pilot

The narrator's reading voice is very dark and haunting, and frankly, a little overdone. The story has been fantastic, and I've gotten used to the narrator's voice when he reads for male characters. However, his voice for the female characters is like nails on a chalkboard to me--- almost offensively high pitched and absolutely grating.

Junot Diaz's writing is extremely fresh, new, and immensely entertaining. Yunior, the recurring narrator throughout most of these stories, is a character unlike any other I've come across. The writing here, especially the Dominican street talk, is vivid.

While I liked the book overall, I gave the story itself only three stars. For me, the stories, detailing Yunior's romantic relationships, and the inevitable breakups, got a little repetitive. I really liked the stories about Yunior's childhood, the coldness of his father, the mother's obliviousness, and the stories of Rafa's (Yunior's brother) sad end. Yunior's chronic infidelities are interesting at first, but I eventually just got tired of hearing about them in almost every story. In one of the last stories, Yunior claims to have cheated on one long-time girlfriend over 50 times. At that point, the reader has read so much about cheating that it elicits only a shrug.

The writing is so good here. I just wish other characters would have had more voice, and that relationship issues other than infidelity would have figured into the stories.

16 minutes was simply not enough. There were some interesting vignettes-- but not much more. I appreciate that Audible offers the interview for free, but it would be much more worthwhile to offer a longer format that could be more substantive. I'd like to hear more from James Lee Burke, so why not give him a full half hour?

The narration by Will Patton is truly excellent, and the writing is mesmerizing. This book is particularly recommended if you have any connection, however remote, to the Pacific Northwest. The story makes one reflect on the harshness of life in remote communities, and the writing was so strong the words quickly flowed by, leaving beautiful, sad images. You can finish the book in a couple of hours, but the images remain long afterwards.

I didn't laugh or cry, but was struck by the vividness of the writing.

This is a terrific novel, and the narrator is one of the best I have heard to date. Neville Jason changes between the character seamlessly. His reading is dramatic, but not over-the-top.

Obviously the story is a commitment, but it is a worthy one. Get through the first few hours and you will be hooked.

I don't have any complaints about this audio book. The story is timeless. I think many a reader will hear echoes of their former selves in the characters of the two young men.

The narration was quite good-- no frills, straight-forward and well-suited to the book.

I suspect Wilkie Collins fans will greatly enjoy this book. If you are big fan, ignore my criticisms below. My chief complaint is with the story itself rather than the audiobook. Without spoiling the story, I'll say only that I thought the plot and ending were rather silly, with a series of far-fetched circumstances and bizarre twists at the end. I greatly preferred Wilkie Collins' "Woman in White" audiobook because it is a darker, yet more interesting story with better plot development.

This was the first Faulkner novel I attempted to read/listen since high school (when I thought I'd never read Faulkner again). With that said, I found this audiobook to be really excellent, and I plan to buy more of Faulkner's books. The reader was crisp, clear, and fit the book perfectly. Warning: this story/ plot line may be difficult to follow. If one is unfamiliar with the story, I recommend consulting some sort of plot chronology because it makes the listening experience a lot more enjoyable. (google University of Virginia and Absolom)