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The Sportswriter
- Frank Bascombe, Book 1
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 14 hrs and 46 mins
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Publisher's summary
In this first volume of his Frank Bascombe trilogy, Bascombe is a sportswriter attempting to cope with his failed marriage and the death of his son. Unable to establish true connections with people, Bascombe drifts into and out of various relationships, but retains an introspective eye that allows him to transcend life's obstacles.
Critic reviews
"Among the best realist American writers today." ( Publishers Weekly)
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The Pulitzer Prize-winning author talks candidly about his celebrated trilogy of novels, and his approach to writing the character of Frank Bascombe over 20-plus years, overthrowing some of his readers' assumptions in the course of the conversation. Symphony Space Artistic Director Isaiah Sheffer interviews Mr. Ford, whose "pitch-perfect voice takes us as close as we can get to experiencing another person's inner life" ( Newsweek).
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Missings
- By Louis on 06-07-12
By: Richard Ford
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Cathedral
- By: Raymond Carver
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 7 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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This is Raymond Carver's third collection of stories, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, including the canonical titular story about blindness and learning to enter the very different world of another. The 12 stories in Cathedral mark a turning point in Carver's work.
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Disaffected performance
- By Tom Broderick on 07-22-17
By: Raymond Carver
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The Moviegoer
- By: Walker Percy
- Narrated by: Christopher Hurt
- Length: 6 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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A winner of the National Book Award, The Moviegoer established Walker Percy as an insightful and grimly humorous storyteller. It is the tale of Binx Bolling, a small-time stockbroker who lives quietly in suburban New Orleans, pursuing an interest in the movies, affairs with his secretaries, and living out his days. But soon he finds himself on a "search" for something more important, some spiritual truth to anchor him.
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Percy's Prose Dances with Grace, Charm and Style
- By Darwin8u on 10-11-12
By: Walker Percy
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Amsterdam
- By: Ian McEwan
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 4 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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The best-selling author of Atonement and Enduring Love, Ian McEwan is known as one of contemporary fiction’s most acclaimed writers. This Booker Prize-winning novel by McEwan finds two men connecting at the funeral of their ex-lover. Distressed by how she was slowly destroyed by an illness, the two make a pact to save each other from enduring such a fate.
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Quick and engaging, well-read
- By Bronwen on 12-28-11
By: Ian McEwan
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Herzog
- By: Saul Bellow
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 15 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Winner of the National Book Award when it was first published in 1964, Herzog traces five days in the life of a failed academic whose wife has recently left him for his best friend. Through the device of letter writing, Herzog movingly portrays both the internal life of its eponymous hero and the complexity of modern consciousness.
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Grows Within You
- By Chris Reich on 08-06-11
By: Saul Bellow
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Drop City
- By: T. C. Boyle
- Narrated by: Richard Poe
- Length: 18 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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T.C. Boyle is hailed as "America's most imaginative contemporary novelist" ( Newsweek). In 1970, a California commune pulls up stakes and moves to the harsh interior of Alaska. The members establish Drop City, a back-to-the-land town, on a foundation of peace and free love. But their idealism cannot prevent tension from rippling through the group. The results are anything but predictable in this honest, surprising evocation of a time period and its enduring beliefs.
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Dig this...
- By Lynne on 03-15-04
By: T. C. Boyle
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The Corrections
- A Novel
- By: Jonathan Franzen
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 21 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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The Corrections is a grandly entertaining novel for the new century--a comic, tragic masterpiece about a family breaking down in an age of easy fixes. After almost 50 years as a wife and mother, Enid Lambert is ready to have some fun. Unfortunately, her husband, Alfred, is losing his sanity to Parkinson's disease, and their children have long since flown the family nest to the catastrophes of their own lives. Enid has set her heart on an elusive goal: bringing her family together for one last Christmas at home.
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"Grandly Entertaining"? Really?
- By Georgia Burns on 10-08-13
By: Jonathan Franzen
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Mason & Dixon
- By: Thomas Pynchon
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 33 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Charles Mason (1728-1786) and Jeremiah Dixon (1733-1779) were the British surveyors best remembered for running the boundary between Pennsylvania and Maryland that we know today as the Mason-Dixon Line. Here is their story as re-imagined by Thomas Pynchon, featuring Native Americans and frontier folk, ripped bodices, naval warfare, conspiracies erotic and political, and major caffeine abuse. We follow the mismatched pair - one rollicking, the other depressive; one Gothic, the other pre-Romantic.
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What the hell just happened?
- By Kid A on 12-23-19
By: Thomas Pynchon
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Native Son
- By: Richard Wright
- Narrated by: Peter Francis James
- Length: 17 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Right from the start, Bigger Thomas had been headed for jail. It could have been for assault or petty larceny; by chance, it was for murder and rape. Native Son tells the story of this young black man caught in a downward spiral after he kills a young white woman in a brief moment of panic. Set in Chicago in the 1930s, Richard Wright's powerful novel is an unsparing reflection on the poverty and feelings of hopelessness experienced by people in inner cities across the country and of what it means to be black in America.
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Simply a classic
- By Noah Smith on 11-11-10
By: Richard Wright
What listeners say about The Sportswriter
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- chetyarbrough.blog
- 03-07-16
WANDERING THROUGH LIFE
Selecting books from book lists like Random House’s Modern Library is not a full proof method for making good choices. The decision to listen to “The Sportswriter” came from one of those lists.
The initial impression of "The Sportswriter" is that it is a story about wandering through life. But as it progresses, the listener begins to realize that Richard Ford is writing about men and how some view life.
This is not a story that makes one proud to be a man but it offers insight to why the cliché “men are from Mars” has some truth. Ford’s main character is a guy’s guy named Frank Bascombe. He is a traveling sports writer and a divorcée of his own making, a fool that fails to understand what is important in life. After his marriage break up, he is cast adrift to find the next best thing which never turns into anything important.
The irony of a guy’s guy skill to seduce is that it leads to a lonely and empty life. In Ford’s story, “The Sportswriter”, Bascombe drifts through life from relationship to relationship to nowhere. He never comes to grips with what is wrong with his life. He drifts to Retirementville, Florida to think about the next best thing. That is how the story ends. It is a rather depressing exploration of how vacuous life can be.
This is a book that gives a concrete explanation of what some men are looking for in life. When listening to The Sportswriter, you may find someone you know; hopefully not you.
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- Kelly
- 08-30-21
a bit reminiscent of Updike's Rabbit
I enjoyed this book more than I expected, despite the hateful main character, Frank Bascombe. He is an unhappy, unmotivated man. I've seen comparisons to Updike's Rabbit, but I found this character less hateful. But that also meant that I cared less.
The Sportswriter is the tale of a man named Frank Bascombe. He isn't quite miserable, but is certainly unhappy. Frank was working as a novelist, but he quits and becomes a sports writer. He is boring, dull and lifeless. He has also lost everything. His son died, and his wife left him taking the other children with her. Although the book doesn't allude to much introspection on Frank's part, it was still obvious that he was swamped by grief. And, for me, that made him a bit more relatable.
The story is told in a way that makes it feel more intimate and voyeuristic. Frank's internal monologue about all the people he meets up with over one weekend make the book feel like you are a fly on the wall. The book is well-written, but in no way happy or light. Be prepared for a dark, quiet book about a joyless man.
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- Puddin Tame
- 12-12-18
Perfect Narrator; Imperfect Novel
If this book were half as long, my tolerance for Frank’s incessant musings would increase. He describes and describes to the point that the book feels stagnant, and perhaps that is the point. He is stuck. Unfortunately he is so unlikeable and so truly unaware of himself, I didn’t care what happened ti him.
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- Mark in the Midwest
- 04-09-21
Great Story and Narration
I would highly recommend listening to the entire 'Frank Bascom' series. There are 4 books in total.
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- Ned
- 02-04-15
Listen to the last 15 minutes
Tedious day by day story. Will try another Richard Ford book to see if there is more to them. Only OK.
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3 people found this helpful
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- John
- 11-14-15
Excellent. Spot on narration.
Does a rather average, ho-hum life offer insight and a glimpse of truth? Richard Ford answers that question here.
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- Glenn A. Douglas
- 03-15-22
I'm torn....
I am torn as to whether to continue this series. As a middle aged man trying to figure out how to continue to be happy in a world where everything around him is changing, I searched out books that might include people/characters going through the same thing (you'd be amazed what a search for "mid-life crisis" turns up).
I sympathized with Frank's lack of clarity, direction, etc. I certainly understood his trying to grasp on to clearly dysfunctional things in order to try and find happiness. But, I didn't find him particularly likable or compelling. I found myself wanting him to take bolder steps, to take himself out of bad situations, to take more control of his life.
The book is very well written. I did find the overt racism in the book jarring, a bygone of a worse time in our history. It took me out of the story quite often. The narration is spot on and very compelling.
Still can't decide whether to give the second book a shot......
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- Cheryl
- 06-25-23
Depressing story
I wanted to like the main character, however, to me he was not a caring good person. The story never got better.
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- IH
- 11-26-23
Great writing but difficult to engage
Good writing but story drags and characters seem distant. Seemed like an introduction to the series.
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- chris
- 03-22-08
wonderful
This is one of the best audiobooks I have purchased. For one, the narration is perfect. My only exposure to Richard Ford was short stories. I liked this book very much and I can say I don't know any other writer who writes like him. He slows down to lay out the history and his philosophy on every character and event. It's like watching someone crack a hardboiled egg and pull off a tiny shell fragment at a time.
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26 people found this helpful