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Harold and Maude

By: Colin Higgins
Narrated by: Barbara Rosenblat
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Publisher's summary

Nineteen-year-old Harold Chasen is obsessed with death. He fakes suicides to shock his self-obsessed mother, drives a hearse, and attends funerals of complete strangers. Seventy-nine-year-old Maude Chardin, on the other hand, adores life. She liberates trees from city sidewalks and transplants them to the forest, paints smiles on the faces of church statues, and “borrows” cars to remind their owners that life is fleeting—here today, gone tomorrow! A chance meeting between the two turns into a madcap, whirlwind romance, and Harold learns that life is worth living, and how to play the banjo.

Harold and Maude started as Colin Higgins’s master’s thesis at UCLA film school before being made into the 1971 film directed by Hal Ashby. The quirky, dark comedy gained a loyal cult following, and in 1997 it was selected for inclusion on the National Film Registry at the Library of Congress. Fans who have seen the movie dozens of times will find this a valuable companion, as it gives fresh elements to watch for and answers many of the film’s unresolved questions.

©1971 Colin Higgins Trust (P)2023 Blackstone Publishing
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What listeners say about Harold and Maude

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Amazing!

I drank oat straw tea and ate ginger pie while listening! Great source material and outstanding performance. Great for Fall weekends.

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The movie is better

It's rare for me to enjoy a film more than the book it's based on, but for me the Bud Cort/Ruth Gordon pairing was inspired. You could totally believe that this bored young man, with a penchant for faking various forms of suicide in all sorts of gruesome ways, mainly to arouse some emotional response from his cold, WASP-ish mother, could be attracted to this 79-year full-of-life Holocaust survivor whose eccentric ways convinced him to embrace life. Those performances, together with the Cat Stevens soundtrack, really added something that I felt the book lacked. Despite the fact that, apart from a few additional scenes, the film and book are virtually identical.

Unfortunately, I did not care for Barbara Rosenblat's use of a German dialect for Maude. Again, Ruth Gordon's portrayal of the sweet, seemingly naive and fun loving Maude appealed to me much more. I felt that the Maude in the book seemed too much like Harold's mother - another bossy woman who wanted to control him.

Nevertheless, I was glad to have listened to this Audible rendition of one of the most unique cult films I have ever watched - not just once, but three or four times by now. Harold and Maude, though released in 1971, never gets old.

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Fantastic book and perfect narration!

Amazing story and Barbara Rosenblat is my absolute favorite! She did an absolutely incredible job!

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Flawless performance !!

I have never listened to a book before, where the narrator has so thoroughly brought the characters to life. While this story is quirky and slightly off beat, Ms. Rosenblatt's take on the characters made their behaviors and personalities completely plausible. I am now off to choose another story narrated by Ms. Rosenblatt.. if there are Oscar's given to audio performers..she deserves one!

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Love Love Love

This is one of my most favorite books I wish it was longer I never wanted it to end.

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