Telegraph Avenue

A Novel

By: Michael Chabon

Narrated by: Clarke Peters

Length: 18 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's summary

As the summer of 2004 draws to a close, Archy Stallings and Nat Jaffe are still hanging in there - longtime friends, bandmates, and co-regents of Brokeland Records, a kingdom of used vinyl located in the borderlands of Berkeley and Oakland. Their wives, Gwen Shanks and Aviva Roth-Jaffe, are the Berkeley Birth Partners, a pair of semi-legendary midwives who have welcomed, between them, more than a thousand newly minted citizens into the dented utopia at whose heart - half tavern, half temple - stands Brokeland Records.

When ex-NFL quarterback Gibson Goode, the fifth-richest black man in the United States, announces plans to build his latest Dogpile megastore on a nearby stretch of Telegraph Avenue, Nat and Archy fear it means certain doom for their vulnerable little enterprise. Meanwhile, Aviva and Gwen also find themselves caught up in a battle for their professional existence, one that tests the limits of their friendship. Adding another layer of complication to the couples' already tangled lives is the surprise appearance of Titus Joyner, the teenage son Archy has never acknowledged and the love of 15-year-old Julius Jaffe's life.

©2012 Michael Chabon (P)2012 HarperCollins Publishers

Couldn't get into this novel

What could Michael Chabon have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

I got this as an audio book to listen to for one of my book clubs. Listened to about one hour, but couldn't get into it. I loved "Cavalier and Clay" and have a passing familiarity with the city of Oakland, but this book just seemed too forced. All the name-dropping of "famous" jazz musicians and their celebrated albums, most of which I had never heard of, left me out in the cold. Maybe if snippets of their work had been playing in the background . . . but without any clues, I had no idea who most of them were. Add to that the fact that not a single female character had appeared in the first hour, which was also a bit alienating. One of the main characters is a has-been kung fu star of "B" (or possibly "C") movies, another reference that just didn't grab me. I don't mind being exposed to new ideas through books, in fact I usually welcome it, but I just wasn't compelled to go over to my computer and start googling the names of the other kung-fu stars that were mentioned. Decided the book was too long and summer too short, so hit the "off" button and moved on to the next book in my pile.

Which character – as performed by Clarke Peters – was your favorite?

I did think Clarke Peters was doing a good job of performing the book.

Messy Story

I don't know - too many characters, he goes off on tangents. Nothing of interest so far. Nothing to keep my interest cause I can't follow the story, if there is one. Or is it just a bunch of characters? Entertainment Weekly gave it a B+ - fairly good review but I can't figure out a plot if there is one. I re-read the review to get some insight into what is supposed to be happening but I've given up. The only good thing - and it is great is Clarke Peters' narrative. His voice is very warm and sexy. I like to listen to him before bedtime because his voice is deep, soothing, and relaxing. I'll listen to it at night to help me sleep cause I really don't care about the story. When I was listening to it, I couldn't keep focused on it. One minute he's in present time, then he jumps to to the 70's then it's the midwives (they were at least interesting) and now it's back with the main character. I give up.

tried to return but amazon would not let me.

tried to return but amazon would not let me


very boring as an audio book

Ouch! What was Michael Chabon thinking?

First Chabon work I haven't loved. Like going to Chez Panisse and being force-fed with delicacies like a pate-bound duck with no chance to savor anything.

Skip the audiobook; read the real book

I'm a huge fan of audiobooks. I've probably listened to well over 200 titles, including some literary works. Having enjoyed other books by Michael Chabon, I started to listen to Telegraph Avenue with the highest expectations, but simply couldn't continue beyond a couple of hours. I'm notsure what the problem was, but I had to abandon the book early on. After a couple of months, I finally picked up the actual book and loved it. It is a brilliant novel, with themes of parents/sons; spouses, partners, race, etc. As some reviewers have noted, it recalls Joyce's Ulysses, at least superficially. It just doesn't work as an audiobook, despite the best efforts of the narrator. So, this is just one of those occasions when one is better advised to skip the audio and read the text. (Note, an article in the Times Sunday Book review from November 2013 also led with this book as a prime example of a title that didn't work in audio format.)

I liked his other book

I have tried 4 times to listen to this novel; my mind wanders away. I thought I would enjoy reading a book about one of my favorite places, but I'm not getting the essence of Berkeley and Telegraph Avenue from this book, and it is a unique place.

Such a disappointment. Didn't care for the "groovy" (??) reading style of the narrator.

First book I could not finish

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

I love listening to Audible books but this novel was so tedious that I had to stop listening. I didn't find any of the characters interesting enough to inspire me to like them, dislike them, or compel me to listen more to learn about them. I'm honestly not sure who this one would appeal to.

Has Telegraph Avenue turned you off from other books in this genre?

The book didn't turn me off to other books in this genre but, as a displaced Californian who thought it would be fun to listen to a story about the Bay Area -- a place where I grew up and could relate to, it sadly failed me. And I found that terribly disappointing.

What didn’t you like about Clarke Peters’s performance?

I thought the performance didnt enhance the book, but maybe that wasnt possible. He gave it a good try, but the plot was lacking.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Telegraph Avenue?

I didnt find anything in the plot that made me want to continue. If I were playing editor, I would have asked for better character development to inspire some type of feeling from the listener. And a plot that evolved more quickly to draw in the listener. I didn't get either.

Any additional comments?

I regret writing a negative review, but I've listened to endless titles on Audible, some better or worse than others. This is the only one that I literally had to shut off because I couldn't be drawn in, even after giving it more time than I normally would have. I gave it a big try without successl.

Boring, boring, boring.

What disappointed you about Telegraph Avenue?

The plot was dull.

What was most disappointing about Michael Chabon’s story?

I could not get into it at all, and I went to college in the 70's--it was just dull.