Sleepless Nights

By: Elizabeth Hardwick

Narrated by: Erin Ruth Walker

In Sleepless Nights, a woman looks back on her life - the parade of people, the shifting background of place - and assembles a scrapbook of memories, reflections, portraits, letters, wishes, and dreams. An inspired fusion of fact and invention, this beautifully realized, hard-bitten, lyrical book is not only Elizabeth Hardwick's finest fiction but one of the outstanding contributions to American literature of the last 50 years.

©1979 Elizabeth Hardwick (P)2022 Tantor

Surprising little masterpiece

Stories with real emotional depth. The stories were very moving. I can’t recommend it enough

Narrator ruins listening experience

Elizabeth Hardwick’s writing is evocative and elegiac. Her words and imagery are punctured by a narrator who sounds like an AI bot whose batteries need recharging. Monotone delivery with abrupt stops and starts. Simply awful. I want my credit back!

self-indulgent inanity

It is curious how this author has garnered accolades for writing a self-indulgent stream of consciousness… for her attempts to reveal the realities of life and the complexities of human thought and motivation from a background of privilege. Her use of flowery, awkward prose and the narrator’s girlish affectation made it almost unbearable to listen to. But I finish all of our bookclub selections so was happy to reach the end. Thanks to Audible for offering it for free!

😖

Depressing story of all the characters. Narrator sounds like a robot, very monotone. Difficult to stay interested in the story with all the flowery words and descriptions. Found it to be a painful read