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The Story of Danny Dunn  By  cover art

The Story of Danny Dunn

By: Bryce Courtenay
Narrated by: Humphrey Bower
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Publisher's summary

Simultaneous release of the latest novel from Australia's best-selling author. Likened by the author to Frank Hardy's Australian classic, Power Without Glory, with pubs, gambling and political corruption taking centre stage.

The Dance of Danny Dunn is an Australian family saga centering on a working-class family of publicans who make their first mark in Balmain in the 1930s. In that decade, two opportunities existed for boys of Balmain, a working-class Sydney suburb: to be selected into Fort Street Boys School or to excel as a sportsman. At just 16 years, Danny Dunn has everything going for him: brains, looks, sporting aptitude - and luck with the ladies. His parents run The Hero of Mafeking ('Maffos'), the favourite local watering hole, and the whole of Balmain is proud of Danny's sporting prowess. His mother, though, steers Danny towards a university education; but with just six months of his degree to go, he signs up for the AIF, driven by a desire to serve his country and plain wanderlust.

Danny serves in South-east Asia, spends three and a half years as a POW, and returns a broken man, embittered and facially disfigured. He has told no one of his return, and as he sails towards the Balmain ferry terminal, he knows his life in beloved Balmain will have nothing to do with the life he led before the war. He is scared and overwhelmed by the need to sort himself out, to find out who the hell he is....

©2013 Christine Courtenay; 2009 Bryce Courtenay (P)2009 Bolinda Publishing Pty Ltd

What listeners say about The Story of Danny Dunn

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Oh Danny Boy!

As an Irish Australian with family in Balmain I found this book compelling. Typical Bryce Courtenay with detail so intricate you can almost smell the scene.
Bryce brings to us another collection of characters with whom we laugh, cry and ride their individual emotional roller-coasters. listen out for the hilarious description of the Egyptians by Half Dunne (Danny's father) as he enthralls the pub patrons with his interpretation of how mummies are prepared (I had tears rolling down my cheeks and almost had to pull the car over)
Top Marks Mr Courtenay.
I never enter a posting without acknowledging the Narrator - Humphrey Bower is the best in the business - If you require an easy listening style combined with a gambit of character voices that doesn't require you to exhaust your imagination then look no farther than Humphrey Bower, he is such a talented individual...so much so that I search for books using the narrator as the keyword.
Ed

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38 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Wow. *Sniff-Sniff* Oh...wow.

I've just finished listening to the book and for the first time ever I felt the need to write a comment. On the technical side: this is a very well-written and extremely well-performed book and I highly recommend it to anyone who's grown up listening to the stories of South Pacific WWII survivors. On the personal side: It gave me a greater appreciation and understanding of what my grandfather went through during and especially after the war. Many of the embedded stories struck close to home and the magnificent way in which Humphrey Bower performed the telling...well...oh wow. I have to admit that it's been a long time since any book has moved me so deeply.

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27 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

BC once more amazing

Since discovering BC a couple of months ago I have yet to be even slightly dissapointed... driving my roadtrain around western australia is so much better with one of his books playing, and the narrator is arguably one of the best in the business...

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21 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Another winner from Bryce Courtney

Oh what a delight. A fantastic story. Again down to earth characters and a wonderful way to pass the time. I travel a lot in South Africa, so my journeys are normally quite long. Bryce Courtney has been a major help to me. Makes the trip a whole lot quicker. Thanks again for a wonderful story.

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars

OK

I have really enjoyed most of the book. It was a great story, with a very unexpected ending. The ending left me flat and I thought soiled the story.

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7 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fabulous

This is a great last novel for Bryce Courtney, an epic story of Australiana from the early 20th century. I really loved this book, I found the narrator to be very entertaining and extremely good..

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

The story of Danny Dunn

I downloaded this particular book after hearing the author Bryce Courtenay interviewed on the radio. It sounded great. I have enjoyed other books that he has written. It was a great story, with a very unexpected ending. The author has a talent for being able to describle something or someone in such a way that it comes alive to the reader. My only criticism is that these descriptions can become a bit long winded and tedious.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Best left for a later read

if you're looking for your first Bryce Courtenay, save this for later. While this is not Mr. Courteney ' s best, it's still good. But it would be better if you started with The Power of One or the Matthew Flinder ' Cat.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Balmain Boys can Cry

Bryce Courtney captures the spirit of the Australian battler from the drought ravaged Riverina country to the industrial heartland of working class Sydney. Pub culture was an important feature of twentieth century Australia and it is artfully interwoven into this intriguing tale.

A great listen.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

A colourful story of an average man

I enjoyed this story as much because the underdog made good in spite of the hurdles put in front of him and later fought for the underdog as a lawyer. If I have a criticism it was that Courtney sometimes used todays terminology in a story set in the World War 2 era. It didn't quite gell yet it was still a good story.

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4 people found this helpful