Bright Shiny Morning

By: James Frey

Narrated by: Ben Foster

Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

One of the most celebrated and controversial authors in America delivers his first novel - a sweeping chronicle of contemporary Los Angeles that is bold, exhilarating, and utterly original.

Dozens of characters pass across the reader's sight lines - some never to be seen again - but James Frey lingers on a handful of L.A.'s lost souls and captures the dramatic narrative of their lives: a bright, ambitious young Mexican-American woman who allows her future to be undone by a moment of searing humiliation; a supremely narcissistic action-movie star whose passion for the unattainable object of his affection nearly destroys him; a couple, both 19 years old, who flee their suffocating hometown and struggle to survive on the fringes of the great city; and an aging Venice Beach alcoholic whose life is turned upside down when a meth-addled teenage girl shows up half-dead outside the restroom he calls home.

Throughout this strikingly powerful novel, there is the relentless drumbeat of the millions of other stories that, taken as a whole, describe a city, a culture, and an age. A dazzling tour de force, Bright Shiny Morning illuminates the joys, horrors, and unexpected fortunes of life and death in Los Angeles.

©2008 James Frey (P)2008 HarperCollins Publishers

Crazy, inappropriate music

I liked (not loved, but liked) the book, but what was the deal with the awful music breaks? Sometimes they were at the chapter breaks and sometimes they were right in the middle of everything. It was MOST annoying....was that some sort of mistake in production?

Gritty Los Angeles satire

If it weren't for the music between chapters, I might give this book 5 stars overall. The music, which is at the end of every chapter and then repeated again at the beginning of every chapter is by far the most annoying music I have encountered in an audio book. It has nothing to do with the story and is entirely unnecessary. I generally don't like music between chapters but have never hated it so much....

The book, however, is great - it follows several fairly stereotypical characters in L.A. and has both extremely harsh and tender moments. Frey writes in an almost stream of consciousness manner which serves to portray each character's thoughts intimately.

It's not as dark as A Million Little Pieces but it's not a cheery piece of fiction (Frey is careful to point out that this work is FICTION, to avoid flack from the critics).

It's read by Ben Foster, the actor in 3:10 to Yuma and the Messenger and he does an amazing job of capturing Frey's characters.

Highly recommended.

Delectible

This books seems like it was written to be read aloud. The reader fits the material perfectly. I lived in LA, and felt Frey captured the oddness of the City in a way I could never verbalize. The randomness of the stories and the fact that the plots aren't contrived to make them all intertwine was wonderful. I haven't enjoyed listening to a story this much in quite a while. I think it's an either "love it" or "hate it" type of book. I loved it.

Captivating and Brilliantly Assembled

I thought this story mirrored "real life" so well! Frey managed to give life to LA, personifying her via characters, hopes, dreams, and history. I was captivated from beginning to end. Not all the stories are happy, but they represent each life lived, poorly or brilliantly, according to the person. Such a rich story upon a story. LOVED IT! Narrator was PHENOMENAL!!!! He seemed to really love the story, himself, or at least understand it enough to pour his own emotion into it.

Couldn't Stop Listening

I purchased this book by mistake having confused it with A Bright Shining Lie. Initially I was disappointed as this really isn't the kind of book in which I'd normally be interested, but there I was on a long trip with this book in my iPod so I started listening. Before I knew it I couldn't tear myself away. I quickly became wrapped up in the lives of each of the different characters and almost two years later something will remind of the book and the memory of it is still vivid - which as forgetfully as I am - is truly amazing.

extremely well read

The reading of this book is one of the best I've ever heard.
But..., this is a difficult book to hear/read. Much of the ugliness you imagine about life in LA is played out in this book in the stories of the various characters. The stories are interspersed with interesting details about LA itself. Read the book and don't move there.

A very different book

I've never listened to a book like this before. You end up learning a lot about the characters and lots of LA trivia and history along the way.

The Spirit of Steinbeck

Never did I ever expect to encounter the spirit of John Steinbeck in a (current) novel about los angeles. Frey's characters and sense of place drew me in like I haven't been drawn in for years. Some of the "lists" could get annoying, yet I thoroughly enjoyed this book. A great story beautifully told in a contemporary style that reminded me of what I loved so much about Steinbeck, especially his characters from Cannery Row and Sweeth Thursday.

Interesting..

I am not sure if i enjoyed it. There were many characters, history facts about Los Angeles.

I have read Leonard, and million little pieces. They were great.

Great Read!!

It was a great book! I would recommend it to other people for sure.