Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

By: Jonathan Safran Foer

Narrated by: Jeff Woodman, Barbara Caruso, Richard Ferrone

Length: 10 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

Jonathan Safran Foer's best-selling debut novel, Everything Is Illuminated, wowed critics on its way to winning several literary prizes, including Book of the Year honors from the Los Angeles Times. It has been published in 24 countries and will soon be a major motion picture. Foer's talent continues to shine in this sometimes hilarious and always heartfelt follow-up.

Nine-year-old Oskar Schell is a precocious Francophile who idolizes Stephen Hawking and plays the tambourine extremely well. He's also a boy struggling to come to terms with his father's death in the World Trade Center attacks. As he searches New York City for the lock that fits a mysterious key his father left behind, Oskar discovers much more than he could have imagined.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is a masterfully imagined novel from an author Time hails as "a certified wunderkind".

©2005 Jonathan Safran Foer (P)2005 Recorded Books, LLC

Critic reviews

• 2005 Audie Award Nominee, Multi-Voiced Performance

"Piercing and so funny." (The Bookseller)
"[Oskar's] first-person narration of his journey is arrestingly beautiful, and readers won't soon forget him." (Booklist)
"Jonathan Safran Foer's second novel is everything one hoped it would be: ambitious, pyrotechnic, riddling, and above all...extremely moving. An exceptional achievement." (Salman Rushdie)
"Brilliant....Unafraid to show his traumatized characters' constant groping for emotional catharsis, Foer demonstrates once again that he is one of the few contemporary writers willing to risk sentimentalism in order to address great questions of truth, love, and beauty." (Publishers Weekly)

Excellent!!

Where does Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is one of the best audio books I have listened to. The writing was unique, the story was absorbing, characters were very strong, and the narration was entertaining. I did a lot of laughing out loud with my headphones on...

What did you like best about this story?

The writer took some very deep and potentially dark subjects and brought in the perfect mix of humor and characterization to lighten it up, make it palatable, and downright entertaining.

Which character – as performed by the narrators – was your favorite?

The boy in the story is probably one of the strangest characters I have ever read about. He was unique and his thought process was very eccentric. But at the same time it was completely believable and I was sad to have the book end. I wanted to continue to be part of his life.

If you could take any character from Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Absolutely the main character, the boy was very unique and entertaining.

Any additional comments?

This book deals with some very heavy issues that are heartbreaking. However, the writer brings in humor and some exceptional characters to lighten an otherwise dark subject. It is the perfect mix. I would highly recommend this book.

talented writer

This is a remarkable book! Others will tell of the story line, but I will tell of my longing for time immersed in the story listening and wanting for more time to remain there. There is such power in this story, a way into the heart of love, lost, and how hard it is to be a parent. I just couldnt believe how much more powerful it was than the movie.

Incredibly Fantastic

Just loved it. I laughed, I cried, I couldn't wait to get back to it.
I can't imagine the movie being able to portray the complex and amazing 9 year old Oskar as written by Foer. And the narrators were just fabulous. Very entertaining. I'll be listening to it again.

Very moving

I loved this book. I thought the main character would drive me nuts but some how I fell in love with him. The story is original, moving and powerful I would not hesitate to recommend this book. The narrator is great. I would listen to this story again and that is high praise from me.

amazing

I sit here with tears. visualizing Oscar with dirt under his nails, as he falls asleep in 7 minutes. thank you for your story

I felt manipulated

Maybe I didn't get it, but I felt manipulated by the author. He used extremely traumatic historical events and a cheap rhetorical trick, the key, to keep me reading a relatively uninteresting story about people I don't care about. The only character that was at all sympathetic and believable was the mother, but she barely appears in the story.

Unique

I will not attempt to add to what so many other reviewers have so eloquently stated. The story of a boy who lost his father in the 911 attacks would seem to be a dreary one indeed. This is NOT the case.

I loved the voice of the writing as told from the perspective of a young, precocious, intrepid vulnerable boy. This book still gives me a warm feeling, months after having finished it.

I'm still not sure I liked this

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I kept waiting for something to happen

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

Story didn't seem to move fast enough for me.

What about the narrators’s performance did you like?

Not sure if it was his easy style that made the book a little on the boring side.

Favorite....

the author and his wife are gifted.. having them both talking about stories at the same time would be almost as good as this book.. i stared at the 9-11 falling man for awhile after hearing this story.. amazing. i cant wait for more from the author and his wife.. this book puts the extremely loud and the incredibly close in love.

Emotional

I love books and movies that can make you see things in a new way. JSF deftly twined a story around characters spanning a wide age range and very different backgrounds. I loved the grandmother's quiet strength and determination, the mother's attempt to cope and keep living, the grandfather's inability to cope and the little boys tender, wonderful memories of his father. That day impacted us all. This is a wonder glimpse into several lives out of many that shared in that tragedy. This book made me cry my eyes out, which is a little embarrassing while sitting in random places with earphones in.