: Michael Chabon, and others
-
The Lincoln Highway
- A Read with Jenna Pick (A Novel)
- By: Amor Towles
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini, Marin Ireland, Dion Graham
- Length: 16 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
In June, 1954, eighteen-year-old Emmett Watson is driven home to Nebraska by the warden of the juvenile work farm where he has just served fifteen months for involuntary manslaughter. His mother long gone, his father recently deceased, and the family farm foreclosed upon by the bank, Emmett's intention is to pick up his eight-year-old brother, Billy, and head to California where they can start their lives anew. But when the warden drives away, Emmett discovers that two friends from the work farm have hidden themselves in the trunk of the warden's car.
-
-
I'm totally opposite
- By Meaghan Bynum on 10-10-21
By: Amor Towles
What listeners say about Gentlemen of the Road
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Jacob L. McConnell
- 05-24-15
Adventure unlike anything else
Very different than Chabon's other books, but outstanding nonetheless.
Braugher's performance is also stunning.
The setting for this adventure story, Kazaria, is a historical empire, but one I had never encountered despite being a history enthusiast.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Leslie
- 08-24-20
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Nicaragua
- 06-12-21
Amazing!
My only complaint is that I want more. Fantastic characters, beautiful prose and an incredible story.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Darwin8u
- 08-25-17
Jews with Swords
"All the evil in the world derives from the actions of men acting in a mass against other masses of men."
- Michael Chabon, Gentlemen of the Road
Jews with Swords? I guess that was Chabon's working title, if Chabon is to be believed. He is a bit unreliable. His prose, however, is delicious. His perspective is always new and fresh. I don't think this is nearly one of his great ones*, but it seems like it might have been the most enjoyable (that I've read so far) for Chabon to write. It is a yarn, a tale, a swashbuckler, a grift, a rollick, a legend. I'm not sure why it hasn't been made into a movie. It is NOT, however, live promotions company, record label and organizer of the global series of Stopover Festivals. That is a different set of Gentlemen.
This short novel seems like some Jewish equivalent to The Princess Bride (yes, I understand that William Goldman is Jewish, but the Princess Bride was not directly a Jewish adventure). Anyway, it was the perfect book to read as I flew from Phoenix to Dallas to start a weeklong eclipse road trip with my brother and Douglas Laux. It was tight and the prose was classic Chabon. One of my favorite things about this book? The chapters:
"On Discord Arising from the Excessive Love of a Hat"
"On the Seizing of a Low Moment"
"On Anxieties Arising from the Impermissibility, However Unreasonable, of an Elephant's Rounding Out a Prayer Quorum"
"On the Melancholy Duty of Soldiers to Contend with the Messes Left By Kings"
* Great Ones:
1. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay
2. Moonglow
3. Wonder Boys
4. The Mysteries of Pittsburgh
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
13 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Matthew Asay
- 06-28-15
Enjoyable and short, with delicious diction
My first Chabon book, and what a joy to stumble upon such wonderful descriptions as "unpersuasive shade of a gnarled juniper." Not a masterpiece but highly enjoyable.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
2 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- slim
- 10-21-18
2d only to Summerland
Summerland is Chabon's best in terms of story & character development, but Gentleman of the Road is close 2d, & only because it has just 10% of the characters & settings. I love it beyond reason: Chabon+Andre Brauer best combo ever.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
- TH
- 12-01-09
Incredible Story - Fitting Narrator!
Andre Braugher has such an expressive voice, he was perfect for this rollicking, swashbuckling story. You could imagine hearing it by candlelight in an old tavern somewhere. Lots of fun.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
11 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Celeste M
- 03-08-14
genre fiction at it's thrilling best
This book is super fun. It's fast paced, light, smart and seamlessly crafted. Gentlemen Of The Road reminds me what it was like when I was a little kid bookworm, devouring trashy paperback adventures from cover to cover.
As a child, old pulp serials were the best thing ever. John Carter, Conan, Tarzan - these books whisked me through their pages with knuckle biting adventure - but somehow you always knew the hero would come out on top, despite his (always his) nagging personal doubts, and the overwhelming odds. The simple characters, and almost familiar plots set in exotic locations thrilled me.
Revisiting the novels as an adult, the experience soured. I found them tedious, xenophobic, sexist, and full of horrid cliches. Truly one of those sad moments of lost innocence.
However, this book captures everything my itty-bitty self adored in those old adventures. Chabon perfectly reinvents the flare and simplicity of bold men and women, clever rapscallions, and cruel villains - all dueling in another time and place. And it ditches all the anachronistic manure found in the old pulps. And it's beautifully written, with a voice that effortlessly glides the reader across the exotic locale and fast paced action.
Pros and cons of the audio version: while the audiobook loses the great spot illustrations of the printed edition, it makes up for that with Andre Braugher's reading. His pacing and the texture of his voice perfectly enhances this story.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- MaGGot
- 10-22-18
Rogues of 0ld/hearts of gold
The author's style of word flow remind me of
Shakespeare... I have difficulty in understanding the intent. Since I listen to audible books... I rewind and re-listen... I cant do work while listening, but have to concentrate.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall
-
Performance
-
Story
- Brooke Zaugg
- 07-01-23
Aborted after 3 chapters
Story is way too wordy and vocabulary tries too hard.
Narrator also isn’t up to par. He ought to at least know how to pronounce prominent words, like the title of a main character in the story, the “mahout”.
The first book I’ve aborted. Very disappointing.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful