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The Story of a Marriage
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- Narrated by: S. Epatha Merkerson
- Length: 7 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Release date: 05-08-08
- Language: English
- Publisher: Macmillan Audio
Regular price: $23.93
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Featuring original music by Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon! It's 2003 and Romy Hall is at the start of two consecutive life sentences at Stanville Women's Correctional Facility, deep in California's Central Valley. Outside is the world from which she has been severed: the San Francisco of her youth and her young son, Jackson. Inside is a new reality: thousands of women hustling for the essentials needed to survive; the bluffing and pageantry and acts of violence by guards and prisoners alike; and the absurdities of institutional living, which Kushner evokes with great humor and precision.
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One summer in the 60s, in a staid suburb south of London, Paul comes home from university, aged 19, and is urged by his mother to join the tennis club. In the mixed-doubles tournament he's partnered with Susan Macleod, a fine player who's 48, confident, ironic, and married, with two nearly adult daughters. She is also a warm companion, their bond immediate. And they soon, inevitably, are lovers. Clinging to each other as though their lives depend on it, they then set up house in London to escape his parents and the abusive Mr. Mcleod.
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by far the most unremarkable book I ever heard
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Publisher's Summary
It is 1953 and Pearlie, a dutiful young housewife, finds herself living in the Sunset District in San Francisco, caring not only for her husband's fragile health but also for her son, who is afflicted with polio. Then, one Saturday morning, a stranger appears on her doorstep and everything changes. All the certainties by which Pearlie has lived and tried to protect her family are thrown into doubt. Does she know her husband at all? And what does the stranger want in return for his offer of a hundred thousand dollars? For six months in 1953 young Pearlie Cook struggles to understand the world around her, and most especially her husband, Holland.
Pearlie's story is a meditation not only on love but also on the effects of war, with one war recently over and another coming to a close. Set in a climate of fear and repression - political, sexual, and racial - The Story of a Marriage portrays three people trapped by the confines of their era, and the desperate measures they are prepared to take to escape it. Lyrical and surprising, The Story of a Marriage looks back at a period that we tend to misremember as one of innocence and simplicity.
Critic Reviews
"[Greer] has an eerie maturity not often found in young novelists. His prose, incantatory but not overheated, idles along with a top-hatted, almost courtly elegance." ( The San Francisco Chronicle)
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What members say
Average Customer Ratings
Overall
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3.5 out of 5 stars
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5 Stars22
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4 Stars20
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3 Stars27
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2 Stars13
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1 Stars7
Performance
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4 out of 5 stars
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5 Stars17
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4 Stars7
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3 Stars6
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2 Stars2
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1 Stars1
Story
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4 out of 5 stars
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5 Stars11
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4 Stars9
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3 Stars6
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2 Stars5
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1 Stars1
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
- Margaret
- MOHEGAN LAKE, NY, United States
- 10-03-08
disappointed as well
I too was disappointed by this book. Somehow it felt too wordy -- I almost felt like the story could have been told in a short story more effectively. I didn't understand the motivation behind the actions of various characters, and I could predict what was going to happen at the denouement. I gave the novel three stars for managing to grab my attention for at least a while. "The Confessions of Max Tivoli" is a much better read.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
- Derek
- Union, KY, United States
- 07-24-08
A Disappointment
After reading The Confessions of Max Tivoli, I could hardly wait to read the next book from this author. What a disappointment! It was so incredibly unbelievable and completely uncomfortable to read. The characters actions and reactions and the scenarios did not seem plausible or real. By the end of the book, I didn't really even care what happened to anyone!
4 of 4 people found this review helpful
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
- Cheryl C. Tinson
- Fairfax, Virginia, United States
- 05-13-08
Maybe it's me.....
After reading the rave reviews I decided to listen to this book. I'm at a loss for the rave reviews. While listening, most times, I felt
like I had walked in the middle of the characters conversation.
The characters seemed to talk in code to each other and I was not privy to what that code was. I wanted to like this story,but sadly I did not.
22 of 26 people found this review helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- shopper
- 08-30-08
Thoughtful and moving book
From the first line of this novel, I was hooked. The writing is gorgeous and almost flawless, and the story's unexpected twists will make you question your assumptions. The narration is especially effective---I listened to it twice. Can't recommend this one more highly. It's my favorite out of a couple of dozen audio books I've listened to since I started using this service.
5 of 6 people found this review helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- DianaZeus
- Honolulu, HI USA
- 08-01-18
included cadence are lovely, specific sentences
I'm ready to relisten in goodwill for a striking story telling again and against . Many faceted layers to this book, A great glimpse into the space adjustment of the times and erroneously knotted by names.