Aaron S. Berman

Everything you want in a Butler novel

Revisado: 10-08-24

What makes Halle Butler so unique is her ability to describe the "banal nightmare" of 21st century life perfectly, while superimposing upon it the stream of consciousness thoughts we all experience from moment to moment. The more she avoids "plot" the better her prose becomes.

And while I cringed when I first saw that she had ceded the book's narration to someone else for the first time – Butler doesn't just read, she performs, after all – I quickly grew to love Ruby McCollister's interpretation of the text. She clearly knows Butler's narration style and has preserved the best aspects of that, while also bringing something more to the table. An excellent collaboration.

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A delirious fever dream of a book

Revisado: 05-01-24

This is definitely a "you love it or your hate it" type of book, with story taking a backseat to the sound of the words and the images they conjure. Think William Burroughs with an emotional edge and splatterpunk imagery.

When I first read it, it didn't work for me, and I ended up giving the book away. But when I listened to the sample for the audiobook, it all suddenly clicked for me and I downloaded it at once.

Narrator Angela Goethals lends the words a fury and urgency that suddenly makes clear what the text is trying to do, helping some of the author's more thoughtful literary flourishes come alive. I enjoyed it so much I bought another copy of the print edition.

Again, this is not for everybody. Sex and violence abound, but so does a type of wild-eyed mania that I can't really remember coming across outside of Burroughs.

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A thorough look at the author and his work

Revisado: 04-08-24

Considering this work emanates from academia, it is surprisingly accessible to the casual listener. In addition to explorations of some of Pamuk's earlier works, it devotes significant time to the author's battles with the Turkish government, which has plagued him with multiple legal actions. As this audiobook makes clear, these have been inspired more by his interviews with the foreign press than his fiction work.

Though the audio quality here doesn't quite meet today's standards – especially in the beginning – the listener will quickly forget about this in favor of the rich and detailed story being woven, and through the strength of Meryem Mulac's narration. For those new to Pamuk and the nuance of Turkish politics and society, her warm, friendly tone and smooth narration are extremely comforting.

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Perhaps THE best book ever written about film

Revisado: 10-18-23

One of the most erudite – and personal – books ever published about art and the ways it can help us better understand ourselves, House of Psychotic Women is finally available as an audiobook, and what a treat it is. The author's narration is a joy to listen to, and makes this very personal story feel even more personal still.

It should be noted that:

1) This covers the original 2012 release (as the cover suggests) and not the 2022 expanded edition. This makes little difference as:

2) The A-Z appendix of film reviews is absent from the audio edition. Though these are missed, that absence should encourage listeners to get their hands on the print or ebook version of this publication. (The print version, at least, features beautiful film stills and poster art throughout.)

Thank you FAB Press, for this book and now this audiobook!

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For those who love Radio 4 character driven drama

Revisado: 10-13-23

I never realized before just how divided audiences for audio drama are until reading the reviews for "Lucy."

In hindsight I can see where the description and the artwork might lead listeners to believe this is a thriller, which it most definitely is not. And true, there is no real story here.

It's much more in line with the "character study" type dramas you often find on BBC Radio 4 in which the back and forth between a small cast (in this case just 2 people) fleshes out the deeper aspects of a life, or a common situation. Audible's recent Carey Mulligan 1-woman drama "Boys & Girls" is a stunning example of this sub-genre at its best. (Though to be fair there is more of a story to that one.)

The acting in "Lucy" is top-notch, as is the dialogue. The mother comes across as being many things at once: a people-pleaser but also stubborn, caring yet angry. While the babysitter is deliciously manipulative, spiteful, and perhaps the teensiest bit fragile.

If you love the subtleties of verbal sparring, this is a real treat.

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Excellent look at a complicated personality

Revisado: 12-15-22

Though not the first book to take a stab at examining the life of Kathy Acker, this one approaches her first and foremost as a writer rather than as a counterculture oddity, as so many others have in the past. Particularly helpful are quotes from her journals, which demonstrate how she transformed real-life situations into fiction. Especially revealing are instances when the author compares the recollections of her friends with Acker's journal entries. Narrator Candace Thaxton does an excellent job of telling this difficult story, and is fast becoming a personal favorite. (Her work in "I'm thinking of Ending Things" is well worth a listen, too.)

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Nobody Writes (or Performs) Like Halle Butler

Revisado: 07-25-22

Let me get this out of the way right now – I'm neither a Millennial nor female, but there's something about Butler's writing that speaks to a universal loneliness in 21st century America. Like "The New Me," "Jillian" is a character study rather than a traditional narrative – actually two character studies. The author brilliantly captures the absurdities of the workplace once again. This book is at times laugh out loud funny and deeply penetrating, often at the same time. Her understanding of people's motivations remains sharp and, as the predecessor to "The New Me," this novel contains glimmers of approaches and ideas she put to greater use in the subsequent book. One of the most striking is the occasional "cosmic" observation that she slips in out of nowhere; one that puts all the micro-annoyances of life into perspective. Finally, I'm grateful that Butler performs her audio books – her emphasis and intonations bring the dialogue to life.

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Listen to this again and again

Revisado: 06-15-22

I have to say I've loved this book since I first heard an abridged version of it on Radio 4. When I bought the audiobook I was initially disappointed that it had a different narrator from the radio production, but I soon came to prefer Tuppence Middleton's performance. She doesn't just read the book but truly performs it, making an already good book superb.

"Not Working" is more a series of vignettes told from the main character's point of view than an actual story, but it works surprisingly well. I've lost track of the number of times I've listened to this book – I usually dip into it when I want to lighten my mood. There's just something about the combination of the author's spot-on observations and Middleton's performance that makes me happy. It just might make you happy, too.

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