Beautiful Ruins

By: Jess Walter

Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini

Length: 12 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's summary

Audie Award Nominee, Fiction and Best Solo Narration, 2013

The story begins in 1962. On a rocky patch of the sun-drenched Italian coastline, a young innkeeper, chest-deep in daydreams, looks out over the incandescent waters of the Ligurian Sea and spies an apparition: a tall, thin woman, a vision in white, approaching him on a boat. She is an actress, he soon learns, an American starlet, and she is dying.

And the story begins again today, half a world away, when an elderly Italian man shows up on a movie studio's back lot - searching for the mysterious woman he last saw at his hotel decades earlier.

What unfolds is a dazzling, yet deeply human, roller coaster of a novel, spanning 50 years and nearly as many lives. From the lavish set of Cleopatra to the shabby revelry of the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Walter introduces us to the tangled lives of a dozen unforgettable characters: the starstruck Italian innkeeper and his long-lost love; the heroically preserved producer who once brought them together and his idealistic young assistant; the army veteran turned fledgling novelist, and the rakish Richard Burton himself, whose appetites set the whole story in motion - along with the husbands and wives, lovers and dreamers, superstars and losers, who populate their world in the decades that follow.

Gloriously inventive, constantly surprising, Beautiful Ruins is a story of flawed yet fascinating people, navigating the rocky shores of their lives while clinging to their improbable dreams.

©2012 Jess Walter (P)2012 HarperCollins Publisher

must read

I am looking forward to hearing more from the author, Jess Walter, and the reader. transcending.

Feel good listen

I found this a very heartwarming story, with a lot of interwoven plots, which I love. Humor smattered about. But, the crown jewel was the narrator's command of accents, especially between Italian and American. He was in perfect command, and it added to an already compelling story.

Absolutely loved this book!

Jess Walter makes you care about these characters by masterfully introducing them, then going back to their full story while weaving the stories together. It takes place in coastal Italy, in Hollywood, in Seattle and Idaho with a quick trip to Great Britain. The way the story builds makes it hard to put down.

The reader of this book is more than that, he’s a performer. Loved the bits of Italian.

Unique international take on a complicated love story

Really enjoyed the dimensions to all characters in the novel and the plotline. Felt a few storylines with side characters could have been better organized within the chapters. It may be more clear with a physical book copy, but was slightly confusing audibly. Overall loved the book & the unique take on a complicated love story from Italy back to the U.S.

I’m so fussy, but I adored this book!

Beautiful story, impeccable narration by my favorite narrator, about to listen to it again! …and I’m very hard to please. Thank you Eduardo Ballerini for speaking directly to my soul once more. Thank you Jess Walter for all your research to create this piece of art.

Enjoyable on so many levels!

A family saga with an edgy twist! Clearly Mr. Walter is sharing from personal experiences and emotions. In this the lives and emotions of the characters ring true.

intriguing intertwine in italy

for me, there was two highlights of this book. the sober harsh fatalistic statement "You only live one life. And you make all your mistakes. And learn what not to do. And that's the end of you."

and the end, when all the relationships that mattered opened up like a sad fucked up beautiful solitaire.

Beautiful book and beautiful performance!

I loved, loved this book and the reading was fabulous! I've never listened to a book that was performed before - it was like listening to a radio play! So engaging!
Loved every second of it.

Memorable characters and storyline

Lovely story and it soon evolves into memorable lives of many characters. Touching and evocative. Great reader.

What a wonderful surprise

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This was an engaging and beautifully written story. Not only is Jess Walter a brilliant writer, he obviously does excellent research which flows effortless thorughout the plot.