The Magician's Assistant

By: Ann Patchett

Narrated by: Karen Ziemba

From the bestselling author of The Dutch House, a secretive magician’s death becomes the catalyst for his partner’s journey of self-discovery in this “enchanting” book (San Francisco Chronicle) “that is something of a magic trick in itself.” (Newsweek)

When Parsifal, a handsome and charming magician, dies suddenly, his widow Sabine—who was also his faithful assistant for twenty years—learns that the family he claimed to have lost in a tragic accident is very much alive and well. Sabine is left to unravel his secrets, and the journey she takes, from sunny Los Angeles to the bitter windswept plains of Nebraska, will work its own magic on her.

Sabine's extraordinary tale, “with its big dreams, vast spaces, and disparate realities lying side by side” captures the hearts of its readers and “proves to be the perfect place for miraculous transformations.” (The New Yorker)

©1997 Ann Patchett; (P)2008 HarperCollins Publishers

well done but not exactly uplifting

Patchett is a solid author - good stories, well conceived with highly developed characters. Her stories do draw you in, but this one felt too "down" most of the time.
Not even "ups and downs" in the story as much as just a sad (but well depicted) reality of people struggling and not too happy.
This story could have been non-fiction or biographical in that it was too 'real' feeling in some ways.
I don't need fiction to always be happy and upbeat - but this felt like it was portraying a consistently downer theme...3/4 of the way thru, I almost didn't want to continue listening, but she is a good author and despite getting depressed listening to it, I felt committed to the story.
The reader was excellent.

Poignant and lovely

I've listened to several Ann Patchett books, and this is one of my favorites. Great writing, great narration, it is worth your time and book credit.

Fantastic narration, abrupt ending

I found myself very entertained throughout most of the story; however I cannot get past the abrupt ending. The narration was fantastic. Karen Ziemba absolutely brought these characters to life. I will try another Patchett offering based on other reviews. She does write beautifully.

Rabbit

Good. story, wish the ending was a bit more detailed. Narration was done very well!

Cute story

I loved the flow of the story and the way the characters “lived” in her dreams.

The story is very captivating. The reader captured the personality of the mother of the magician really well.

I think the music didn’t work so well. Most of the time it did not match the mood of the moment, clashing with the story. If you insist in playing some music between the chapters, which may not be so bad, please find something that goes well with the story, perhaps different tunes for different chapters that are more appropriate. Also, play the tune only once and never together with the words since it makes it difficult to hear what is being read and is distracting. Thanks!

Good love story

Good character development-she supported the magician throughout his life. Good story line and very likable characters.
The narrator was good and the story moved along at a good pace.

Talk about being kicked out of the story!

It would've been so easy to give the story 5-Stars had it not been for all the little things that kicked me out of the story. For example, Sabine's parents were said to live in 'Fairfax', which is a quaint little town in Northern California, when in fact they lived in 'The Fairfax', i.e. the Fairfax district in Los Angeles. I couldn't count the number of times that the traditionally Jewish district was mislabeld.
Then, there was the 'Phish' poster that the narrator "couldn't understand the meaning of". Really? Was this supposed to be ironic? Or was the author dumb enough to not know that Phish was a band. Also, it seems to me that Phish is far too much of a jam-band for a fifteen year old in Nebraska to have on their radar...
I think Ms. Patchett needs a good editor. Since this was written many years ago, and she's written and published several more books, I'm hoping this means she has found such an editor!

Dropped At The End

All of the build up and then no resolution. It was like having the last two weeks of a calendar without numbers. Maybe it would have been "obvious." Maybe the author thought she didn't need to write it because it was "obvious" but it could have ended a little farther down the path of obviousness. It would have been nice to hear it in the author's voice.

the magicians Assistant

I enjoyed listening to the Misicians assistant but found that jazzy musical interlude very irritating. I would prefer reading this book instead of listening to this book solely because of the music that accompanied it