• Peace Like a River

  • By: Leif Enger
  • Narrated by: Chad Lowe
  • Length: 11 hrs and 35 mins
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars (2,380 ratings)

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Peace Like a River  By  cover art

Peace Like a River

By: Leif Enger
Narrated by: Chad Lowe
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Publisher's summary

Born with no air in his lungs, it was only when Reuben Land's father, Jeremiah, picked him up and commanded him to breathe that Reuben's lungs filled. Reuben struggles with debilitating asthma from then on, making him a boy who knows firsthand that life is a gift, and also one who suspects that his father is touched by God and can overturn the laws of nature.

The quiet 1960s midwestern life of the Lands is upended when Reuben's brother, Davy, kills two marauders who have come to harm the family. The morning of his sentencing, Davy (a hero to some, a cold-blooded murderer to others) escapes from his cell, and the Lands set out in search of him. Their journey is touched by serendipity and the kindness of strangers, and they cover territory even more extraordinary than the Badlands, where they search for Davy from their Airstream trailer.

Sprinkled with playful nods to Biblical tales, beloved classics such as Huckleberry Finn,, the adventure stories of Robert Louis Stevenson, and the westerns of Zane Grey, Peace Like A River is at once a heroic quest, a tragedy, a love story, and a haunting meditation on the possibility of magic in the everyday world.

©2001 Leif Enger (P)2001 HarperCollins Publishers

Critic reviews

"Actor Chad Lowe reads with a warm, deliberative voice perfectly suited to Leif Enger's meditative and melodic story of a family's search throughout the West for its outlaw son. Lowe doesn't attempt any verbal flourishes, nor does he try to give specific voices to different characters. Instead, he simply and beautifully reads aloud - slowly enough for Enger's evocative prose to shine and with just enough emotion to magnify this tale of the redemptive power of love." (AudioFile)

What listeners say about Peace Like a River

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Peace Like a River

This book was so beautifully written. I enjoyed every word. You won't go wrong with this one.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A miracle

This book is a miracle, start to finish, in every way, and even leaves room for some doubt.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Magnificent

A fully realized family saga/adventure story/visionary wonder that frequently strays into mystical vision without leaving or discounting the sorrow and pain of our broken world. A book for the ages.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Hang in there!

It started out as a ⭐️⭐️⭐️ book. About 40% of the way in, the tempo picks up to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ and I didn’t want to put it down. As I progressed, it crept up to ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️+ and by the end, became a solid ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️. It’s a story that builds and builds and builds, but in a slow and steadily paced way. It is masterfully written and cleverly creative with very subtle, yet laugh-out-loud humor that had me giggling in the middle of the night in bed. And to top it off, it is brilliantly performed by Chad Lowe. Bravo!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fabulous.

I don’t care for the music in the listening… but this book!!! This story!!!! Oh my goodness!!!!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Just enough!

Just enough surreal to be evocative without interfering with the suspension of disbelief. But then maybe the suspension of disbelief isn't always required to get caught up on a story.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful, deep, witty, and insightful

Mr. Engar treats the subject matter and story with such care and finesse. Mr. Lowe executed the reading with just the right amount of voice difference in characters to give them dignity not gimmicks. It is a surprising story that could have easily gone into morose and ugly territory. However, I am left feeling peaceful and even joyful about living life and dying. Whether you believe in god or not this is an amazing story. Recommended to anyone who loves phrase description so good you want to push pause, write it down, and frame it. Especially recommended for parents of 11 year old boys. Kids 15+

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

a classic so amazing

read it, it's worth it! I'm currently crying it was amazing! 10/10 would recommend! r

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Some of the most beautiful prose I have ever read.

The story is very slow moving, but the journey is worthwhile. Imagine a drive at 35 mph. Sure, you'd like to get there faster, but think of what you would have missed seeing along the way. Take the time. Trust me, just this once, take the time.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Simple but powerful

I enjoyed the simplicity of the story because he put a lot of references to hysterical events along the way.

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