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Breathing Lessons
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Release date: 12-20-11
- Language: English
- Publisher: Audible Studios
- Whispersync for Voice-ready
Regular price: $24.95
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Jacquie Red Feather is newly sober and trying to make it back to the family she left behind in shame. Dene Oxendene is pulling his life back together after his uncle's death and has come to work at the powwow to honor his uncle's memory. Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield has come to watch her nephew Orvil, who has taught himself traditional Indian dance through YouTube videos and will perform in public for the very first time. There will be glorious communion and a spectacle of sacred tradition and pageantry. And there will be sacrifice, and heroism, and loss.
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Publisher's Summary
Maggie and Ira Moran have been married for 28 years... and it shows: in their quarrels, in their routines, in their ability to tolerate with affection each other's eccentricities. Maggie, a kooky, lovable meddler and an irrepressible optimist, wants nothing more than to fix her son's broken marriage. Ira is infuriatingly practical, a man "who should have married Ann Landers". And what begins as a day trip to a funeral becomes an adventure in the unexpected.
As Maggie and Ira navigate the riotous twists and turns, they intersect with an assorted cast of eccentrics - and rediscover the magic of the road called life and the joy of having somebody next to you to share the ride - bumps and all.
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Overall
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3.5 out of 5 stars
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3.5 out of 5 stars
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Rita
- Anchorage, AK, USA
- 05-01-13
Narration spoiled it for me
Anne Tyler's work is delicate and subtle. Suzanne Toren's narration was so un-subtle it totally destroyed the book. It made the situations and the characters seem absolutely inane. A much better narrator of Anne Tyler's work is Elisabeth Rodgers, whose performance of Earthly Possessions is nuanced, at times ironic. I have been a very active Audible listener for many years, and I can remember only one other book I was unable to finish because of the narrator.
8 of 10 people found this review helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Kelly
- Colorado Springs
- 05-31-18
Intimate and Brutal at the same time.
I loved this book. It felt deeply personal and almost intrusive. It felt as though I was the fly on the wall, listening to private conversations and spying on Maggie and Ira. I have not read any books by Tyler before now, and I am so glad to have finally gotten to this one. The writing is languid and intimate. The story is a slow-burn, and the characterization is complex and profound. We only see one day in their lives, but it seems to tell us everything about their marriage. I know Maggie. I know Ira. And, while they are both flawed and often unlikable I still came away from the book liking both of them.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Laura
- Marina del Rey, CA, United States
- 07-24-15
One of my favorite authors
I liked the story and the performance Tyler describes what it means to be human. Often so beautifully written it hurts and is joyful.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Jennifer Y.
- Waldorf, MD, US
- 05-19-18
Good, but disappointing......
This is the third book I have listened to by this author. I feel like each book the family had a major problem they all deal with in the books. The problem is never resolved... each book the reader is left hanging. The characters are great, but I felt disappointed at the end of each book. I felt like did everything work out or not???
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Mark
- Boston, MA, United States
- 01-29-18
Shocked
I expected this to be at the level of accidental tourist. I was shocked this was award winning. Wasted my time reading it.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Jason Wilford Neville
- 08-04-16
sometimes less is more
As a character portrait, it was okay. Should've been a short story, not a novel.