Little Children

I was a bit wary as I began listening: the wry style and, on the surface at least, typical characters made me think that the author would spend his time ridiculing the archetypes of American suburbia. This notion was quickly dispelled, though, as each character was more fully fleshed out, not only through the revelations of their inner workings provided by the omniscient narrator, but through their actions.

Even the most seemingly predictable characters--the frustrated, tough-guy ex-cop, the internet-sex-addicted husband, and even the sex offender--acted in completely unpredictable ways and had subtle and complex nuances of personality and behavior. I found myself repeatedly predicting an outcome as a particular scene unfolded, only to find myself surprised and intrigued by the actual path the story took. The result is a very unique and thought-provoking look at what has become a cliche of American life, as well as a very illuminating and engaging look at a half dozen fascinating characters. Sensationalism is certainly not a virtue, but rather the exploration of personality and motivation.

I hate to read reviews which spill the story so I won't. But, I will offer a caveat to audible listeners. I use high-end, in-ear ear buds which transmit every nuance of a reader's voice right into my head. I have to say that our narrator took some serious getting-used-to on my part. He makes a lot of noise: very noticable and noisy swallowing, gulping and wheezing sounds that, at times, were quite distracting. I found his narration style to be excellent and very apropos for the story. And I did get more used to the extraneous sounds as I went along. Just be prepared!

All things considered, a very entertaining, often thought-provoking book that I found perfect for rush-hour commuting.

I really really enjoyed The Leftovers and was looking forward to listening to more by Tom Perrotta. Unfortunately, I was unable to make it very far with this book because of the narration. I can't even say it was the narrator, I think it was the way it was recorded. It seems to be recorded with a fantastic super sensitive microphone, which means the narrator's mouth noises are very loud. It was extremely distracting for me. I normally roll my eyes when I read a review like this, thinking to myself "it's an audiobook, what do you expect," but this is bad. Every smack and every swallow is in fine resounding detail. About 30 minutes in he starts to whistle on every inhalation. I wonder why they don't edit those things out? Sadly, I couldn't get past this issue and had to quit listening. I think I will try it in print next time.

This may be nitpicking, but I found the narrator's swallowing distracting. It seemed that every tongue smack and spit swallow made it on tape. It made me shudder.

I did enjoy listening to the story, but found myself disappointed with the ending. I feel like it fell flat -- perhaps this is because I saw the film before listening to the audiobook. Overall, a 3 star experience.

I actually liked this narrator very much. He gives each character a distinctive rhythm without trying to imitate a female voice. I wish more female narrators would trust to this technique rather than trying to adopt a gruff voice for male characters.

This is a mostly compelling, intelligent story. A few very funny scenes, and a lot of empathy for characters that are quite flawed. The weakest scene involves the kiss, which I found hard to believe, and it kind of diminished my respect for the rest of the story.

Still, the biggest problem with this as an audiobook is the reader. His voice is far too deep and he is unable to handle the various women's voices in the story. The publishers should have had a woman narrate the story.

That being said, it is a decent summertime listen.

No

NO.. either the narrator's microphone is too sensitive or this audio book is poorly edited but the swallowing and whistling breathing nuances are kind of gross and distracting

Little Children manages to make you feel sorry for its characters without ever particularly rooting for any of them. Perrotta's prose somehow manages to be sympathetic and sarcastic at the same time. His words are consistently fresh, but his ensemble cast often flirts with the suburban cliches they're trying to avoid. Perhaps that's the point. I found the story entertaining from beginning to end, although the narrative arch of the romance was fairly predictable. I thought the narration by George Wilson was fantastic.

I kept thinking surly this will be more interesting... it has parts that were well written/read, but the parts that were boring out numbered the interesting ones.

The idea was promising but the author just couldn't connect in any real way. It was like watching an ant farm. You can tell what's going on but bugs are bugs. The characters were flat and the narration was basic and removed. Think Dick and Jane stories. I can't believe I made it to the end, which was abrupt and uneventful!

I didn't find the narrator to be distracting at all. He reminded me of the narrator of the movie. I would recommend watching the movie and reading the book for comparison of the two. Both are fantastic.