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Stay Awake
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- By: Dan Chaon
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 23
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 22
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Story4 out of 5 stars 21
In these haunting, suspenseful stories, lost, fragile, searching characters wander between ordinary life and a psychological shadowland. They have experienced intense love or loss, grief or loneliness, displacement or disconnection - and find themselves in unexpected, dire, and sometimes unfathomable situations.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Nice ideas, but no punch
- By Dana on 12-14-12
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You Remind Me of Me
- By: Dan Chaon
- Narrated by: Jim Soriero
- Length: 12 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 15
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 14
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Story4 out of 5 stars 14
You Remind Me of Me begins with a series of separate incidents: In 1977, a little boy is savagely attacked by his mother's pet Doberman; in 1997, another little boy disappears from his grandmother's backyard on a sunny summer morning; in 1966, a pregnant teenager admits herself to a maternity home with the intention of giving her child up for adoption; in 1991, a young man drifts toward a career as a drug dealer, even as he hopes for something better.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Should have been narrated by Kirby Heyborne
- By Tina on 10-12-17
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Ill Will
- A Novel
- By: Dan Chaon
- Narrated by: Ari Fliakos, Edoardo Ballerini, Michael Crouch, and others
- Length: 14 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 504
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 468
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 467
A psychologist in suburban Cleveland, Dustin is drifting through his forties when he hears the news: His adopted brother, Rusty, is being released from prison. Thirty years ago, Rusty received a life sentence for the massacre of Dustin’s parents, aunt, and uncle. The trial came to epitomize the 1980s hysteria over Satanic cults; despite the lack of physical evidence, the jury believed the outlandish accusations Dustin and his cousin made against Rusty. Now, after DNA analysis has overturned the conviction, Dustin braces for a reckoning.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Not for those who like rosy things
- By cristina on 03-23-17
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Await Your Reply
- A Novel
- By: Dan Chaon
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 234
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 118
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Story4 out of 5 stars 117
Three strangers who are trying to find their way in the wake of loss become entwined in an identity theft scheme, which has a resounding impact on them all. A gorgeously written psychological study, and a meditation on identity in the modern world, this is a literary novel with the haunting momentum of a thriller.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Well Narrated, but Thoroughly Depressing
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Knockemstiff
- By: Donald Ray Pollock
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne, Mark Bramhall, MacLeod Andrews, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 42
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 38
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 39
In this unforgettable work of fiction, Donald Ray Pollock peers into the soul of a tough Midwestern American town to reveal the sad, stunted, but resilient lives of its residents. Spanning a period from the mid-'60s to the late '90s, the linked stories that comprise Knockemstiff feature a cast of recurring characters who are woebegone, baffled, and depraved - but irresistibly, undeniably real. Rendered in the American vernacular with vivid imagery and a wry, dark sense of humor, these thwarted and sometimes violent lives jump at the listener with inexorable force.
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4 out of 5 stars
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American Quagmire
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The Visiting Privilege
- New and Collected Stories
- By: Joy Williams
- Narrated by: Paul Michael Garcia, Emily Woo Zeller, Elisabeth Rodgers, and others
- Length: 20 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 27
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 27
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Story4 out of 5 stars 26
Joy Williams has been celebrated as a master of the short story for four decades, her renown passing from one generation to the next even in the shifting landscape of contemporary writing. And at long last the incredible scope of her singular achievement is put on display: 33 stories drawn from three much-lauded collections and another 13 appearing here for the first time in book form.
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Stay Awake
- Stories
- By: Dan Chaon
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 7 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 23
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 22
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 21
In these haunting, suspenseful stories, lost, fragile, searching characters wander between ordinary life and a psychological shadowland. They have experienced intense love or loss, grief or loneliness, displacement or disconnection - and find themselves in unexpected, dire, and sometimes unfathomable situations.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Nice ideas, but no punch
- By Dana on 12-14-12
-
You Remind Me of Me
- By: Dan Chaon
- Narrated by: Jim Soriero
- Length: 12 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 15
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 14
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 14
You Remind Me of Me begins with a series of separate incidents: In 1977, a little boy is savagely attacked by his mother's pet Doberman; in 1997, another little boy disappears from his grandmother's backyard on a sunny summer morning; in 1966, a pregnant teenager admits herself to a maternity home with the intention of giving her child up for adoption; in 1991, a young man drifts toward a career as a drug dealer, even as he hopes for something better.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Should have been narrated by Kirby Heyborne
- By Tina on 10-12-17
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Ill Will
- A Novel
- By: Dan Chaon
- Narrated by: Ari Fliakos, Edoardo Ballerini, Michael Crouch, and others
- Length: 14 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 504
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 468
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 467
A psychologist in suburban Cleveland, Dustin is drifting through his forties when he hears the news: His adopted brother, Rusty, is being released from prison. Thirty years ago, Rusty received a life sentence for the massacre of Dustin’s parents, aunt, and uncle. The trial came to epitomize the 1980s hysteria over Satanic cults; despite the lack of physical evidence, the jury believed the outlandish accusations Dustin and his cousin made against Rusty. Now, after DNA analysis has overturned the conviction, Dustin braces for a reckoning.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Not for those who like rosy things
- By cristina on 03-23-17
-
Await Your Reply
- A Novel
- By: Dan Chaon
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 234
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 118
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 117
Three strangers who are trying to find their way in the wake of loss become entwined in an identity theft scheme, which has a resounding impact on them all. A gorgeously written psychological study, and a meditation on identity in the modern world, this is a literary novel with the haunting momentum of a thriller.
-
2 out of 5 stars
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Well Narrated, but Thoroughly Depressing
- By Rob Prindle on 12-04-09
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Knockemstiff
- By: Donald Ray Pollock
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne, Mark Bramhall, MacLeod Andrews, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 38
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 39
In this unforgettable work of fiction, Donald Ray Pollock peers into the soul of a tough Midwestern American town to reveal the sad, stunted, but resilient lives of its residents. Spanning a period from the mid-'60s to the late '90s, the linked stories that comprise Knockemstiff feature a cast of recurring characters who are woebegone, baffled, and depraved - but irresistibly, undeniably real. Rendered in the American vernacular with vivid imagery and a wry, dark sense of humor, these thwarted and sometimes violent lives jump at the listener with inexorable force.
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4 out of 5 stars
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American Quagmire
- By Rick on 07-09-19
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The Visiting Privilege
- New and Collected Stories
- By: Joy Williams
- Narrated by: Paul Michael Garcia, Emily Woo Zeller, Elisabeth Rodgers, and others
- Length: 20 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 27
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 27
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Story4 out of 5 stars 26
Joy Williams has been celebrated as a master of the short story for four decades, her renown passing from one generation to the next even in the shifting landscape of contemporary writing. And at long last the incredible scope of her singular achievement is put on display: 33 stories drawn from three much-lauded collections and another 13 appearing here for the first time in book form.
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Cold Hand in Mine
- By: Robert Aickman
- Narrated by: Reece Shearsmith
- Length: 8 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 41
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 37
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Story4 out of 5 stars 38
Cold Hand in Mine stands as one of Aickman's best collections and contains eight stories that show off his powers as a 'strange story' writer to the full. The listener is introduced to a variety of characters, from a man who spends the night in a Hospice to a German aristocrat and a woman who sees an image of her own soul. There is also a nod to the conventional vampire story ("Pages from a Young Girl's Journal") but all the stories remain unconventional and inconclusive, which perhaps makes them all the more startling and intriguing.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Soft voice Reece
- By Anonymous User on 02-13-19
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Back Talk
- Stories
- By: Danielle Lazarin
- Narrated by: Reba Buhr
- Length: 6 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3 out of 5 stars 9
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Performance3.5 out of 5 stars 7
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 7
In "Floor Plans", a woman at the end of her marriage tests her power when she inadvertently befriends the neighbor trying to buy her apartment. In "Appetite," a 16-year old grieving her mother's death experiences first love and questions how much more heartbreak she and her family can endure. In "Dinosaurs", a recent widower and a young babysitter help each other navigate how much they have to give-and how much they can take-from the people around them. Through stories that are at once empathetic and unexpected, these women and girls defiantly push the boundaries between selfishness and self-possession.
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Homesick for Another World
- Stories
- By: Ottessa Moshfegh
- Narrated by: Alyssa Bresnahan, Richard Poe
- Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 145
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 137
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Story4 out of 5 stars 138
There's something eerily unsettling about Ottessa Moshfegh's stories, something almost dangerous, while also being delightful and even laugh-out-loud funny. Her characters are all unsteady on their feet in one way or another; they all yearn for connection and betterment, though each in very different ways, but they are often tripped up by their own baser impulses and existential insecurities.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Funny, Dynamic Writing
- By Sofia Macht on 06-13-18
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Universal Harvester
- A Novel
- By: John Darnielle
- Narrated by: John Darnielle
- Length: 5 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 675
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 644
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Story4 out of 5 stars 639
Jeremy works at the Video Hut in Nevada, Iowa. It's a small town in the center of the state - the first a in Nevada pronounced ay. This is the late 1990s, and even if the Hollywood Video in Ames poses an existential threat to Video Hut, there are still regular customers, a rush in the late afternoon. It's good enough for Jeremy: It's a job, quiet and predictable, and it gets him out of the house, where he lives with his dad and where they both try to avoid missing Mom, who died six years ago in a car wreck.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Genius.
- By Toadguy on 04-10-17
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The Largesse of the Sea Maiden
- Stories
- By: Denis Johnson
- Narrated by: Nick Offerman, Michael Shannon, Dermot Mulroney, and others
- Length: 5 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 245
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 223
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 224
The Largesse of the Sea Maiden is the long-awaited new story collection from Denis Johnson. Written in the luminous prose that made him one of the most beloved and important writers of his generation, this collection finds Johnson in new territory, contemplating the ghosts of the past and the elusive and unexpected ways the mysteries of the universe assert themselves.
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5 out of 5 stars
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RIP Denis Johnson
- By Thomas B. Houghton on 01-19-18
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Animal Crackers
- Stories
- By: Hannah Tinti
- Narrated by: Laural Merlington, Dan John Miller
- Length: 5 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3 out of 5 stars 6
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Performance3 out of 5 stars 4
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Story2.5 out of 5 stars 4
With bravura storytelling, daring imagination, and fierce narrative control, this dazzling debut introduces that rare writer who finds humanity in our most unconventional behavior, and the humor beneath our darkest impulses. In these strange, funny, and unnerving stories, animals become the litmus test of our deepest fears and longings
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1 out of 5 stars
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if you love animals don't read this book
- By Marilyn on 02-11-19
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Meander, Spiral, Explode
- Design and Pattern in Narrative
- By: Jane Alison
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 5 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 2
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2
Meander, Spiral, Explode is a singular and brilliant elucidation of literary strategies that also brings high spirits and wit to its original conclusions. It is a liberating manifesto that says, Let's leave the outdated modes behind and, in thinking of new modes, bring feeling back to experimentation. It will appeal to serious readers and writers alike.
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Going for a Beer
- Selected Short Fictions
- By: T.C. Boyle, Robert Coover
- Narrated by: Charlie Thurston
- Length: 13 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 8
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7
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Story4 out of 5 stars 7
Robert Coover has been playing by his own rules for more than half a century, earning the 1987 Rea Award for the Short Story as "a writer who has managed, willfully and even perversely, to remain his own man while offering his generous vision and versions of America." Coover finds inspiration in everything from painting, cinema, theater, and dance to slapstick, magic acts, puzzles, and riddles. His 1969 story, "The Babysitter," has alone inspired generations of innovative young writers. Here, in this selection of 30 of his best stories, you will find an invisible man tragically obsessed by an invisible woman.
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Who Is Rich?
- A Novel
- By: Matthew Klam
- Narrated by: David Costabile
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 64
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 59
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 58
Every summer, a once-sort-of-famous cartoonist named Rich Fischer leaves his wife and two kids behind to teach a class at a weeklong arts conference in a charming New England beachside town. It's a place where, every year, students - nature poets and driftwood sculptors, widowed seniors, teenagers away from home for the first time - show up to study with an esteemed faculty.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Ahem. No!
- By Sharey on 07-07-17
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Improvement
- A Novel
- By: Joan Silber
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell, Adenrele Ojo, Hillary Huber, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 79
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 78
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 78
Reyna knows her relationship with Boyd isn't perfect; yet she sees him through a three-month stint at Riker's Island, their bond growing tighter. Kiki, now settled in the East Village after a youth that took her to Turkey and other far-off places - and loves - around the world, admires her niece's spirit but worries that motherhood to four-year-old Oliver might complicate a difficult situation. Little does she know that Boyd is pulling Reyna into a smuggling scheme across state lines, violating his probation.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Looks Like a Mess but Conjures a Messianic Goal
- By Joe Kraus on 08-04-18
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The Changeling
- A Novel
- By: Victor LaValle
- Narrated by: Victor LaValle
- Length: 14 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,172
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,086
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Story4 out of 5 stars 1,084
When Apollo Kagwa's father disappeared, all he left his son were strange recurring dreams and a box of books stamped with the word improbabilia. Now Apollo is a father himself - and as he and his wife, Emma, are settling into their new lives as parents, exhaustion and anxiety start to take their toll. Apollo's old dreams return and Emma begins acting odd.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Fractured Fairytale
- By Diane on 08-07-17
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Elmet
- By: Fiona Mozley
- Narrated by: Gareth Bennett Ryan
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 470
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 441
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Story4 out of 5 stars 441
In this atmospheric and profoundly moving debut, Cathy and Daniel live with their father, John, in the remote woods of Yorkshire, in a house the three of them built themselves. John is a gentle brute of a man, a former enforcer who fights for money when he has to, but who otherwise just wants to be left alone to raise his children. When a local landowner shows up on their doorstep, their precarious existence is threatened, and a series of actions is set in motion that can only end in violence.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Strains credibility
- By DM on 01-06-18
Publisher's Summary
In "Safety Man," a young widow and her children become increasingly attached to an inflatable protector-doll, as the world outside seems to grow ever more threatening; "Big Me" follows a lonely, imaginative twelve-year-old boy who believes an older (slightly creepier) version of himself has moved in next door; in "I demand to Know Where You're Taking Me," a man blinded by love for his imprisoned brother ignores the warnings of his distant wife and a talking parrot who both witness things he's never seen; and "Among the Missing" explores how the death of a family, found buckled in their car a the bottom of a lake, casts a shadow on a small town and intrudes upon the narrator's relationship with his aging mother.
A writer of enormous talent and emotional depth, Dan Chaon mines the psychological landscape of his characters to dazzling effect. Each story radiates with sharp humor, mystery, wonder, and startling compassion. Among the Missing lingers in the mind through its subtle grace and power of language.
(P)2001 Random House, Inc.
Critic Reviews
"One of the best short story writers around...Dan Chaon's stories are funny, heartbreaking, beautifully written, and intelligently conceived." (Lorrie Moore, author of Birds of America)
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Overall
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3.5 out of 5 stars
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
- Rob Prindle
- Erie, PA United States
- 01-24-07
T.C. Boyle without the Zing
Dan Chaon emulates the off-center situations and attitudes that make T.C. Boyle's writing so compelling. On this front, he succeeds. But he fails to turn those situations into anything approaching drama, and that's a shame because even Chaon's frequent contributor to the N.Y. Times have more life than his short stories.
That being said, I was most disappointed that while living and working in Cleveland, Chaon didn't see fit to include more of the flavor of the area in his writing as he does when writing for the Times.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
- Jannice
- Sugar Land, TX, USA
- 09-18-03
Among the Missing - you can miss this one
These stories are about characters who are, in one way or another, dealing with the absence of someone who used to be in their lives. In some cases the absence is welcome, in others not, and in still others, the loss is ambiguous. What is pretty consistent is the dreariness of the characters at the center of each story, the negative and pessimistic world-view that is described by the author, and the droning, monotone narration by both of the readers. A significant number of the stories just stop, making me re-wind the audio to see if I had skipped something. If I were reading a real book, I would have counted the pages to see if some had been torn out. No such luck - the stories are just essentially pointless narrations of someone's wandering thoughts about people that we are given no good reason to care about, or even be intrigued with. Did not hold my interest.
5 of 6 people found this review helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
- Stanley
- Germantown, WI, United States
- 03-22-10
Bleak on Bleak
I found it filled with distant bleak characters that had no purpose or meaning. It was very difficult to empathize with them. Meandering subplots confused and distracted me. A bit too cutsy with literary devices. Read in a snarky and sarcastic tone. Yet refreshing because it was different from so many happy ending novels
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
- Douglas
- hendersonville, NC, USA
- 09-22-03
Endings are aming the missing
Dan Chaon pens some very appealing passages in this collection of eerie stories. His viewpoint seems to be that detached and dysfunctional people are under the influence of various supernatural
essences. I'll go along with his premise, but I can't go along with the way his stories don't end. They simply stop. It was like being back in high school Creative Writing Class, where you're dropped into the middle of a plot and forced to make up an ending. I felt cheated; if I was creative enough to come up with good finishes, I'd be a writer instead of a reader.
3 of 4 people found this review helpful