Beautiful Ruins

By: Jess Walter

Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini

Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

Audie Award Nominee, Fiction and Best Solo Narration, 2013

The story begins in 1962. On a rocky patch of the sun-drenched Italian coastline, a young innkeeper, chest-deep in daydreams, looks out over the incandescent waters of the Ligurian Sea and spies an apparition: a tall, thin woman, a vision in white, approaching him on a boat. She is an actress, he soon learns, an American starlet, and she is dying.

And the story begins again today, half a world away, when an elderly Italian man shows up on a movie studio's back lot - searching for the mysterious woman he last saw at his hotel decades earlier.

What unfolds is a dazzling, yet deeply human, roller coaster of a novel, spanning 50 years and nearly as many lives. From the lavish set of Cleopatra to the shabby revelry of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Walter introduces us to the tangled lives of a dozen unforgettable characters: the starstruck Italian innkeeper and his long-lost love; the heroically preserved producer who once brought them together and his idealistic young assistant; the army veteran turned fledgling novelist, and the rakish Richard Burton himself, whose appetites set the whole story in motion - along with the husbands and wives, lovers and dreamers, superstars and losers, who populate their world in the decades that follow.

Gloriously inventive, constantly surprising, Beautiful Ruins is a story of flawed yet fascinating people, navigating the rocky shores of their lives while clinging to their improbable dreams.

©2012 Jess Walter (P)2012 HarperCollins Publisher

Every aspect of this complex entwined historical glorious romantic look at life is perfectly expressed.

A terrific novel- I will now seek out other work by Jesse - fantastically narrated too.
Very enjoyable

Beautiful Ruins and so much more

This was a marvelous book that exceeded my expectations. I hard a difficult time pulling myself away from the great characters and winding plot. I recommend it highly if you are ready for a treat!

classical beautiful I want to read it again and ..

this book has a beautiful rhythm and Flow I can't help but feel I missed details that make me want to reread it I definitely want to read more of his books

Vile language really hurt this great story

What did you like best about Beautiful Ruins? What did you like least?

The way all the parts wove together in the end.

Would you be willing to try another book from Jess Walter? Why or why not?

Possibly. I know that to describe the depths to which people fall you have to get x rated but there was so much slang for sex that it became disgusting. I did however finish the book and can say it was a great story. Wish it was not so disgusting at times

Which scene was your favorite?

The pill box look out, the reunion and his story of making the right choices.

Was Beautiful Ruins worth the listening time?

Would have been if I had not had to hid from my kids to listen to it.

Any additional comments?

You can tell how low a person gets with out taking about beef cakes and 20 other disgusting slang

Beautiful Ruins, beautiful story!

This story has Heart and Soul.
There are so many great reviews previously written I don't think there is anything new I could add.
I could listen to Edoardo Bellerini read the ingredients on a cereal box and it would take it to the next level. Listening to him read this book is sublime.

Loved this book!

What did you love best about Beautiful Ruins?

The story was riveting and fun.

What did you like best about this story?

The weaving of the interesting tales of each person.

Have you listened to any of Edoardo Ballerini’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

Never before.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Definitely although impossibly long to listen to in one sitting.

Beautiful ruins

What did you love best about Beautiful Ruins?

The voice changes of the narattor

Who was the most memorable character of Beautiful Ruins and why?

Pascale, there was no blasphemy.

Any additional comments?

I find the use of valugar language and blasphemy offensive.

Masterfully woven tale

What did you love best about Beautiful Ruins?

Wonderfully woven story lines all come together in a remarkable tale. The narrator is fantastic!

A Magical Story about a Magical Time in Rome

Would you listen to Beautiful Ruins again? Why?

If I listen to this book before I go to sleep, I will, undoubtedly have magical dreams.

What did you like best about this story?

Takes place in my favorite place in the world.

What about Edoardo Ballerini’s performance did you like?

Edoardo adds color to a wonderful story.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

oh yes, but I won't tell you.

Any additional comments?

Just get it.

Not What I Expected.

This book was a bit of a let down. The characters were varied and interesting and I loved getting to see them develop through the twenty year span of the book. I loved the intertwining of the stories but was left unfulfilled at the conclusion.