Telephone

A Novel

By: Percival Everett

Narrated by: Bill Andrew Quinn

Zach Wells is a perpetually dissatisfied geologist-slash-paleobiologist. Expert in a very narrow area—the geological history of a cave forty-four meters above the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon—he is a laconic man who plays chess with his daughter, trades puns with his wife while she does yoga, and dodges committee work at the college where he teaches.

After a field trip to the desert yields nothing more than a colleague with a tenure problem and a student with an unwelcome crush on him, Wells returns home to find his world crumbling. His daughter has lost her edge at chess, she has developed mysterious eye problems, and her memory has lost its grasp. Powerless in the face of his daughter's slow deterioration, he finds a mysterious note asking for help tucked into the pocket of a jacket he's ordered off eBay. Desperate for someone to save, he sets off to New Mexico in secret on a quixotic rescue mission.

A deeply affecting story about the lengths to which loss and grief will drive us, Telephone is a Percival Everett novel we should have seen coming all along, one that will shake you to the core as it asks questions about the power of narrative to save.

©2020 Percival Everett (P)2023 Tantor

Strange end

The narrator did an excellent job with the book, which flowed quite smoothly overall. I found it a bit confusing at times, though, as it took several directions that could lead to various conclusions. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed it. The ending was surprisingly unique and definitely left me wanting more.

Robot narrator??

The story had merit, but the narration was AWFUL. It does list a person by name, but I cannot be convinced that this isn't an AI generated voice. There's no inflection, emotion, nothing. It's just like those AI narrated YouTube videos that the kids watch. I had to quit. I wasn't getting anything out of it. I couldn't listen to the story narrated that way. I will have to read this one the old-fashioned way, I guess.

NE Version

I tore this. I agree that the reader was stilted in his reading, but the story is excellent, thought provoking. Life. Our interactions. How we navigate. What gives us purpose. Surviving. I’m still pricey.

A serious book that is amazing.

The breadth of knowledge that Everett has about geology and chess is displayed in this book. Guy wrenching story. Like other of his books there is dual story lines that intersect.

Weird and not enjoyable

This book is somewhat engrossing but ends abruptly. I guess the reader is to fill out the ending for themselves. The narrator sounds like he is AI generated and was a complete distraction. Do yourself a favor and take a pass on this book