Aliens of Extraordinary Ability

By: Maeve Higgins, Shaina Feinberg

Narrated by: Maeve Higgins, Cristela Alonzo, Alysia Reiner, Cole Escola, Karim Nematt, Carlos Ibarra, Paul Beaubrun

Length: 4 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's Summary

"A funny and moving story of immigrants, beautifully written, at a time when it's needed the most." -Jon Ronson

Funny, sad and brilliantly human, this timely original series follows five friends – lovable but sometimes infuriating - as they make a life for themselves in New York City. The tie that binds them? They are all immigrants, struggling to find their place in an increasingly hostile America. 

Sadie, fresh from her small hometown in Ireland tries out for the elusive O1 visa – meaning she has three months to prove she is an ‘alien of extraordinary ability.’ She joins a collective called ‘Nature Fans’, whose members are also on a clock, all trying to figure out how to stay in the country. Together they alternately fight and work the system, growing close in the process. 

Brother and sister Rodrigo and Erika are from a mixed status family and have wonderful and busy lives in NYC. Rodrigo, desperate not to go back to Mexico but sick of living in the shadows, gets politically active. Tam is smart, handsome and Haitian, when he finds out he’s about to lose his legal status, he uses his charm to find a marriage to save him. Mazen, the loveliest Lyft driver you’re likely to meet, awaits his asylum interview and tries to forget about his life back in Syria, only to discover that he needs to stay connected or his heart will break. 

The stakes couldn’t be higher – an adventure story, a love story, a story of borders and the people who cross them - can they stay in this country they call home?

©2019 Audible Originals, LLC (P)2019 Audible Originals, LLC.

An honest look at immigration, emotional, funny

An honest, in depth look at immigration to the U.S. As it is today with some harsh truths thrown in for good measure. The work is well written with a compelling cast of fictional characters that are unique and flawed in very human ways. While the work is excellent it IS to some extent very liberal. I would enjoy more audible works along these lines dealing with the other side to the debate as well. Still an excellent production that will make you pause and reconsider.

Title Story Mismatch

As someone who works in this field, I found the performance completely divorced from the title. It's a story about illegal aliens trying to become legal, but none of them are truly trying for O visas, let alone H1B's. The characters are designed to tug at the heart, but tell nothing of the people involved. It's like the surface of a pond where you can't even see an inch downward. There is so much to tell about going through the visa process. I had hoped the performance would be about that. Instead it was a poor mishmash.

Fabulous listen

Not only was this acted/read with incredible authenticity, the content brought to life the immigrant in America experience without a too-heavy hand. It was one of those books, although really a play, that made me want to get back in the car for my commute.

Well done!

The only reason I gave it four stars was the musical interludes were too long.

Aliens with exceptional skills

Great audio book. Outstanding character accents & environment sound effects compliment a great story on a contemporary story.

Cast Fantastic, Production Difficult to Follow

This was an audio drama about immigrant lives in New York. The cast was excellent, but the production needed to be improved. A narrator would’ve made a big difference. I couldn’t tell who was who for the first half and it was difficult to find out what was going on. The annoying music went on far too long. A disjointed mess of a production. The cast was the saving grace.

It doesn’t even have an ending.

Like most fictitious stories it has surreal situations with no solutions.
Did Rodrigo ever try to get a visa, green card?
Mazan? Was his name? He got a card.
But Sadie is bad anyways. Cause yeah she’s an immigrant but she’s white.
I’m brown. Raised in Central America. I picked the fields in Utah. Please. This story is the continuance of playing victim.
Moral of the story is DONT DRINK ON THE SIDEWALK 🤣🤣

Ought to be a TV series.

Even though I found the chapter transition music irritating and I didn't agree with all of the immigration political agenda. I agree we should treat all people with respect as a country too. I felt deep character identification and as if I were part of the story. I look forward to a sequel with what happens to Sadie.

A wonderful new genre ... audio telenovela.

superb vocal characters and oh so important topic, plus awesome music interludes. you will laugh and your heart will hurt.

Relevant today

The story line about immigrants is very relevant in the ongoing discussion of DACA and racial disparity in this country and is well presented by actors. The lengthy musical interludes are however irrelevant and distracted from the presentation of the story and subject matter.