Download Popular Titles Audiobooks in Fiction, Contemporary

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Title: Sister of My Heart

Subtitle: A Novel

Author: Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni

Narrator: Julia Whelan

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 49 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-30-12

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 105 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

From the award-winning author of Mistress of Spices, the best-selling novel about the extraordinary bond between two women, and the family secrets and romantic jealousies that threaten to tear them apart.

But when Sudha learns a dark family secret, that connection is shattered. For the first time in their lives, the girls know what it is to feel suspicion and distrust. Urged into arranged marriages, Sudha and Anju's lives take opposite turns. Sudha becomes the dutiful daughter-in-law of a rigid small-town household. Anju goes to America with her new husband and learns to live her own life of secrets. When tragedy strikes each of them, however, they discover that despite distance and marriage, they have only each other to turn to.

Set in the two worlds of San Francisco and India, this exceptionally moving novel tells a story at once familiar and exotic, seducing listeners from the first minute with the lush prose we have come to expect from Divakaruni. Sister of My Heart is a novel destined to become as widely beloved as it is acclaimed.

Critic Reviews:

"An inspired and imaginative raconteur, Divakaruni is sure to engender comparisons with Arundhati Roy (The God of Small Things), but Divakaruni's novel stands in its own right as a compelling read." (Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

I enjoyed reading this book much more

I read this book many years ago - it actually still sits on my bedside table. The story of Sudha and Anju is one of love, secrets, heartbreak and ultimately family. The story and characters of the girls will stay with you, even after you have finished reading it. I have always enjoyed Divakaruni's style of writing. The words are beautiful, the scenes she sets are beautiful even many of the characters she writes are beautiful, even when they are ugly. There is a follow up book to this one called The Vine of Desire. If you enjoyed this book, you might want to pick up that book - Anju and Sudha are adults now, but there's still never a dull moment - especially when one's husband is attracted to the other.

Now for why I couldn't give this audio book full stars:

Lisette Lecat has spoiled me for listening to stories about characters from other countries. Her delivery of the accents are flawless and honest. Julia Whelan reads well, but she sounds just like me, and this accent is NOT for this book. I wish someone would have considered it. I mean, Im sure they considered it - what would people who buy this book want to hear - what would they spend their money on? This may be the voice that many people would appreciate, but this is not the voice I wanted to hear - not for this book.

Why not Sarita Choudhury? Why not Frieda Pinto? Why not Sarita and Frieda together?

The performance really made this book difficult for me to listen to. Nothing genuine - not even pretend.

Disappointing about to me. I loved reading this book, I just really hated hearing it.

I understand, that these feelings are mine alone. I still recommend this book - the story is good, and Divakaruni is a brilliant writer.

A Story Betrayed in the Telling

The nararator insulted the author, embarrassed hetself, disrespected the reader. I ground my teeth with the horrible, continual mispronunciations of EVERY Indian language name, word, and phrase. I was constantly tense so that the great writing was difficult to attend to as in other books by this author.

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Title: The Flame Alphabet

Author: Ben Marcus

Narrator: Andy Paris

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-17-12

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 2.5 of 5 out of 66 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

In The Flame Alphabet, language is toxic to everyone but children. For adults this means no speaking, no reading, no writing, no listening - at least not without severe allergic reaction, depression or crippling pain. In telling the story, Sam, a man whose family has come apart, is literally dying a slow death. Its poisoning him to write the words that we read. The story is set in our time, but that time has been just slightly broken open to accommodate a world where children have all of the power and where adults must shield themselves from language in any way that they can. Marcuss narrative touches on a wide range of interests and issues, including a speculative conception of allergy science, rogue tactics of self-improvement, the trauma that surrounds aphasia, confidence games between excessively powerful children, the future of writing as a technology and cruelty within families. The novel is part satire and lament, dystopian fantasy and family tragedy.

Critic Reviews:

Marcus is a writer of prodigious talent . . . Formally inventive, dark and dryly comic . . . [

The Flame Alphabet] reads like a dream. (J. Robert Lennon,

The New York Times Book Review)

Language kills in Marcuss audacious new work of fiction, a richly allusive look at a world transformed by a new form of illness . . . Biblical in its Old Testament sense of wrath, Marcuss novel twists Americas quotidian existence into something recognizable yet wholly alien to our experience. (

Publishers Weekly, starred review and Pick of the Week)

Ben Marcus is the rarest kind of writer: a necessary one. It's become impossible to imagine the literary worldthe world itselfwithout his daring, mind-bending and heartbreaking writing. (Jonathan Safran Foer)

Members Reviews:

A Brilliant Concept, Executed to Perfection

For a book detailing the slow and macabre proliferation of disease and dissolution of language, this reads like a methodical and ominously gorgeous work of prose. It wasn't without its flaws, but still earned its 5 stars (maybe 4.5) through its descriptions, analyses of familial relationships and religion, and execution of a great concept without going Hollywood Thriller. I keep turning parts of it over in my head and continue to draw out more about culture, spirituality, and of course language itself.

Hopes Dashed

What disappointed you about The Flame Alphabet?

I thought the premise was interesting. The early chapters were promising, but as the story progresses it all sinks into a sludge of alienation that would probably even bum Kafka out. Lots of dreary descriptions of the sick getting sicker but not dying too fast and civilization crumbling but not quite coming to an end. The protagonist struggles to make sense of it all, but gets nowhere as he and his family literally and figuratively fall apart. Nearly all the characters stop speaking to each other, per the major plot point of the novel, so the reader is mostly left with the protagonist's/narrator's lengthy ruminations about existing in a world in which language - written or spoken - is deadly poison (irony?). In the end, I didn't care about anyone or anything in the novel. I simply felt, alienated. Was that Marcus's goal?

What do you think your next listen will be?

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

There are a few moments of gallows humor in the novel that Andy Paris handles well.

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Title: Nothing but Trouble

Author: Rachel Gibson

Narrator: Susan Bennett

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-16-11

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 510 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Rachel Gibsons eloquent prose (Publishers Weekly) has earned the author a number of coveted awards, including the RITA, Golden Heart, and National Readers Choice. Nothing But Trouble features an injured, prickly Seattle Chinooks hockey player who is none too pleased to be bedridden. Taking on the unenviable taskof personal assistant to the fallen star is Chelsea Ross, a Hollywood scream queen awaiting her big break. From the jump theyre a match made in H-E-double hockey sticks, but once the gloves come off, a heated attraction threatens to melt both their resolves.

Members Reviews:

Sexy, romantic and lots of fun!

STORY (contemporary romance) - This is a really cute contemporary romance. Mark is a sexy hockey player who is recuperating from a very serious traffic accident. Chelsie is hired to be his assistant while he recuperates. Mark starts out a grumbly jerk and Chelsie is adorably irritating to him -- "Nothing But Trouble." Like many romance stories, they start out seriously disliking each other till things start warming up. I personally like my romance stories to also have a mystery or thriller plot line to make things more interesting, which is why I've rated this a 4.5 overall instead of a 5, but this story is just so sarcastic and clever that I caught myself smiling or laughing out loud several times. Some might think it's just silly fluff, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

PERFORMANCE - Rachel Gibson's humor and wit is perfectly delivered by Susan Bennett. This author/narrator combo is a great pairing, much like the Molly Harper/Amanda Ronconi team. I plan to hear more books by them!

OVERALL (actual overall rating 4.5) - There's some pretty explicit sex, but not a whole lot of it. The tension builds for a while before they finally actually "do it." There's also a sprinkling of cursing and F-words through the story but, again, not a lot. The story stands alone. Recommended for adult females because of the language and sexual content.

Deserves more than five stars!

Wow I loved this book so much! Yes, the story is a little predictable: moody athlete falls for sweet, totally not his type girl who knows nothing about the sport. There's a secret that will cause trouble between them but it gives you the fairytale ending I love. There's also a nice secondary love story between Jules (Faith Duffy's assistant) and Bo (Chelsie's twin sister). I did not want this book to end!

Narration: Susan Bennett did an excellent job! Each character has a distinct voice and she adds so much feeling and emotion to the story (especially the hot scenes!!) she deserves more than five stars for her performance as well.

Rachel Gibson is one of my favorite contemporary romance writer. Her stories are funny, interesting, butterflies-in-the-stomach romantic and teary eyes intense. She brings out so many emotions out of me... Can't wait to start listening to her next book Any Man of Mine (although sadly has a different narrator).

I love this trouble!

Rachel Gibson is one of my favorite writers and Susan Bennett has the greatest narration for her characters. I enjoyed this book so much that as soon as it ended I listened to it all over again...that is a first for me. The story is funny, sweet and some good hot romance too. I can't wait until Audible gets more of Ms.

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Title: 11.22.63

Author: Stephen King

Narrator: Craig Wasson

Format: Unabridged

Length: 30 hrs and 43 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-08-11

Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 458 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

What if you could go back in time and change the course of history? What if the watershed moment you could change was the JFK assassination? 11.22.63, the date that Kennedy was shot - unless....

King takes his protagonist Jake Epping, a high school English teacher from Lisbon Falls, Maine, 2011, on a fascinating journey back to 1958 - from a world of mobile phones and iPods to a new world of Elvis and JFK, of Plymouth Fury cars and Lindy Hopping, of a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and a beautiful high school librarian named Sadie Dunhill, who becomes the love of Jake's life - a life that transgresses all the normal rules of time.

With extraordinary imaginative power, King weaves the social, political and popular culture of his baby-boom American generation into a devastating exercise in escalating suspense.

Critic Reviews:

This new epic from Stephen King rates among the best hes written no small praise for the man who wrote Carrie, It, The Stand and Under the Dome. (Trucking News)

Members Reviews:

Excellent!!! sai King

I dont often write review, but this book has just cost me two nights sleep, i could not stop listening to it.

The story construction was excellent, it really got the grey matter turning..

That said its not the typical Stephen King novel, horror was lacking which is a breath of fresh air.

Stephen King just shows what a truely great story teller he really is in this very long but highly enjoyable book.

This is the first time ive listened to the narrator, Craig Wasson was perfect, i now rate him among the best and will be looking for more titles he reads,

thankyou thankyou thankyou, now for some catch up sleep...

the best!

I am now going to have to review all my previous book reviews and down grade them all to a 4 because none reaches the standard of this book by Stephen King. This is his best so far. The plot is well researched, interesting and very entertaining. The overriding theme is love, care for mother earth, and the world that is our reality. King has described with great thought about the world and how it might have turned out somewhat differently if changes to historical facts had occurred. I found this book immensely satisfying and thoroughly recommend it. I was a bit hesitant about the reader for for about the first minute but was quickly absorbed into the story and the storytelling by the narrator who is a true artist. Much better than The Dome. I will think about this book for a long time to come.

My First Stephen King Book I've Ever Finished

What made the experience of listening to 11.22.63 the most enjoyable?

The story is absolutely amazing. The story is so much more then the storyline.

What other book might you compare 11.22.63 to and why?

Nothing, it's unique. I loved it.

Have you listened to any of Craig Wassons other performances before? How does this one compare?

No I haven't but I give him 10 stars. This was my absolute favorite audible book and it wasn't just because the story is amazing. Craig Wasson did a wonderful narrative.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Lol, ok that's funny. The book is 31hrs long to listen to. No this is not a book I wanted to listen to in one sitting. But, it wasn't just because of the length of the book.

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Title: Absurdistan

Author: Gary Shteyngart

Narrator: Adam Grupper

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 30 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-25-11

Publisher: Recorded Books

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 66 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

Named as one of the New York Times Years Ten Best upon its publication, Gary Shteyngarts Absurdistan is a biting, poignant satire of American-style democracy and the American Dream.

After returning to Russia to attend his fathers funeral, 30-year-old Misha is subsequently denied a visa when he attempts to re-enter the United States. What follows is a series of misadventures through the Eastern Bloc in which Misha runs afoul of crooked politicians, businessmen, and bureaucracies all seemingly determined to keep him from his new home country.

Members Reviews:

Major Let Down

I thought Shteyngart was brilliant after listening to "Super Sad, True Love Story". My opinion dipped slightly with "The Russian Debutante's Handbook", but it was still pretty good. "Absurdistan", however, was just awful. Drifting plots and meandering story lines are fine with me if the writing is good, and the characters are "real", even if they are hard to love. This novel had neither good writing or interesting human beings as characters...forget liking them. If the author aimed for satire, he missed. But for a few neatly twisted phrases that brought a smile to my lips...very few... there was nothing funny...for me. Its saving grace, if anything can save it, was that it seemed fairly original. I managed to get through it , because of that quality, I think. And the narrator did a good job with what he had.

Just plain awful

I bought this audio book because it was on New York Times bestseller and was praised, but it is just awful, depressing and I can not figure out why anyone would like to read or listen to this. It lakes fun is just downright pathetic.

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Title: Lord Mullion's Secret

Author: Michael Innes

Narrator: Hugh Laurie

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 30 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-16-11

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 83 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

At Mullion Castle, sumptuous stately home, we meet the Earl and his family, who include his delightful daughters Patty and Boosie, and dotty Great-aunt Camilla. Old school chum, Charles Honeybath, who has been commissioned to paint a portrait of the Earl's wife, finds himself at the helm of a complex investigation involving ancestral works of art and a young under gardener, Swithin, who seems to possess the family features somewhat strikingly...

An unabridged reading by Hugh Laurie of Michael Innes' 'Lord Mullion's Secret'.

Members Reviews:

a real treat!

I enjoyed this Honeybath cozy-romance even more than Innes' Inspector Appleby tales, mostly because Laurie does Brit tongue-in-cheek eccentricity better than anyone else. The very small mystery element is not the point - it's the play of words and humour, with Innes poking fun at his genre as much as the foibles late 20th century British aristocrats. It's more of a precursor to McCall Smith's 44 Scotland St series than a mystery. A short but sweet listen, it's worth a credit.

Hugh Laurie's narration of Lord Mullion's Secret

What made the experience of listening to Lord Mullion's Secret the most enjoyable?

Liked it all.

Have you listened to any of Hugh Lauries other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes...Jerome Jerome's Books. Like them as well.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

It Was.

Any additional comments?

I read that another reviewer did not like Hugh Laurie as a narrator and I believe it comes down to a matter of taste. I never choose a book by reviews unless there are a number of remarks about the sound quality etc. It is my belief that Hugh Laurie is a good actor and a good narrator. Since I enjoyed this book and others that he has narrated, It is my wish that he will do more.

Hilarious Story, Fantastic Narration!

This was a shorter, but brilliant story of the class system in England and a satirical look at the absurdities of English manners in the modern world. Hugh Laurie's narration brought the characters to life and had me laughing the whole way through! A thoroughly enjoyable read!

Welcome to Mullion Castle

Henry Window, Lord Mullion, drops into the studio of his old chum Charles Honeybath to commission a portrait of his wife. With a momentary regret that he did not become a landscape painter, Honeybath sets off for Mullion Castle, now shown to the public Wednesdays and Saturdays. (Needs must when the Inland Revenue casts its eye upon one).

Upon arrival, Honeybath becomes better acquainted with the family, including one whimsical aunt, three children, his prospective sitter, as well as a voluble vicar of antiquarian pursuits, a dishy gardener, and other characters.

At first, I thought this might be a diverting, satirical story in the grand British tradition. But there is neither the wit of Wodehouse or Benson, nor the sting of Saki. It isn't awful, but I wouldn't recommend it either. The secret, such as it is, is hardly worth knowing and is telegraphed miles beforehand. Perhaps my expectations were too high.

Really loved Laurie here. In fact, without him, I would have been likely to return the book. He kept things lively when they otherwise might have lagged.

Lame story, well read

Would you try another book from Michael Innes and/or Hugh Laurie?

The story is incredibly lame and foreseeable.

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Title: In the Sea There Are Crocodiles

Subtitle: Based on the True Story of Enaiatollah Akbari

Author: Fabio Geda

Narrator: Mir Weiss Najibi

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 32 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-09-11

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 17 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

When ten-year-old Enaiatollah Akbaris small village in Afghanistan falls prey to Taliban rule in early 2000, his mother shepherds the boy across the border into Pakistan but has to leave him there all alone to fend for himself. Thus begins Enaiats remarkable and often punishing five-year ordeal, which takes him through Iran, Turkey, and Greece before he seeks political asylum in Italy at the age of fifteen.

Along the way, Enaiat endures the crippling physical and emotional agony of dangerous border crossings, trekking across bitterly cold mountain pathways for days on end or being stuffed into the false bottom of a truck. But not everyone is as resourceful, resilient, or lucky as Enaiat, and there are many heart-wrenching casualties along the way.

Based on Enaiats close collaboration with Italian novelist Fabio Geda and expertly rendered in English by an award- winning translator, this novel reconstructs the young boys memories, perfectly preserving the childlike perspective and rhythms of an intimate oral history.

Told with humor and humanity, In the Sea There Are Crocodiles brilliantly captures Enaiats moving and engaging voice and lends urgency to an epic story of hope and survival.

Members Reviews:

Couldn't get past the narration

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

The narrator sounded inexperienced at best. He made the person/character he was narrating for sound childlike and the author/narrator interruptions sounded stilted and condescending.

What was most disappointing about Fabio Gedas story?

The story was not bad in and of itself, though a bit slow, and might have been fine to read on paper.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Made me dislike the listening experience.

You didnt love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

A heartfelt story of a young boy's abandonment, struggles and survival. If actually written by the person who had the experience (it was based on a true story), rather than written down by the author trying to use real the person's "voice", it would have been better.

Engrossing

Beautiful story. Sad but also uplifting. Enaiatollah Akbari describes his most difficult journey with optimism.

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Title: Queen Lucia

Author: E. F. Benson

Narrator: Miriam Margolyes

Format: Abridged

Length: 3 hrs and 53 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-14-11

Publisher: Hachette Audio UK

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 20 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

England between the wars was a paradise of calm and leisure for the very, very rich. Into this enclave is born Mrs. Emmeline LucasLa Lucia, as she is knowna woman determined to lead a life quite different from the subdued formality of her class.

With her cohort, Georgie Pillson, and her husband, Peppino, Lucia upends the greats of high society: the imperious Lady Ambermere and her equally imperious dog, Pug; the odious Piggy and Goosie Antrobus; the Christian Scientist Daisy Quantrock, with her penchant for the foreign; and all the rest of the small English town that the British rich call their country home.

Beset on all sides by pretenders to her social throne, Lucia brings culture, fine arts, excitement, and intrigue into this cloistered realm.

Members Reviews:

Brilliant and Charming

The Mapp and Lucia series by EF Benson comprises some of the most silly, charming, and utterly delightful novels in the English language. It's hard to know why they're so appealing. The characters are venal, unimaginably petty and spiteful, and their activities are mainly gossiping and plotting against each other for low stakes status. Still, Benson's authorial voice is shrewd and witty, and his awful, appalling fools have a warmth and underlying psychological truthfulness that raises all of this to the level of art. Almost a century after their first publication, they still feel fresh. Within a few paragraphs, you find yourself anticipating the nutty antics ahead with the same delight you might feel upon catching a mouthwatering whiff of the meal you're about to be served at someone's house.

The novels don't have plots, but incidents that unfold over several chapters. Think of them as episode in a very sophisticated sitcom.

Miriam Margolyes is so good at voices, you almost can't believe there's only one narrator. On the other hand, her astonishingly precise articulation is unmistakable throughout. And with all of that, she manages to make each character a real person.

Having read this novel on the page, it was a little alarming to hear the abridgment. Around half of the book was trimmed. The events are all here, but phrases and whole sentences have been clipped from every paragraph. Too bad, but the pruning was so artfully done, it never sounds as if you're missing anything. And if you plan to listen to the whole series, these versions might be a more realistic time commitment.

If you (or you and a friend) are going on a long drive, you can't find much better light (but not pointless) entertainment than this series.

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Title: Maine

Author: J. Courtney Sullivan

Narrator: Ann Marie Lee

Format: Unabridged

Length: 17 hrs and 20 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-14-11

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 339 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

In her best-selling debut, Commencement, J. Courtney Sullivan explored the complicated and contradictory landscape of female friendship. Now, in her highly anticipated second novel, Sullivan takes us into even richer territory, introducing four unforgettable women who have nothing in common but the fact that, like it or not, they're family.

For the Kellehers, Maine is a place where children run in packs, showers are taken outdoors, and old Irish songs are sung around a piano. Their beachfront property, won on a barroom bet after the war, sits on three acres of sand and pine nestled between stretches of rocky coast, with one tree bearing the initials "A.H." At the cottage, built by Kelleher hands, cocktail hour follows morning mass, nosy grandchildren snoop in drawers, and decades-old grudges simmer beneath the surface.

As three generations of Kelleher women descend on the property one summer, each brings her own hopes and fears. Maggie is thirty-two and pregnant, waiting for the perfect moment to tell her imperfect boyfriend the news; Ann Marie, a Kelleher by marriage, is channeling her domestic frustration into a dollhouse obsession and an ill-advised crush; Kathleen, the black sheep, never wanted to set foot in the cottage again; and Alice, the matriarch at the center of it all, would trade every floorboard for a chance to undo the events of one night, long ago.

By turns wickedly funny and achingly sad, Maine unveils the sibling rivalry, alcoholism, social climbing, and Catholic guilt at the center of one family, along with the abiding, often irrational love that keeps them coming back, every summer, to Maine and to each other.

Critic Reviews:

"I have never stayed at this cottage in Maine, or any cottage in Maine, but no matter: I now feel I know what it's like being in a family that comes to the same place summer after summer, unpacking their familiar longings, slights, shorthand conversation, and ways of being together. J. Courtney Sullivan's Maine is evocative, funny, close-quartered, and highly appealing." (Meg Wolitzer, author of The Uncoupling)

"Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan is a powerful novel about the ties that bind families tight, no matter how dysfunctional. Sullivan has created in the Kelleher women a cast of flawed but lovable characters so real, with their shared history of guilt and heartache and secret resentments, that Im sure Ill be thinking about them for a long time to come." (Amy Greene, author of Bloodroot)

"Everyone has dark secrets. Its why God invented confession and booze, two balms frequently employed in Sullivans well-wrought sophomore effort. Alice Brennan is Irish American through and through, the daughter of a cop, a good Catholic girl so outwardly pure that shes a candidate for the papacy... As Sullivans tale unfolds, there are plenty of reasons that Alice might wish to avoid taking too close a look at her life: Theres tragedy and heartbreak around every corner, as there is in every life... Sullivan spins a leisurely yarn that looks into why people do the things they do - particularly when it comes to drinking and churchgoing - and why the best-laid plans are always the ones the devil monkeys with the most thoroughly. The story will be particularly meaningful to Catholic women, though there are no barriers to entry for those who are not of that faith.

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Title: Gump & Co.

Author: Winston Groom

Narrator: Will Patton

Format: Abridged

Length: 2 hrs and 52 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-12-11

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 64 votes

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary

Publisher's Summary:

The Gump phenomenon continues!

Forrest Gump is back!

The lovable man for all ages, who captured America's heart in the #1 best-selling novel Forrest Gump and in the blockbuster film, returns in the long-awaited sequel to the book hailed by Larry King as "the funniest novel I have ever read." A little older, and wiser in his own unique way, he is still running through the kaleidoscopic events of our times -- and straight into the age of greed and instant gratification known as the 1980s.

When Gump & Co. begins, the Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. has gone bust and Forrest is flat broke, sweeping floors in a New Orleans strip joint and trying to raise his son, little Forrest, who needs his father more than ever. As always in Forrest's easy-come-easy-go life, a change in the weather is never far off...and when the opportunity to play championship football comes his way once more, Forrest is back in the limelight and in the money.

Forrest's remarkable, touching, and utterly comic odyssey has just begun: in store for him is his own dubious recipe for adding life to New Coke; an encounter with Ollie North; and a chance yet again to unwittingly twist the nose of history.

The Rollicking Sequel to the # 1 New York Times Bestseller Forrest Gump.

Members Reviews:

Disappointing

Would you try another book from Winston Groom and/or Will Patton?

Don't think so.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Screwtape Letters

What three words best describe Will Pattons performance?

It was OK.

What character would you cut from Gump & Co.?

The New Coke inventor.

Any additional comments?

If you've read the original book you know it is considerably different than the movie. It almost seemed as if this follow up was written to capitalize on the success of the movie.It was just tossed together with little flow to any kind of story line. Gump is almost a cross between the original book character (really a bit of a jerk) and the movie character (an unassuming good guy). Seemed like the author couldn't decide if he wanted him to continue as the book character or the movie character. Disappointing.

Almost Perfect

The only thing keeping this from a 5 star rating is the fact it was an abridged production

THIS IS THE ABRIDGED VERSION !!!

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I would not have bought this if I knew it was abridged !

What did you like best about this story?

I read this book more than twenty years ago but my two favorite 'scenes' have been clipped from the abridged version

Any additional comments?

The ending in this audio book version is far different than what is in the novel. It was rewritten.

I wish I knew this was an abridged version before buying it. Im hoping Amazon will let me exchange it for the real version.

I wonder if Groom was even consulted about this before it was done? I wonder if it even matters.

Gump and Co is a great and hysterically funny book but this isnt truly Gump and Co , pay the extra dough and get the unabridged version.

I made a mistake in buying this version

Great Narration!

Loved this book. Great sequel to the original Forest Gump. Will Patton's narration was the best I've heard so far! Made the book come to life!

loved the book

it was a short book loved the reader it was perfect i think at points it took me out of the story when it would stop and start