Polly!

By: Stephen Goldin

Narrated by: Joe Hempel

Length: 3 hrs and 46 mins

Publisher's summary

"Blasphemous...highly offensive"...and very funny!

Herodotus Shapiro has had an unbelievably bad week. His wife left him. The IRS is after him for thousands of dollars. His home/bookstore burned down. On his way to take refuge at his brother's place, he got a speeding ticket. And now his car has broken down in the middle of the desert in front of a large mansion. What more can go wrong?

But now his world takes a turn for the weird. The mansion has a snowman on the front lawn - in the desert, in July. The house, which is bigger on the inside than on the outside, is owned by Polly, the most preternaturally beautiful young woman he's ever met. Polly is an acrobat, a gourmet chef, a psychologist, an international financial consultant, a physicist, and a woman of who-knows how many other incredible talents. She has an unbelievable library, an art collection of all the world's great masterpieces, and a print of a previously unknown Marx Brothers film. Her toilet paper is actually silk. And she seems to have some mysterious plans for him....

©2008 Stephen Goldin (P)2016 Stephen Goldin

Polly

This was an interesting and funny book.Joe Hempel narrates nicely.A man is having a terrible week.His girlfriend leaves him and his car breaks down ,oddly, in front of the only house for miles.He walks in on what at first looks like a party.Weirdness ensues.I was provided this book free by the author, narrator or publisher.

Can you handle it?

I thought this book was humorous, but it was definitely for the non-religious, or at least someone who can accept the book with a grain of salt and enjoy it for its entertainment value. It makes jokes about God, Jesus, the Bible, and I'll be honest, it did offend me, which is why I would not recommend this for Christians. That aside, I think the book was well-written, interesting, and funny. I listened to the Audible audio version, and the narration by Joe Hempel good (I really do like his narrations).

Ye Gods! A whimsical, delightful tale about rubbing elbows with divinity.

This is a snappy, witty little story about a man at the end of his rope, who suddenly and bizarrely finds himself keeping company with a beautiful, intelligent, wealthy young woman who is more– way more– than she first appears.

The first hour evokes multiple shades of "Hotel California", and for a bit it really does feel that perhaps the story is meant to be a full-length adaptation of the haunting Eagles song: the oasis mansion in the California desert, the mysterious beauty, the motley guests drinking wine and reminiscing on their lives. Then the story itself points out that particular reference, and you realize that the narrative knows perfectly well what it's doing, and that there is still much further to go.

It's all conveyed fluidly and cleverly, assisted by the nuanced and thoughtful narration by Joe Hempel. He brings the right pitch to all the characters, particularly our hero, named Hero (or Rod; his full name is Herodotus), and the playful, quirky, too-perfect Polly.

I recommend this fun and thought-provoking story. Both the writing and narration were thoroughly enjoyable.

Wonderfully unusual

This story was extremely odd, but that's why I loved it. You never knew what Polly was going to come up with next and poor Herodotus was dragged around for all her antics. I especially loved Polly's explanation on the universe. To me it seems like the best answer that I've ever heard anyone ever explain it. I've listened to Joe narrate before and he did as great of a job as ever on this story and helped make it even funnier.

Polly

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

The book Polly by Stephen Goldin is a very thought provoking book written in a way that keeps you laughing and guessing at who Polly actually is. Herodutus Shapiro meets Polly Perfect through a series of business and personal disasters that have him ready to give up on life. Through this chance meeting he learns more about life than he had ever conceived before. This book is funny, irreverent, and thought provoking. The audio book version was read well and really brought out the personalities of the characters. I read this book while running and increased my distance because I wanted to keep listening. “I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audio book by the author, narrator, or publisher.”

What did you like best about this story?

The story was funny and quirky but well written.

What does Joe Hempel bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

The personalities of the characters were really brought out by Joe Hempel. Polly's deadpan humor was hilarious and the life stories of her other guests were expressed in a way that I really felt for them.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, I read it while running and found myself upping my mileage to get to listen to more.

Not what you expect.

What made the experience of listening to Polly! the most enjoyable?

I never guessed what was going to happen.

What did you like best about this story?

Sorry I don't like spoilers.

Any additional comments?

I thought this was going to be a light comedy romance. But it wasn't it was however a delightful surprise. I had a smile on my face most of the time I was listening. I really enjoyed this.

An insightful comedy

Polly! seems to be proudly promoted as ‘blasphemous’ but I beg to differ, accusing the blurb of this quirky story of being nothing more than hyperbole. Certainly, anyone who is so uncomfortable with their faith that they can’t stand debate, will find Stephen Goldin’s insightful take on religion to be blasphemous, but most religions and religious people I know welcome an exchange of ideas and an open conversation about belief and practice. It’s how we learn and enlighten ourselves in all matters.

This is the story of Rod, or Herodotus Shapiro in full, a modern-day guy who faces a sudden string of extraordinarily bad luck. He winds up at a mysterious desert estate where a genuine snowman sits in the front yard during summer, and people of all eras seem to be attending the party inside. The host is an appealing young woman named Polly who may or may not be a divine being, but who certainly provides a wake-up call to Rod over his traditional Christian interpretation of what a God’s role should be in our lives.

Combining humour with intellectual debate, Polly! makes you laugh and think. Despite the topic, it’s hard to classify this as a religious story, even though religion is the primary focus. Polly! is much broader than that. It’s about relationships, identity, faith, and taking control of one’s own destiny.

I’ve reviewed two other audiobooks narrated by Joe Hempel on my audiobook review site at SaidNotRead dot wordpress dot com (go check it out!) and he remains a consistently good and reliable reader. Hempel has a great sense of timing and characterisation, and his recordings are of a high standard. In Polly! he demonstrates good comic timing too. He’s a narrator that engenders enough trust to try an audiobook based on the strength of his involvement and I look forward to hearing more of his work as the year progresses.

I also hope to hear more audiobooks written by Stephen Goldin. If Polly! is anything to go by, he has an enjoyable style and an intuitive mind. With over 40 science fiction and fantasy books to his name, it seems that he’s not afraid to challenge the status quo and I love that freshness of ideas from an author. It’s so hard to find in such a saturated market.

Well written, well read!

Well written and well read. Fantastic performance by Joe brought the characters and the story to life. This outrageous tale was fun and entertaining yet thought provoking. Prepare to open your mind to a new perspective with a few chuckles along the way.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher. This did not influence my review in any way.

Bad days are just a matter of perspective

Hero has the worst week of his life and while on his way to escape his troubles, his car breaks down in a desert in front of a mansion. Hero goes to the door and a young beautiful lady opens the door. Enter Polly; a young quirky lady, possibly a deity, that gives Heroditus Shapiro a different perspective on how horrible the problems in his life really are. The story was a little funny but more along the bizarre. Through his couple days interaction with Polly, Hero becomes more convinced that Polly is a god and learns that many perceived beliefs about god don't quite hit the mark.

If your a person of any faith keep in mind this is fiction and try to be objective. As one of those people there were couple uncomfortable parts of this book I had to keep reminding myself of this. The moral of the story and the ideas aren't too far fetched from how you might expect a god to answer. Not really my cup of tea though.

This book was given to me for free at my request and I provided this voluntary review.

Funny and Interesting

If you could sum up Polly! in three words, what would they be?

Funny, Gritty, Interesting

What about Joe Hempel’s performance did you like?

Joe does a great job with every narration. He captured the intent of the story with his great voice.

Any additional comments?

This review copy audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost."