Water for Elephants

By: Sara Gruen

Narrated by: David LeDoux, John Randolph Jones

Length: 11 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

An atmospheric tale of life and love in a Depression-era traveling circus.

Nonagenarian Jacob Jankowski reflects back on his wild and wondrous days with a circus. It's the Depression Era and Jacob, finding himself parentless and penniless, joins the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. There he meets the freaks, grifters, and misfits that populate this world. Jacob introduces us to Marlena, beautiful star of the equestrian act; to August, her charismatic but twisted husband (and the circus' animal trainer); and to Rosie, a seemingly untrainable elephant.

Beautifully written, with a luminous sense of time and place, Water for Elephants tells of love in a world in which love's a luxury few can afford.

©2006 Sara Gruen (P)2006 HighBridge Company

Critic reviews

• Book Sense Book of the Year Award, Adult Fiction, 2007
• Audie Award Finalist, Fiction, Unabridged, 2007

" Water for Elephants resembles stealth hits like The Giant's House, by Elizabeth McCracken, or The Lovely Bones, by Alice Sebold, books that combine outrageously whimsical premises with crowd-pleasing romanticism. . . . With a showman's expert timing, [Gruen] saves a terrific revelation for the final pages, transforming a glimpse of Americana into an enchanting escapist fairy tale.” ( New York Times Book Review)

"Just like a circus, the magic of the story and the writing convince you to suspend your disbelief." ( Booklist)

"Gruen skillfully humanizes the midgets, drunks, rubes, and freaks who populate her book." ( Publishers Weekly)

Excellent Book

Where does Water for Elephants rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Right up there with the best audio books I have listened to.

What did you like best about this story?

The depth of the emotion is just exceptional

Which scene was your favorite?

How many animals do you need to make a zoo or was that a family? Really brought a smile ... you will get it when you read the book.

Excellent narration and story

Well paced and great characters throughout the story. The narrators were excellent. They created depth in each character's voice. I couldn't get enough of this audiobook.

Goodbye Ringling Brothers.

I remember the circus coming through town as a youth. I worked my way through college doing concessions at an arena for events like the circus. This was a fun story about the circus long ago. I only gave it 3 stars because of the obvious gimmick of adding the syrupy sweet geriatric plot line that was superfluous and unnecessary. Getting old is painful and we'd all like one last Dance. You can pretty much add that onto any memoir novel can you not?

Loved it!!

very exciting and very emotional. great read! I highly recommend this book. Really paints a great picture.

a great book i will "read" many times.

What made the experience of listening to Water for Elephants the most enjoyable?

i think the readers did a wonderful job reading the book. the story was very unusual and good with some humor in it.

What other book might you compare Water for Elephants to and why?

i have not read a book like this before.

Which character – as performed by David LeDoux and John Randolph Jones – was your favorite?

old man jacob was done amazingly. still my favorite character was an animal...rosie.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

not a moment, but rosie moved me. she seemed so patient and kind and put up with a lot of abuse. i was surprised and in the beginning when the got rosie i was surprised that i felt this way, she was really important to the story.

Any additional comments?

i will read this again and again. a class act read. a story that would be hard to top. i recommend this book. especially if it is your first book. you won't make a mistake getting this one!

Brilliant

Brilliantly written and very well read. Time well spent listening to it. Narrators did a great job.

great book

I love this book. It was something new, not the same old thing. loved the story and the characters.

Wonderful Story

This was a wonderful book. I was so engrossed that I could not stop listening to it. When I can to the end, I was so sad that it was all over. I wished that there was a second book that would continue the story.

Awesome

Great story of the travels of a circus man. Who never sought out the life, it found him. Wonderfully narrated. Would recommend this to anyone.

Wondrously satisfying

This is one of the best books I have read since "Soldier in the Great War." I realize now that it has a similar structure for a very compact span of time but I enjoyed it immensely. Very evocative writing. I thought the older voice actor would get on my nerves but the final chapter really gave the character such bravery as a free moving man.