The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing

A Novel

De: Mira Jacob

Narrado por: Mira Jacob

Duración: 15 h y 8 m

Resumen del Editor

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A winning, irreverent debut novel about a family wrestling with its future and its past

“With wit and a rich understanding of human foibles, [Mira] Jacob unspools a story that will touch your heart.”—People

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Boston Globe, The Millions, Kirkus Reviews

With depth, heart, and agility, debut novelist Mira Jacob takes us on a deftly plotted journey that ranges from 1970s India to suburban 1980s New Mexico to Seattle during the dot.com boom. The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing is an epic, irreverent testimony to the bonds of love, the pull of hope, and the power of making peace with life’s uncertainties.

Celebrated brain surgeon Thomas Eapen has been sitting on his porch, talking to dead relatives. At least that is the story his wife, Kamala, prone to exaggeration, tells their daughter, Amina, a photographer living in Seattle.

Reluctantly Amina returns home and finds a situation that is far more complicated than her mother let on, with roots in a trip the family, including Amina’s rebellious brother Akhil, took to India twenty years earlier. Confronted by Thomas’s unwillingness to explain himself, strange looks from the hospital staff, and a series of puzzling items buried in her mother’s garden, Amina soon realizes that the only way she can help her father is by coming to terms with her family’s painful past. In doing so, she must reckon with the ghosts that haunt all of the Eapens.

©2014 Mira Jacob (P)2014 Random House Audio

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Jacob’s novel is light and optimistic, unpretentious and refreshingly witty. Jacob has created characters with evident care and treats them with gentleness even as they fight viciously with each other. Her prose is sharp and true and deeply funny. . . . This is the literary fiction I will be recommending to everyone this summer, especially those who love multigenerational, multicultural family sagas.”—Associated Press

“This debut novel so fully envelops the reader in the soul of an Indian-American immigrant family that it's heart-wrenching to part with them. . . . Thanks to Jacob’s captivating voice, which is by turns hilarious and tender and always attuned to shifts of emotion, her characters shimmer with life. [Grade:] A-”—Entertainment Weekly

“The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing is a rich, engrossing debut told with lightness and care, as smart about grief as it is about the humor required to transcend it.”—The Kansas City Star

Gateway listen!

Any additional comments?

This is the first time I've listened to a full-length fiction title. I listen to tons of podcasts, and I've listened to autobiographies and Freakonomics-style nonfiction, but never a novel. h/t to Laura Hogensen for the rec, and she was right - the author does an excellent job with the voices, and I found myself taking the long way home just so I could listen for a few extra blocks. If you've ever wondered if audiobooks are for you, this should be your gateway listen!

One of the best books I have read in a long time

I read a review after reading this book that said that the author pulls the reader into every nuance of Amina's life. The depth of character in this book is alarming and wonderful.

One of my all-time favorites!

Just finished listening to this book and it was amazing. Great story and great narration. I didn't want it to end!

One of My Top 5 Reads

This was the first audiobook that I came across and rated 5 stars across the board. The narration brings the story alive in a way that reading it from the page could never do. The story is a wonderful if not somewhat disturbing glimpse into the dynamics of a cross-cultural family. It is beautiful, and touching and real.

Excellent author narrator !

I really enjoyed this author's narration of her book. It's a rarity for an author to excell as a narrator. She be each character a distinctive voice and nailed the accents - loved it ! I just wish the story had been more compelling. It was overly long, especially the last third which just seemed to drag, and then.....a non-ending. There was no payoff for the 15 hours of listening.

I loved this audiobook

The multi-generational story was many layered, riveting, and ultimately Redemptive. sometimes authors are not the best narrators of their own work but Mira Jacobs was outstanding bringing added depth to the story. this is one of the most satisfying audiobook listening experiences I've ever had and I highly recommend it.

LOVED this book!

Wonderful story about an interesting family. Really rich characters. Did not want it to end.

Amazing performance

This was a well written story by the author who also gave a superb narration.

Wonderful Listen

What did you love best about The Sleepwalker's Guide to Dancing?

The characters, the story itself, everything was well crafted, detailed, nuanced, and both poignant and funny. Just a delightful book.

What about Mira Jacob’s performance did you like?

Mira's performance was just perfect. Every character had a voice, but it didn't feel forced. I understood why she, as the author, would want to read it just exactly as it should sound. Only she would really know. And her performance was wonderful.

Any additional comments?

Loved it! My only regret is that she hasn't written or read anything else yet!

beautiful & delicious

Great story and best imagery. Made me want to look for the nearest Indian food restaurant!