The Fortress of Solitude

De: Jonathan Lethem

Narrado por: David Aaron Baker

This is the story of two boys, Dylan Ebdus and Mingus Rude. They are friends and neighbors, but because Dylan is white and Mingus is black, their friendship is not simple. This is the story of their Brooklyn neighborhood, which is almost exclusively black despite the first whispers of something that will become known as "gentrification."

This is the story of 1970s America, a time when the most simple human decisions—what music you listen to, whether to speak to the kid in the seat next to you, whether to give up your lunch money—are laden with potential political, social and racial disaster. This is the story of 1990s America, when no one cared anymore.

This is the story of punk, that easy white rebellion, and crack, that monstrous plague. This is the story of the loneliness of the avant-garde artist and the exuberance of the graffiti artist.

This is the story of what would happen if two teenaged boys obsessed with comic book heroes actually had superpowers: They would screw up their lives.

This is the story of joyous afternoons of stickball and dreaded years of schoolyard extortion. This is the story of belonging to a society that doesn't accept you. This is the story of prison and of college, of Brooklyn and Berkeley, of soul and rap, of murder and redemption.

This is the story Jonathan Lethem was born to tell. This is THE FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE.©2002 Jonathan Lethem; (P)2003 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Reseñas de la Crítica

“Lethem has done a number of things here, any one of which is impossible for any but the very finest novelists. He has vividly and lovingly and truthfully, through thrilling evocation of its music, its popular culture, its street games, argot, pharmacology, social mores and racial politics, recreated a world, a moment in history that I would have thought lost and irrecoverable. He has created, in young Dylan, a genuine literary hero. He has reinvented and reinvigorated the myths of the superhero, of black-white relations, of New York City itself. But most of all, from my point of view, he captures precisely–as only a great novelist can–how it feels to love the world that is, on a daily basis, kicking your ass.”
--Michael Chabon, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay and Wonder Boys


“THE FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE is luminous, stinging with truth and life. A story of two boys, a Brooklyn story, an American story that gives in its very specificity the force of the universal.”
--Paula Fox, author of Desperate Characters and Borrowed Finery


"Wondrous and sweeping, this story evokes perfectly the nuances of friendship and the often odd arrangement called family. The drum of loss beats poignantly beneath the surface, as this tale moves from the streets of Brooklyn to the West Coast and back, presenting us the with baffling and tender gift of acceptance."
--Elizabeth Strout, author of Amy and Isabelle

"The Fortress of Solitude is a grim, brave, soaring American masterpiece."
--Richard Russo

Brilliant

The book amazing. The dynamic between white and black cultures is captured with such realism and honesty. It's hilarious and beautiful. Also, possibly the best narration I've ever heard for a book (and I've listened to more than 100).

Narrator

Narration nailed it! Love the fantastical elements. I enjoyed it immensely! Highly recommend. Check it out. Ok bye

A Treasure!

I listened to this book a few months ago, yet it remains with me. I might even listen to it again as there are so many dimensions to Lethem's work. In addition to an interesting plot, the author presents rich information about growing up in Brooklyn, education, grafitti, music, prison life, and neighborhood development. Although it's a long listen, there is much magic in the content and the performance.

One of the best books I've ever listened to.

Which character – as performed by David Aaron Baker – was your favorite?

Mingus Roode. I love him. When I wasn't listening I was wondering what was happening to him.

Any additional comments?

This is one of the only books I've ever read/listened to that I felt had no cheesy filler parts. Most books have parts that you can take seriously, and parts where you can tell the writer is filling in or trying to bring things together, you know where you stop hearing the story and you're just watching the writer write feeling a little sorry for him/her. This book was real heart felt story telling all the way through. These characters are real people, even though they aren't.. They could be any one of us is what I mean. Just read it.

Historical Fiction Fatasy

I thought this book was an excellent portrayal about the lives of Brooklyn kids growing up in the seventies. True, the plot is a wider scope than some people may desire but it is unique and the character development is superb.