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

Enjoyable on so many levels!

A family saga with an edgy twist! Clearly Mr. Walter is sharing from personal experiences and emotions. In this the lives and emotions of the characters ring true.

intriguing intertwine in italy

for me, there was two highlights of this book. the sober harsh fatalistic statement "You only live one life. And you make all your mistakes. And learn what not to do. And that's the end of you."

and the end, when all the relationships that mattered opened up like a sad fucked up beautiful solitaire.

Beautiful book and beautiful performance!

I loved, loved this book and the reading was fabulous! I've never listened to a book that was performed before - it was like listening to a radio play! So engaging!
Loved every second of it.

Memorable characters and storyline

Lovely story and it soon evolves into memorable lives of many characters. Touching and evocative. Great reader.

What a wonderful surprise

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This was an engaging and beautifully written story. Not only is Jess Walter a brilliant writer, he obviously does excellent research which flows effortless thorughout the plot.

Excellent, Beautiful Book

Any additional comments?

Amazing book. Excellent reader. I finished it over a month ago and the characters still seem real to me. I love the interweaving storylines and the settings in both Europe and the U.S. Highly recommended.

Beautiful story and performance

This was a beautiful and engaging story and the performance was so fitting and wonderful.

LOL!

One of the best humor/man-made calamity books I've read in a long time. Great read!

Absolute Escapism

If you love old Hollywood, dream of Italy this novel is for you. Brilliant character development and very realistic plot points as the story spans decades as a tool to reveal the full picture.

Wonderful Story, Excellent Narration

What did you like best about this story?

There is not much I can say about Jess Walter's writing that hasn't already been said. Buy this book. Listen to it.

What does Edoardo Ballerini bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Ballerini is a fantastically talented narrator. He brought each character to life without ever taking me away from the story. To hear the Italian spoken was wonderful.