Oh how I loved reading this book - and that is the only reason this audiobook has 2 stars. If I were rating the audiobook on its own merits - story aside - I would give it a negative 2 stars!

This story itself is amazing, and I came by the book quite by accident. It was passed on to my by a fellow traveler in The Balkans last year, and never having heard of it, I had no expectations. I decided to take it as my "fluff read" on a train from Belgrade to Budapest and once I opened it, I could not put it down.

I had gone to Budapest to visit a life-long friend, whom I had not seen in a few years. Somewhat embarrassingly, I found that even while I was excited to see my friend, I was so compelled to see what happened next in the story that every time she left the room (even just to use the bathroom) I immediately picked up the book again. (I left the book with her when I departed for Belgrade, and my friend felt just as strongly about the book as did I, so I felt a little justified.)

So later in the year, when I had a 28 hour travel day coming up, I decided to download the audiobook version - WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT!

The narration is so annoying! The voice of the main character sounds as if, at any moment, the guy is going to snicker "just kiddin'" and poke you in the ribs. GRATING to say the least.

I still love this story and am excited to see the film that is coming out. But I would NOT recommend the audiobook version. Read this one on your own. It is an amazing story and the odd narration really ruins it.

I loved this book in print, but could not abide the reader. I quit after about 90 minutes. A real disappointment.

....i have recently found myself wondering why god (or whoever is in charge of this whole kit-n-kaboodle) keeps taking the good ones off the planet so early.....as they seem to being misplaced with average ones or less. this fictional memoir will make you yearn to hear the amazing stories of cultures that don't exist anymore by the folks that lived them....who are disappearing from our planet day by day. I had a wonderful old cowboy friend...a true cowboy..that died recently. He spoke of riding horses into bars and droving cattle for days on end. This book is about a man that had a parallel life to my friend Uncle James the cowboy. The circus culture is disappearing as the cowboy has.....and this book truly honors the lifestyle with it's difficulties and glorious moments. The narration is simply brilliant. Don't miss it.

This was a great story and very well told. I couldn't give it 5 stars because I believe it was unecessarily crude at times. The author didn't need these vulgar references to contribute to her story. it was good enough without them.

One third of the book -- where the protagonist is 90- or 93- years-old -- is good: the character development, story, prose and reader.

The other two thirds -- where the protagonist is in his early twenties -- are mediocre at their best. These parts consist of poorly written, unbearable melodrama worsened by a reader who thinks that he needs to amplify the melodrama. Shallow story, barely any character development, trite prose.

The good parts aren't worth the pain of listening to the mediocrity.

kinda hard to follow but keep one mildly interested.

I enjoyed every bit of this story and it was very well read

Deserves a five star rating.

Please tell me why there was so much hype about this book! I don't get it. Potential but fell way short. The characters were not developed at all;for the most part the book was very shallow. Do not spend good money on it.

a well woven tale. I thoroughly enjoyed it.