Listen to Best Sellers Audiobooks in Fiction, Literary

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Title: The Calcutta Chromosome

Subtitle: A Novel of Fevers, Delirium & Discovery

Author: Amitav Ghosh

Narrator: Simon Vance

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 28 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-15-10

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 77 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

From Victorian India to near-future New York, The Calcutta Chromosome takes listeners on a wondrous journey through time as a computer programmer trapped in a mind-numbing job hits upon a curious item that will forever change his life.

When Antar discovers the battered I.D. card of a long-lost acquaintance, he is suddenly drawn into a spellbinding adventure across centuries and around the globe, into the strange life of L. Murugan, a man obsessed with the medical history of malaria, and into a magnificently complex world where conspiracy hangs in the air like mosquitoes on a summer night.

Critic Reviews:

"The Calcutta Chromosome is one of those books that's marketed as a mainstream thriller even though it is an excellent science fiction novel (It won the prestigious Arthur C. Clarke Award)." (Amazon.com review)

Members Reviews:

What fun!

This is a mix of biology, medicine, history, Sci Fi and a whopping good time. The humor is great as is the suspense. At first I had no idea where the story was going and then once I understood the different time frames it all made sense.

I'm going to listen to more from this author.

Science fiction or science history? Both!

This was offbeat but quite enjoyable. It has quite a lot of science history in it, told from a dystopic future world, and there is even a bit of ghost story to it. The most amusing part was the enthusiastic bumbling of the main protagonist in the story told in a voice that rings true (I had a co-worker like that once...) I'd recommend it, though there are a few caveats. It started a little slow. Because of the mix of the fiction and fact, it's hard to know which historical data can be trusted and which cannot. Also, the ending felt abrupt and unsatisfying. But until the last ten minutes, I steadily enjoyed it more and more.

Whaaa?

Maybe it's because I fell asleep many times while listening to this book on my morning bus commute but I have no idea what happened here other than a vague outline. Yes, I got the characters and the premise of the book was pretty interesting but it skips from past to present to waaay past back to present to lots of other times in between, without a lot of clues. You really have to follow the characters to know where you are. If you are prone to falling asleep on your morning commute while listening to audio books, I would say this one is not for you.

Mesmerizing story, excellent performance

What did you love best about The Calcutta Chromosome?

Simon Vance really brought the characters to life; the voices haunted me. I immediately listened to the novel a second time after finishing it the first time, which is something I do very rarely.

Any additional comments?

As a combination of science fiction and historical fiction, this is a book like no other that I have read. HIGHLY recommended!

Complex story line

Challenging to follow at times and, while I'm not a sci fi reader/fan, i think it has some sci-fi like futuristic vs magical realism character to it. It comes together in the end and I enjoyed the story as well as the performance.

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Title: Annexed

Author: Sharon Dogar

Narrator: Joe Barrett, Rachel Butera, Jeremy Gage, Peter Ganim, L. J. Ganser, Elisabeth Rodgers, Jay Snyder, Eileen Stevens, Suzanne Toren, Oliver Wyman

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 1 min

Language: English

Release date: 10-04-10

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 67 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

Earphones Award Winner (AudioFile Magazine)

Most of us know about Anne Frank and her life hiding in the secret annex; but what about the boy, Peter van Pels, who hid with her?

In Annexed, Sharon Dogar imagines Peters life. What was it like being forced into hiding with Anne Frank, first hating her and then falling in love with her? Especially with their parents watching almost everything they did together. To know Anne was writing about you in her diary, day after day? What was it like to start questioning your religion, wondering why simply being Jewish inspired such hatred and persecution? Or to just sit and wait and watch while others died, and wish you were fighting? As Peter and Anne became closer and closer in their confined quarters, how did they make sense of what they saw happening around them?

Anne's diary ends on August 4, 1944, but Peter's story takes us beyond and into the Nazi death camps. He details with accuracy, clarity, and compassion the day-to-day survival in Auschwitz, and the horrific fates of the annex's occupants.

This powerful story is read by an incredibly talented cast of narrators: Oliver Wyman, Eileen Stevens, Suzanne Toren, Joe Barrett, Rachel Butera, Marc Vietor, Gabra Zackman, Elisabeth Rodgers, Jeremy Gage, Peter Ganim, Jay Snyder, and L. J. Ganser.

Editorial Reviews:

Reading any book fiction or non about the Holocaust is, of course, a bleak experience. But listening to a book about the Holocaust is something else entirely. And so it goes with Annexed, a young adult novel by the British writer Sharon Dogar, which reimagines the Anne Frank story from the perspective of the doomed teens crush, Peter Van Pels. Here, its 16-year-old Peter who keeps the diary, chronicling the two years spent hiding from the Nazis in an Amsterdam attic with his parents and the Frank family; the last section of the book is devoted to his tragic fate at Mauthausen, a Nazi death camp in Austria.

Emotions and sometimes hormones run high in this novel, and narrator Oliver Wyman nails it. Hes not just narrating; hes emoting, and, with his vague, lilting European accent, he delivers one convincing performance as the confused 16-year-old Peter. (Other characters in the book are performed by a full cast.) From his initial resistance to the precocious Anne to realizing that hes falling in love with her, there isnt a doubt were listening to a smart, gentle, and thoughtful young man. More haunting is when his story moves to the camp, and he relates, in heartbreaking detail, the cruelty inflicted on the Jews. As his body gets weaker, so too does his voice, until its barely a whisper.

A flurry of controversy swirled around Annexed upon its release, with critics accusing Dogar of exploiting both Anne Franks legacy and that of Peter Van Pels, who was, of course, a real person. Regardless of how you view Dogars intentions, the effect of her efforts is the same: a reimagining that takes the well-known story of Anne Frank and enriches it by bringing alive the boy who we all know died too soon.

Critic Reviews:

"Oliver Wyman portrays a resentful 15-year-old Peter van Pels, who lives in Amsterdam in 1942 Wyman's voice measures the way Peter has been robbed of his sense of self.

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Title: The Bridge of Peace

Subtitle: A Novel

Author: Cindy Woodsmall

Narrator: Cassandra Campbell

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 20 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-31-10

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 76 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

Love alone isnt enough to overcome some obstacles.

Lena Kauffman is a young Old Order Amish schoolteacher who has dealt all her life with attention raised by a noticeable birthmark on her cheek. Having learned to move past the stares and whispers, Lena channels her zest for living into her love of teaching. But tensions mount as she is challenged to work with a rebellious young man and deal with several crises at the schoolhouse that threaten her other students. Her lack of submission and use of ideas that dont line up with the Old Ways strengthen the school boards case as they begin to believe that Lena is behind all the trouble.

One member of the school board, Grey Graber, feels trapped by his own stifling circumstances. His wife, Elsie, has shut him out of her life, and he doesnt know how long he can continue to live as if nothing is wrong. As the two finally come to a place of working toward a better marriage, tragedy befalls their family.

Lena and Grey have been life-long friends, but their relationship begins to crumble amidst unsettling deceptions, propelling each of them to finally face their own secrets. Can they both find a way past their losses and discover the strength to build a new bridge?

Members Reviews:

Another good Cindy Woodsmall

I was pleasantly surprised to find another installment of an Amish set story by the author. I'd really enjoyed every book of hers I'd listened to. Her other books seemed to start off with a bang and build from there. This was started a bit slower but finished with a big bang. But the essence of her stories stays true. She has good insight into human nature and communicates it well. She weaves a nice story into an Amish setting and educates us on the Amish lifestyle as well. We learn that the Amish have hopes and dreams just like the rest of us. They are real people, aren't they? I'll look forward to her next book. I assume it'll be the third in the Ada's House series.

Wonderful Christian book

I have become a real fan of ms woodsmall's books! This book is no different. There are many twists and turns that kept me rivited to the very end. Although the gal trusted God things just seemed to get worse and worse. Book shows God takes the rotten things of life and can bring good out of them if we keep trusting Him. Obviously I highly recommend this book to one and all!!

Cat was completely unnecessary.

What did you like best about The Bridge of Peace? What did you like least?

Love these stories and like Woodsmall as an author, but in this one, the part about the cat was completely unnecessary.

Would you be willing to try another book from Cindy Woodsmall? Why or why not?

Yes, I will try others, I like her stories.

Strong continuation of series

Would you listen to The Bridge of Peace again? Why?

Yes. I enjoyed this book and the look into Amish life. It continues the storyline of Cara and Eframe, Deborah and Mahlon, and introduced us to minor characters from The Hope of Refuge - Lena and her father Israel in particular.

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Bridge of Peace?

The scene during the basket sale was humiliating and heartbreaking and poignant.

What does Cassandra Campbell bring to the story that you wouldnt experience if you just read the book?

She did a wonderful job with this story.

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Title: Palimpsest

Author: Catherynne M. Valente

Narrator: Aasne Vigesaa

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 16 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-15-10

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 109 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

Between life and death, dreaming and waking, at the train stop beyond the end of the world is the city of Palimpsest. To get there is a miracle, a mystery, a gift, and a curse - a voyage permitted only to those whove always believed theres another world than the one that meets the eye. Those fated to make the passage are marked forever by a map of that wondrous city tattooed on their flesh after a single orgasmic night.

To this kingdom of ghost trains, lion-priests, living kanji, and cream-filled canals come four travelers: Oleg, a New York locksmith; the beekeeper November; Ludovico, a binder of rare books; and a young Japanese woman named Sei. Theyve each lost something important -- a wife, a lover, a sister, a direction in lifeand what they will find in Palimpsest is more than they could ever imagine.

Critic Reviews:

Outstandingly beautiful prose. (Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

A Book That's a Natural for Audio

Would you consider the audio edition of Palimpsest to be better than the print version?

I don't know if I'd call it "better," but it feels right. The book demands to be read aloud, so experiencing it as an audiobook is natural.

What other book might you compare Palimpsest to and why?

Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino

Amazing as always!

I absolutely love Valente's work. I've listened to the fairy land series and six gun snow white. I didn't expect to love this book as much as I did, totally devoured it, couldn't turn it off. Makes me think of "fairy land come of age"

Fantastic performance by the reader.

The accents bring the reading to life

The narrator has the most lovely and soothing voice. Her pacing and astonishing skill with accents makes this recording a joy to experience. She is so deft with the subtle flavorings in each nation's speech that the listener can readily associate all the cultural context that really brings this story meaning.

Excellent Prose, but lacks maturity

I enjoyed the language, imagery, characterization and flow of this book, yet it also continually seemed to me written for a young adult audience. Perhaps when I was a much younger self I would have found the eroticism titillating, shocking, and discomforting in turns, however at my age and experience, I found sexual content rather bland. I much preferred the authors The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, which had a much better balance.

There is a lot to like in this novel as it tries to create a world of fascinating mystery and dreamlike imagery, and it often does, but for me the spell was repeatedly broken, making the overall experience less than fully satisfying.

There is a significant amount of sexual content and situations that are rather mild, yet would be quite offensive to many, and would be inappropriate for younger readers.

The narration was excellent throughout.

Interesting story.

Palimpsest is a unique story (or at least I've never read anything like it before). It's about a city who's maps are written in pieces on the skin of those in our real world. You can only get to Palimpsest by porking someone with a map on their body (like a tattoo).

The story is surreal, being divided between the real world and the world of Palimpsest. The first half of a chapter typically takes place in the real world and then we move to Palimpsest for the second half.

The four characters vary in terms of their quality.

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Title: No One Belongs Here More Than You

Author: Miranda July

Narrator: Miranda July

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 54 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-22-10

Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 21 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

Winner of the 2007 Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award.

In her remarkable stories of seemingly ordinary people living extraordinary lives, Miranda July reveals how a single moment can change everything. Whether writing about a middle-aged woman's obsession with Prince William, or an aging factory worker who has never been in love, the result is startling, sexy, and tender by turns. One of the most acclaimed debuts of recent years, Miranda July is a brilliant new voice in fiction.

Critic Reviews:

"Blisteringly good." (Guardian)

"July's inventive tales swing from laugh-out-loud funny to heart-clenchingly sad." (Daily Telegraph)

'These stories are incredibly charming, beautifully written, frequently laugh-out-loud funny, and even, a dozen or so times, profound.' (Dave Eggers)

'Laden with offbeat, emotionally isolated characters...mordantly funny.' (Vogue)

'A magically oddball study of depression, repression, envy, loneliness and aimlessness - and rarely has such a thing been so entertaining.' (Time Out)

'Weird doesn't begin to cover it, but wonderful (in the literal sense of the word, as in full of wonder) does.' (Elle)

'The stories and story-fragments keep just the right amount back; twist into something surprising and disconcerting. They are charming and funny, too.' (Daily Telegraph)

Members Reviews:

Very entertaining

If you could sum up No One Belongs Here More Than You in three words, what would they be?

Smart, funny, light

What did you like best about this story?

It has all the elements to quickly transport you to the author's story.

Miranda July is a quiet genius

This collection of original short stories covers brave ground in examining themes of love (requited and unrequited), sexual desire and isolation - reworking these familiar literary themes through honest and perhaps somewhat jaded eyes.

Celebrated performance artist, director and writer Miranda July has arguably created a collection here deserving of as much critical acclaim as her beautiful film 'Me and You and Everyone We Know' (2005). Like the film, this compilation tackles difficult and awkward subjects with a sensitive, sometimes touching and always frank tone. Due to this frankness, listeners of a sensitive disposition should be warned that there is sometimes powerful language and sexual/deviant themes in some of the stories, although it doesn't seem contrived/shock-value in the context of these plots - the majority of them first-person monologues.

July reads these stories with the heartfelt voice-cracking earnestness that they deserve, although a listener can't help but feel that she may have a mischievous twinkle in her eye or tongue firmly in-cheek at the same time.

Especially important listening for anyone experiencing an existential crisis, or even those who wish to understand the nature of the world and the private/hidden lives of those around them a little better.

Marvel at my manufactured quirkiness....

Miranda July is clearly the woman for whom the word ditsy was invented. These slight stories, read out in the sort of dead pan American voice that is desperately trying to make them sound interesting, are really just random streams of consciousness with no tangible substance.

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Title: 36 Arguments for the Existence of God

Author: Rebecca Newberger Goldstein

Narrator: Steven Pinker, Rebecca Newberger Goldstein, Oliver Wyman

Format: Unabridged

Length: 15 hrs and 34 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-23-10

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 109 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

After Cass Seltzers book becomes a surprise best seller, he's dubbed the atheist with a soul and becomes a celebrity. He wins over the stunning Lucinda Mandelbaum, the goddess of game theory, and loses himself in a spiritually expansive infatuation.Then a former girlfriend appears: an anthropologist who invites him to join in her quest for immortality through biochemistry. And he is haunted by reminders of the two people who ignited his passion to understand religion: his mentor and professor - a renowned literary scholar with a suspicious obsession with messianism - and an angelic six-year-old mathematical genius who is heir to the leadership of a Hasidic sect. Each encounter reinforces Cass's theory that the religious impulse spills over into life at large.

36 Arguments for the Existence of God plunges into the great debate of our day: the clash between faith and reason. World events are being shaped by fervent believers at home and abroad, while a new atheism is asserting itself in the public sphere. On purely intellectual grounds the skeptics would seem to have everything on their side. Yet people refuse to accept their seemingly irrefutable arguments and continue to embrace faith in God as their source of meaning, purpose, and comfort.

Through the enchantment of fiction, award-winning novelist and MacArthur Fellow Rebecca Newberger Goldstein shows that the tension between religion and doubt cannot be understood through rational argument alone. It also must be explored from the point of view of individual people caught in the raptures and torments of religious experience in all their variety.

Using her gifts in fiction and philosophy, Goldstein has produced a true crossover novel, complete with a nail-biting debate ("Resolved: God Exists") and a stand-alone appendix with the 36 arguments (and responses) that propelled Seltzer to stardom.

Editorial Reviews:

Narrator Oliver Wyman skillfully inhabits the robust, zany cast of characters that populate this novel, from a young, female, hippie anthropology grad student to the Rebbe, or leader, of a sect of fictional ultra-orthodox Jews known as the Valdeners.

His most nuanced performance comes with his sensitive portrayal of the Rebbe's son, Azarya. As the only son, he is in line to accept the mantle of Valdener leadership from his father. But Azarya's life becomes complicated when Roz Margolis the grad student after a chance meeting with Azarya as a 6-year-old, believes he possesses a genius that is too profound to remain trapped within the confines of his upstate New York community. Roz only meets Azarya because her boyfriend is also a grad student whose mentor, Jonas Elijah Klapper, is interested in the Valdeners.

Klappers existence gives Wyman a chance to have as much fun as any voice actor could hope to have portraying a character. Born Jonas Klepfish, Jonas Elijah Klapper (the books narrator always refers to him by his full name) grew up on the Lower East Side of New York City, managed to graduate from Columbia University and become a professor there, and then jumped ship for Frankfurter University (a thinly disguised Brandeis) in Weedham, Mass., by the time the story begins. Along the way, Klapper has affected an English accent and the use of 75-cent words whenever a 5-cent word would do. And Klapper is not the only oddball.

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Title: The Prosceniad

Author: Justin T. C. Chadbourn

Narrator: Josh Kilbourne

Format: Abridged

Length: 2 hrs and 3 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-09-10

Publisher: Tate Publishing

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

The epic is lost, magic is a trick of the eyes and disbelief, and heroes, honest, pure, and fallible, are things of the past. Where time and words are split by walls of air, dens of monsters wait for thembut are the heroes of a tale one or many?

In this dramatic poem, Justin T. C. Chadbourn's hero follows a quest in a world where nothing stays the same, yet everything is carved in stone. The past and present collide. The hero, escaping a world of citizens walking blindly, endeavors to save the world of his childhood.

After losing many men to a demon who led them astray to a castle tucked away, the hero vows revenge. He must face all that lies on the other side of the arch to become legend. With The Prosceniad opened, will the worlds find the end of an age, or will the hero conquer the lurking evil?

Members Reviews:

Beautiful

Exceptionally brilliant! There are such raw emotions. Justin T. C. Chadborn is a writer who is not afraid to be vulnerable.

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Title: All the Little Live Things

Author: Wallace Stegner

Narrator: Edward Herrmann

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 36 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-20-10

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 101 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

Joe Allston, the retired literary agent in Stegners National Book Award-winning novel The Spectator Bird, returns in this disquieting and keenly observed novel.

Scarred by the senseless death of their son and baffled by the engulfing chaos of the 1960s, Allston and his wife, Ruth, have left the coast for a California retreat. And although their new home looks like Eden, it also has its serpents: Jim Peck, a messianic exponent of drugs, yoga, and sex, and Marian Catlin, an attractive young woman whose otherwordly innocence is far more appealingand far more dangerous.

Critic Reviews:

Timely and timeless....Will hold any reader to its last haunting page. (Chicago Tribune)

A novel of crackling vividness. (New York Times Book Review)

Members Reviews:

Another winner from Stegner

I always feel like I have to say at the top of a Wallace Stegner review, "No, it's not Angle of Repose." But not many things are. It ranks high on my all time favorite list. But it is Wallace Stegner and that's always better than nearly anyone else.

There's a certain honesty in the way Stegner writes that takes my breath away. He has a way of admitting to his weaknesses and failures in a way that makes you understand that it's possible to own those things. He doesn't dwell on it, but that honesty always sits right in the front.

He writes about the world as it is - not the world he wants it to be. And that is what makes his books so lovely.

Depressing, but oh so well written

This story is told through the eyes of a man whose son died at an early age, and he's not sure what he could have done to prevent it. It also centers on his neighbor lady who is dying of cancer. In spite of these sad circumstances, the book is well worth the read. The prose is so utterly descriptive, it requires you to read on and on. And before you know it you have come to the end longing for more. Cheers, Ken

Sad story, lovely writing

What made the experience of listening to All the Little Live Things the most enjoyable?

Stegner writes about nature and people with heart-stopping beauty.

What was the most interesting aspect of this story? The least interesting?

Stegner's acute rendering of people, their complexities and struggles.

Which scene was your favorite?

Every time he describes the land, the sky, a character's expression.

If you could take any character from All the Little Live Things out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Jim Peck. Although he's an infuriating idealistic and naive hippie in narrator Joe Allston's eyes, he is also a character in search of truth, beauty and purity. But he inevitably gets tripped up by his own falseness and darkness, like we all do.

Dichotomy

The narrator is fantastic. The writing is great. But the actual story and story holes were just meh.

Old Man Yells at Cloud!

Much of the first half of the book is typical story setup: introduction of characters, setting the scene, and the like, which is fine, although it's dragged out here with the focus on squatter Jim Peck (technically, he has Joe's grudging permission to stay on the property). As the hippie-ish young man makes himself gradually into a more permanent fixture, than just pitching tent, Joe's level of resentment grows ... as did my fatigue.

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Title: Deep River

Author: Shusaku Endo

Narrator: David Holt

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 43 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-25-10

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 53 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

The story traces the journey of four Japanese tourists on tour in India. Each goes to India for different purposes and with different expectations. Set against the backdrop of Prime Minister Indira Gandhis assassination, each traveler finds his or her own spiritual discovery on the banks of the Ganges River.

Critic Reviews:

"A trip to India becomes a journey of discovery for a group of Japanese tourists playing out their "individual dramas of the soul." Isobe searches for his reincarnated wife, while Kiguchi relives the wartime horror that ultimately saved his life. Alienated by middle age, Mitsuko follows Otsu, a failed priest, to the holy city of Varanas, hoping that the murky Ganges holds the secret to the 'difference between being alive and truly living.' Looking for absolutes, each character confronts instead the moral ambiguity of India's complex culture....Endo, one of Japan's leading writers, skillfully depicts the small details of life, investing them with universal significance." (Library Journal)

Members Reviews:

Drags a bit in the middle, but worth it

I picked up Deep River on sale from Audible a while ago but it did not listen to it up until Beauty and Silence by Makoto Fujimura was about to be released (reading Beauty and Silence now).

Even though I read Endos more well known Silence over two years ago, it is a book I still frequently think about. I wanted another book to give more context to Endos work because Beauty and Silence is largely based on Fujimuras interaction with Endo. There are only three of Endos books available as audiobooks and only 3 other books available on kindle. Late 20th century authors often did not negotiate digital book rights and their estates seem to be slow to re-negotiate. I am hoping that the Martin Scorsese movie of Silence (expected to release in Nov) will bring out new editions of all of Endos books.

Deep River is not an easy book to describe. There are four interconnected story lines. The reader gets a brief introduction to the India tour before the separate back stories. I was bogged down about a quarter of the way through the book and set it aside for about six weeks before returning to it. The initial background stories are full of hard to like people. This is part of the set up for what might be transition and growth later in the book, but I really do not like reading about unlikable people.

These are four very different stories. One disconnected modern Japanese woman that is happy to take advantage of sex starved men. One man the other end of life who has missed much of his life until his wife dies and he realizes what is gone. One veteran of WWII that is still suffering the effects of war (this is set in the 1980s). And a final man whos sickness has left him isolated and lonely.

Once the background is completed and we return to the India tour I was fascinated. A subtext of the book is the multi-religious nature of the world. Different characters are Christian, Atheist/Agnostic, Buddhist, Hindu and none. It is easy to read Deep River as a universalistic call to see all religions as a similar path to enlightenment, but I think that is too flat of a reading.

What might be most challenging for Christians is the Christian Otsu. He is not one of the main four characters, but a fifth character that we only really see from the outside except right at the end.

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Title: Leaving Las Vegas

Author: John O'Brien

Narrator: L J Ganser

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 51 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-22-09

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 94 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

Leaving Las Vegas, the first novel by John O'Brien, is a disturbing and emotionally wrenching story of a woman who embraces life and a man who rejects it, a powerful tale of hard luck and hard drinking and a relationship of tenderness and destruction.

Editorial Reviews:

In lesser hands, Leaving Las Vegas might sound flippant, sarcastic, or cruel. Luckily, L.J. Ganser voices this stark novel with just the right amount of existential dread, providing a clue to the emotional wrecks this story serves to highlight. In contrast to the bright neon lights of Las Vegas, John OBrien paints a bleak background for the two main characters. Sera, a career prostitute, lives out a zombie-like existence, reacting neither to pain nor pleasure with any noticeable emotion. Ben is a drunk without remorse, drinking not just out of compulsion but also a benign resignation to an alcoholic lifestyle. For most of the novel Sera and Ben experience the decidedly not-glitzy side of Las Vegas separate, alone, and, until they meet, forebodingly aimless. Their union late in the book brings these damaged, lonely souls the comfort and solace they hadnt realized they so desperately needed.

Ganser handles these characters with care: no one is judged for their emotional shortcomings, dubious moral decisions, or consequential failures. He instead reads the action with a professorial tone, and imparts equal parts whimsy and self-acknowledgement to Bens voice in particular. For all of Seras supposed strengths when dealing with adversity, Gansers voice reveals the frailties of self-doubt that OBrien has subtly layered in. When Sera and Ben begin their doomed dalliance, Ganser gets to business upping the tension in revelatory fashion. It is here, late in the novel, when the story (and Gansers narration in particular) really shines. When a clearly drunk but also clear-thinking Ben says to Sera, I hope that you understand that I understand, Ganser gives the line all the weight it deserves, recognizing this as the perfect summation for the foundation of their entire relationship. Gansers performance of Leaving Las Vegas is an expertly narrated, subtly nuanced take on a devastatingly heavy-hearted story.

Throughout the novel, Leaving Las Vegas is much like its main characters: guarded, defeated, depressing. But like Sera and Ben at the end of the story, this book wears its heart on its sleeve, pushing even the most cynical of us to feel overwhelming sympathy. As first-time novels go, this one hits the jackpot.

Members Reviews:

Leaving Last Vegas

Pretty good overall. Just watched the movie, had to give the book a try. I liked both:)

REAL

Well-written. Captures the essence of the aloneness and separation of the two main characters.

A true love story

Gross, vulgar, and so sad.... A great movie and a great book, which was well-written. The author has a great knack for telling a story and the narrator does a superb job as well.