The Cold Millions

A Novel

De: Jess Walter

Narrado por: Edoardo Ballerini, Gary Farmer, Marin Ireland, Cassandra Campbell, MacLeod Andrews, Tim Gerard Reynolds, Mike Ortego, Rex Anderson, Charlie Thurston, Frankie Corzo

“One of the most captivating novels of the year.” – Washington Post

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A Library Reads Pick • An Indie Next Pick

A Best Book of the Year: Bloomberg | Boston Globe | Chicago Public Library | Chicago Tribune | Esquire | Kirkus | New York Public Library | New York Times Book Review (Historical Fiction) | NPR's Fresh Air | O Magazine | Washington Post | Publishers Weekly | Seattle Times | USA Today

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of Beautiful Ruins comes another “literary miracle” (NPR)—a propulsive, richly entertaining novel about two brothers swept up in the turbulent class warfare of the early twentieth century.

An intimate story of brotherhood, love, sacrifice, and betrayal set against the panoramic backdrop of an early twentieth-century America that eerily echoes our own time, The Cold Millions offers a kaleidoscopic portrait of a nation grappling with the chasm between rich and poor, between harsh realities and simple dreams.

The Dolans live by their wits, jumping freight trains and lining up for day work at crooked job agencies. While sixteen-year-old Rye yearns for a steady job and a home, his older brother, Gig, dreams of a better world, fighting alongside other union men for fair pay and decent treatment. Enter Ursula the Great, a vaudeville singer who performs with a live cougar and introduces the brothers to a far more dangerous creature: a mining magnate determined to keep his wealth and his hold on Ursula.

Dubious of Gig’s idealism, Rye finds himself drawn to a fearless nineteen-year-old activist and feminist named Elizabeth Gurley Flynn. But a storm is coming, threatening to overwhelm them all, and Rye will be forced to decide where he stands. Is it enough to win the occasional battle, even if you cannot win the war?

Featuring an unforgettable cast of cops and tramps, suffragists and socialists, madams and murderers, The Cold Millions is a tour de force from a “writer who has planted himself firmly in the first rank of American authors” (Boston Globe).

History Well Told

This may not be Jess Walters’s best book, but he has recreated a time in our history that transforms the reader back in time and succeeds in feeling as if you were there through the images he pens. But for a few digressions I felt were unnecessary and too long, I would have given 5 stars. That said, it’s a story well told and one that held my attention to the end. I felt the multiple narrators worked well, and the primary narrator who does the heavy lifting was very good.

Completely engrossing read

My husband and I listened on our many road trips back and forth to the mountains and loved this book. Stories and characters are fascinating tied in with the history of the time. Don’t miss this book. The narration was outstanding.

Forgotten history

Lovely story, compelling characters and a great reminder of humanity in history. Truly a forgotten part of history!!

Excellent read

One of the best books I have read. The voices wereu phenomenal. Like the best books, I didn’t want it to end.

Excellent

I struggled a bit at the beginning, but it is totally worth it to let the author take you on this journey.

Beautifully written story, wonderful performance

This is one of the few books that I probably enjoyed more listening to on audio instead of reading the book directly. The performances were wonderful, and I enjoyed the occasional change of performer with the changes of character point-of-view. Each performer had an authentic voice, as if they were truly telling you their story, not reading it from a page. The story was beautifully written and unique, and unfolded in its own time. The themes were thought-provoking, yet very subtle. Enjoyable!

Engrossing

Terrific story, well--narrated by several voices. Amazing slice of life novel about a time in American history when social and economic forces were at war with each other. Knowing Spokane as I do, the book had special dimension for me.
5 Stars.

Cool Millions vs. Cold Millions

Spokane, Washington, is not the most glamorous locale in the world, but it is home to Jess Walter, and it was home over a century ago to a significant skirmish in the labor wars of the era. And that event becomes central to the story of the Dolan brothers, a pair of young migrant workers looking for the fair shake that the unions are offering.

While older brother Gig dives deep into the movement and pays a devastating price, young Rye is swept up by the competing forces of the cool millions banked by the rich mine magnate who tries to buy him off and the fiery young socialist spokesperson for the cold millions, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, a real life historical figure who comes to life spectacularly as a fictional character.

Walter employs an unusual structure -- most of the novel is a third person perspective that follows Rye, a blank canvas, a naif, an everyman. Mixed in, every other chapter, is told in first person by many of the other characters in Rye's world, including his brother and Gurley Flynn and even characters that predate the story's primary setting.

Maybe this approach works better in print -- in this audio production, a decision was made to use a cast of narrators rather than letting the main narrator, the excellent Edoardo Ballerini, carry the whole load. In theory, this should lend itself perfectly to the audio format. In reality, it was flat and distracting and left me wanting not only the narration to be one person, but the whole point of view to be Rye.

I've read all of Walter's novels, and have waited nearly a decade for his follow-up to his best known work, Beautiful Ruins. The result is very very good, especially from a socio-political point of view, this story echoing the ongoing class conflicts of the present day. But without the exotic Cinque Terre setting or Hollywood actors as part of the tale, Cold Millions cannot possibly satisfy fans of Beautiful Ruins. If you're prepared to read a different kind of book, Walter remains one of the best authors of literary fiction working today.

First rate storytelling

Jess Walter knows how to spin a yarn. A must read. What are you waiting for?

Fabulous piece of history and the love of brothers

This gave me an experience of a part of humanity I would never have had. Captivating story and very well performed.