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Title: Albert of Adelaide
Author: Howard L. Anderson
Narrator: Amelia Cormack
Format: Unabridged
Length: 6 hrs and 32 mins
Language: English
Release date: 07-27-12
Publisher: Audible Studios
Genres: Fiction, Contemporary
Publisher's Summary:
Albert is a duck-billed platypus, who has escaped from a zoo in Adelaide to look for somewhere that may, or may not, exist: Old Australia, a place where humans never venture, and animals still rule. Albert knows it's somewhere in the middle of the Outback - not the ideal habitat for a water-loving animal - but now he's lost and close to death. He's saved, though, by Jack, a pyromaniac, sardine-loving wombat, who promptly gets him into even worse trouble by taking him to a marsupial-only bar run by a kangaroo called O'Hanlin, getting him drunk, and then burning the bar down. And this is just the beginning of Albert's adventure....
A glorious romp of a novel, Albert of Adelaide is a story of friendship, loyalty, and heroism. And marsupials. Pacy and poignant, it's completely original - a book for people (and animals) of all ages
Members Reviews:
True Grit meets Wind in the Willows in the bush
I loved this book. Like western shoot 'em ups The Sisters Brothers and True Grit, this was a story of rough characters who have seen a tough existence, surviving in a harsh landscape, with only their wiles and wit to keep them alive. Except these tough guys are a plucky platypus, a pyromaniacal wombat and a host of mean dingos and marsupials, not to mention a couple of alcoholic bandicoots. And that's what makes this story work.
The characters could easily be applied to men, old drivers in the outback: there are conniving gangs out to get what they can, lone wolves just travelling through, some helping and some hindering Albert in his journey to find the 'old Australia' he heard about whilst in Adelaide Zoo, but it wouldn't be nearly as entertaining if they were human. These animals have their own prejudices - 'never trust anyone without a pouch', and even the innocent Albert has to revisit his own negative feelings for dingoes.
Bottom line, this is a great Australian frontier story, told with vivid imagery and characterisation, not to mention a high bodycount. And with one of the best lines I've ever heard in an audiobook: "I've never met a wallaby that wasn't a w**ker".
Looks for peaceful Billabong finds guns & violence
It's like an Australian Wind in The Willows Western. Fist fighting Platypus (or whatever Platypuses have for fists) gun toating possums, depressed arsonist Wombat and the odd slit throat of a dingo. It's a bit different.
Brilliant - an entertaining book.
I can imagine listening to this in the car on a long journey and being enjoyed by the whole family. Absolutely captivating and made me laugh out loud on many an occasion.
Each of the characters are completely believable, narration is great. A tale of friendships, betrayal, dreams all set in Old Australia, an action packed listen.
Enjoy - you won't be disappointed.
A touching perspective on modern Australia
I enjoyed this audiobook a great deal, but found it rather sadder than perhaps I might have expected from the premise of a picaresque story of a platypus escaping from Adelaide zoo. Albert is a wonderful character, with Anderson exploiting the many oddities of the platypus to justify a real sense of other-ness for out wanderer in the wilderness.