American Elsewhere

By: Robert Jackson Bennett

Narrated by: Graham Winton

Length: 22 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

Some places are too good to be true. Under a pink moon, there is a perfect little town not found on any map. In that town, there are quiet streets lined with pretty houses, houses that conceal the strangest things.

After a couple years of hard traveling, ex-cop Mona Bright inherits her long-dead mother's home in Wink, New Mexico. And the closer Mona gets to her mother's past, the more she understands that the people of Wink are very, very different....

From one of our most talented and original new literary voices comes the next great American supernatural novel: a work that explores the dark dimensions of the hometowns and the neighbors we thought we knew.

©2013 Robert Jackson Bennett (P)2013 Recorded Books

A unique sci-fi/horror mix...

It's a unique story that has a little bit of everything in it. Murder, monsters, aliens, conspiracies, you name it. The book takes you on quite a journey and is well performed by the reader. If you enjoy your sci-fi with a bit of horror, or vice versa, this may be the book for you!

Amazing, plus amazingly long, but very good read!

Any additional comments?

Now this is how you tell a fantasy/sci-fi story! Really, the writing was no less than expertly done, the plot was so original, so inventive, I was just awed. The research that must have gone into the scientific oddities of the plot had to have been monumental. The characters were deeply drawn and believable, and likeable, and frightening. The more horrific parts were truly horrifying, like a well done Stephen King, only more graphic.
The arc of the plot, the rate at which truths were revealed, was very skilful, though I did start to feel like things should have been wrapping up around the point when there were 6 hours left to listen to. There was so much information to the story that I don't know how it could have been shortened, yet at no point did I get the sense that the author was "info-dumping", the prose was clear as a bell. Really entertaining, long term sort of read, and a very, very cool and scary story. Sci-fi nerds will love it, Horror fans will dig it, and anyone who likes "magical reality" will love it.
Oh, and the narration was just as professional as the writer. Well done.

Excellent Mythos Delivers

Where does American Elsewhere rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Right up there

What other book might you compare American Elsewhere to and why?

At the Mountains of Madness because it engages with similar concepts of beings from another dimension.

Which character – as performed by Graham Winton – was your favorite?

Mona

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

What lives on the other side of the mirror?

Any additional comments?

Loved it - best since Lovecraft and Philip K Dick

Strange and captivating other-world horror tale

American Elsewhere is about an out-of-kilter town called Wink and what happens to its unusual residents and visitors.The book can be violent, but manages to remain cerebral stylish and witty. It is a mysterious, lyrical and darkly funny book. Among its odd but fascinating characters, Mrs. Benjamin is my favorite - strangely delightful on so many levels. I know Robert Jackson Bennett doesn't need another rave review, but here goes. I rarely care enough to comment on a book. It is even more rare that I listen to a book repeatedly just for the pleasure of the writing and to capture nuances I may have missed the first time. Bennett has a surfeit of talent for such a relatively new writer.The narrator, Graham Winton, is marvelous and captures the angst and awkwardness of characters living odd lives in a strange place. He is so good, it is hard to believe he is one person. Is American Elsewhere horror, science fiction or allegory? Who cares? It is a mesmerizing, charming and creepy read.

Way More Than Otherworldly Horror

I was originally sold on this book by my friend comparing it to the small-town odd-horror of Welcome to Night Vale. And it's true: both WTNV and American Elsewhere share a deep thematic kinship, but not always in the ways I expected.

What really got me the most about American Elsewhere was Bennett's ability to weave a story with real creeping dread that didn't sacrifice an emotional core. The struggles that Mona faces are big, impossibly big, but at their heart they're about the inability for children to ever truly know their parents; about how parents are not always, much less often right, and how hard it is to see that. It's a book about motherhood in an alternative and beautiful way.

In the end, American Elsewhere is a story about things that could have been but never were, and there is little more horrifying than the thought that you could have made different, maybe better choices, and living with that not knowing.

wonderful Lovecraftian modernization + more

Graham Winton perfectly narrates this excellent Eldritch effort. full of action, humor and creepy wild unique entertainment. parts of the story meander through my head at random moments ever since i read it years ago. one of my favorite audiobooks due in part to the narrator. highly recommend

Just meh

this book seems to drag on for far too long. I felt very disappointed after I finished it.

Much better than I anticipated

Purchased on a whim. Story, while somewhat predictable was much more interesting than I thought it would be. Made me look forward to doing chores so I could listen to a few more chapters.

What really set it apart was the narrator. No idea how he was able to make the characters sound so different. Really outstanding!

Good story and narrator.

I downloaded this having gotten a recommendation after listening to Library at Mount Char a couple times and I enjoyed it. I like long stories and this held my interest even though there were parts I could skip. My only (tiny) gripe was that I would’ve liked there to be more about dimensions but it was still good. Worth a credit!

Wonderfully Strange and Totally Engrossing!

If you love Dean Koontz's Phantoms and The Taking, Neil Gaiman's American Gods, or Stephen King's The Tommyknockers then the is the brand of horror/sci-fi/mythos for you! Ugh, love this book.