Handling Sin

By: Michael Malone

Narrated by: Nick Sullivan

Length: 24 hrs and 59 mins

Publisher's summary

On the Ides of March, our hero, Raleigh Whittier Hayes (forgetful husband, baffled father, prosperous insurance agent, and leading citizen of Thermopylae, North Carolina), learns that his father has discharged himself from the hospital, taken all his money out of the bank and, with a young Black female mental patient, vanished in a yellow Cadillac convertible. Left behind is a mysterious list of seven outrageous tasks that Raleigh must perform in order to rescue his father and his inheritance.

And so Raleigh and fat Mingo Sheffield (his irrepressibly loyal friend) set off on an uproarious contemporary treasure hunt through a landscape of unforgettable characters, falling into adventures worthy of Tom Jones and Huck Finn. A moving parable of human love and redemption, Handling Sin is Michael Malone’s comic masterpiece.

©1983, 2001, 2010 Michael Malone (P)2023 Blackstone Publishing

Favorite book finally on audiobook

Fabulous. I loved it. I have read this book about 5 times and always wished there was an audiobook. Wasn't too sure about the narrator at beginning but he did an excellent job.

Brilliant, hilarious

Finally! An audio version of this book.
I remember when I read this book in the 1980s, family members said they could know where I was in the house because they could hear me laughing out loud. I gave a copy to my mother and I could tell what they meant.

At the time, I heard the author give a delightful talk about his work at Yale. He said he was thinking of Canterbury Tales while working on this Handling Sin.

Laughing, he said not everyone understands comic writing. He mentioned that on a visit to a university bookstore he found Handling Sin in the psychology and self-help section.

I am eagerly awaiting the June, 2023 release of audio versions of his brilliant pair of novels, Uncivil Seasons, and Times Witness. They are best read in that order. I have read them many times and they have been a favorite gift to people I really like.

Another reviewer on this page, Darlynne , wrote a great review of this book - one I would have written if i were a bit more clever.

I've waited 40 years for this audiobook

I read Handling Sin when it was first released in 1983 and immediately became one of the few books I joked about being buried with (Good Omens and In This House of Brede, if you're wondering). For a very long time, I scoured Audible's offerings, finally giving up hope that this joyous ode would ever speak out loud. Until a month ago, when a search revealed that several of Malone's books were coming to audio. Fastest pre-order I've ever made.

The short answer: Yes, the audiobook is everything I hoped for. The narrator captured Raleigh Hayes' outrage at the curve ball thrown at his head by his father specifically and life in general, both of which had always disappointed him. By the finale, his forced quest will have reshaped him in unexpected and glorious ways.

The long answer: The world has changed in 40 years or perhaps we've just come to a different understanding of how life was and is now. Readers unfamiliar with the book should expect fat-shaming, racism, sexism, and probably a few more -isms by the end of all 25 hours. That's how we were and I fully expected some cringe-worthy moments today because I cringed a lot in 1983.

Handling Sin is still the funniest book I have ever read, even in the company of some very fine works given that same praise. Malone's wordplay--especially when describing Raleigh's complete and utter breakdown, his new life of crime--is priceless and so precise; it is easy to picture his horrified face in every scene.

In other great news, two of Malone's mysteries in his Justin and Cuddy series will be released in June.

brilliant and highly entertaining😅

One of my favorite novels which I have read more than once. Such a pleasure to listen. it still makes me laugh out loud and shed a few tears. Thank you Michael, well done! 💗🌟🤗