Rupa

GREAT story, but sadly the quality of audio combined with the narrater's raspy whispery voice made this impossible to listen to in my car. I had to be in a very quiet room with no distractions, paying very close attention or I would not understand what she was saying. I gave up after about an hour. I hope they can rectify this because it is really a wonderful story (I have read the book before).

If you find the beginning slow or confusing, stick with it, after ten or fifteen minutes it will all begin to congeal and you will be hooked and submersed completely.

I've been an avid audio book listener for about fifteen years, an Audible member for several years, and this is quite possibly my all-time favorite. The narration of this is perfect, in my opinion. Keith Szarabajka did such an outstanding job reading, his characters came to life more vibrantly than any other audio book I have listened to. The story is engrossing and seductive, with moments of laugh-out-loud hilarity. Obvious high points include Maestra's character and her relationship with Switters, which is hysterical. The voices of the random and vastly different characters were so well done that at no point did I ever have to try to figure out who was speaking (which does happen rather often with heavy dialog in audio books). Robbin's entertaining use of language and his skillful weaving of cultural details makes reading or listening to this book feel like a journey. To anyone who has traveled in third world countries and ventured outside the beaten path of the big cities, the descriptions of Switters' adventures will ring bells.

Being a woman and a feminist, I beg to differ with the two reviewers who claim this book is not suitable for most women. It's likely to offend the people who don't "get" Robbins voice. He addresses taboo subjects in a very unapologetic way, but his stories are like onions--they have layers. Pay attention.

Sixteen hours of good stuff. What a bargain! And so many great one-liners that you will be insisting your friends read or listen to it so they will get your jokes. I laughed so hard at a few passages that I had to loan my headphones to the stranger sitting next to me on a flight, in order to explain, and even though he only listened to a few minutes of it, he was laughing out loud himself and writing the name of the book down, thanking me. You will too!