
The Day of the Locust
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Narrated by:
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Grover Gardner
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By:
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Nathanael West
About this listen
Admired by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Dorothy Parker, and Dashiell Hammett, and hailed as one of the best 100 English-language novels by Time magazine, The Day of the Locust continues to influence American writers, artists, and culture. Bob Dylan wrote the classic song "Day of the Locusts" in homage, and Matt Groening's Homer Simpson is named after one of its characters. No novel more perfectly captures the nuttier side of Hollywood. Here the lens is turned on its fringes-actors out of work, film extras with big dreams, and parents lining their children up for small roles. But it's the bit actress Faye Greener who steals the spotlight with her wildly convoluted dreams of stardom: "I'm going to be a star some day - if I'm not I'll commit suicide."
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- By Cheimon on 10-12-08
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The Wapshot Chronicle
- By: John Cheever
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 11 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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Based in part on Cheever's adolescence in New England, the novel follows the destinies of the impecunious and wildly eccentric Wapshots of St. Botolphs, a quintessential Massachusetts fishing village. Here are the stories of Captain Leander Wapshot, venerable sea dog and would-be suicide; of his licentious older son, Moses; and of Moses' adoring and errant younger brother, Coverly.
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Beautiful 1950s Great Expectations-like Novel
- By Darwin8u on 05-31-13
By: John Cheever
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The Adventures of Augie March
- By: Saul Bellow
- Narrated by: Tom Parker
- Length: 22 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Augie is a poor but exuberant boy growing up in Chicago during the Depression. While his friends all settle into chosen professions, Augie demands a special destiny. He tests out a wild succession of occupations, proudly rejecting each as too limiting - until he tangles with the glamorous perfectionist Thea.
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THAT part of the Universe visible from Chicago!
- By Darwin8u on 05-09-12
By: Saul Bellow
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The Death of the Heart
- By: Elizabeth Bowen
- Narrated by: Pearl Hewitt
- Length: 13 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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In this piercing story of innocence betrayed set in the 30s, the orphaned Portia is stranded in the sophisticated and politely treacherous world of her wealthy half-brother's home in London. There she encounters the attractive, carefree cad Eddie. To him, Portia is at once child and woman, and her fears her gushing love. To her, Eddie is the only reason to be alive. But when Eddie follows Portia to a sea-side resort, the flash of a cigarette lighter in a darkened cinema illuminates a stunning romantic betrayal.
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Beautifully Crafted Story
- By LRWord on 02-27-23
By: Elizabeth Bowen
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Play It as It Lays
- A Novel (FSG Classics)
- By: Joan Didion
- Narrated by: Lauren Fortgang
- Length: 3 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
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A ruthless dissection of American life in the late 1960s, Joan Didion's Play It as It Lays captures the mood of an entire generation, the ennui of contemporary society reflected in spare prose that blisters and haunts the listener. Set in a place beyond good and evil—literally in Hollywood, Las Vegas, and the barren wastes of the Mojave Desert, but figuratively in the landscape of an arid soul—it remains more than three decades after its original publication a profoundly disturbing novel, riveting in its exploration of a woman and a society in crisis.
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Didion is a genius
- By Rogue415 on 04-09-25
By: Joan Didion
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Appointment in Samarra
- Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition
- By: John O'Hara, Charles McGrath - introduction
- Narrated by: Christian Camargo
- Length: 6 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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In December 1930, just before Christmas, the Gibbsville, Pennsylvania, social circuit is electrified with parties and dances. At the center of the social elite stand Julian and Caroline English. But in one rash moment born inside a highball glass, Julian breaks with polite society and begins a rapid descent toward self-destruction.
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Quite good, but not a classic
- By Michael on 04-25-15
By: John O'Hara, and others
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The Golden Notebook
- By: Doris Lessing
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 27 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Author Anna Wulf attempts to overcome writer’s block by writing a comprehensive "golden notebook" that draws together the preoccupations of her life, each of which is examined in a different notebook. Anna’s struggle to unify the various strands of her life – emotional, political, and professional – amasses into a fascinating encyclopaedia of female experience in the ‘50s.
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Transcendent narration of a masterpiece.
- By @vmarinelli on 07-03-12
By: Doris Lessing
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Pale Fire
- By: Vladimir Nabokov
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor, Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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A 999 line poem in heroic couplets, divided into 4 cantos, was composed - according to Nabokov's fiction - by John Francis Shade, an obsessively methodical man, during the last 20 days of his life.
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An amazing feat for such a unique novel
- By AmazonCustomer on 03-27-12
By: Vladimir Nabokov
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The Ghost Writer
- The Nathan Zuckerman Series, Book 1
- By: Philip Roth
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 4 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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The Ghost Writer introduces Nathan Zuckerman in the 1950s, a budding writer infatuated with the great books, discovering the contradictory claims of literature and experience while an overnight guest in the secluded New England farmhouse of his idol, E. I. Lonoff. At Lonoff's, Zuckerman meets Amy Bellette, a haunting young woman of indeterminate foreign background who turns out to be a former student of Lonoff's and who may also have been his mistress.
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Turning Sentences Around
- By Darwin8u on 01-28-17
By: Philip Roth
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The Corrections
- A Novel
- By: Jonathan Franzen
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 21 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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The Corrections is a grandly entertaining novel for the new century--a comic, tragic masterpiece about a family breaking down in an age of easy fixes. After almost 50 years as a wife and mother, Enid Lambert is ready to have some fun. Unfortunately, her husband, Alfred, is losing his sanity to Parkinson's disease, and their children have long since flown the family nest to the catastrophes of their own lives. Enid has set her heart on an elusive goal: bringing her family together for one last Christmas at home.
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"Grandly Entertaining"? Really?
- By Georgia Burns on 10-08-13
By: Jonathan Franzen
What listeners say about The Day of the Locust
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Blingus
- 02-18-19
Okay, okay, you've convinced me…
"Hollywood is shallow and artificial!!" I guess this was news to people in 1939, but now that we're 80 years into this trope, the message does get a bit-heavy handed and dull. There are really no observations here that seem particularly fresh or astute. It's not that I disagree with the author's point of view, but the whole story's only objective is to beat this long-dead horse.
Regarding the narrator, I have heard marvelous performances from Grover Gardner, but this one feels very "phoned-in."
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2 people found this helpful
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- Courtney Wilson
- 05-05-23
Reminds me Cohen Bros. movies
I would often be shaking my head at the characters (100% fools) when suddenly I’d be slapped in the face by a passage of stunning beauty. Like every Cohen Bros. movie I’ve seen, these loser characters are filmed through a lens of lush imagery. This book is often uncomfortable and often funny, often simultaneously. I’m glad I read it.
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- Amazon Customer
- 01-02-24
The great Los Angeles novel expertly read!
A timeless work that captures the desperate spirit of Hollywood and one man’s pursuit of his art. Brilliantly read!
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1 person found this helpful
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- David C.
- 11-13-22
Nothing ever changes in Hollywood
I must confess that I had no clue as to the subject matter of #thedayofthelocust but, even though it was written in 1939, I saw many parallels and hark backs to my entertainment career in Los Angeles in the 80's and 90's. it was obviously profoundly influential to the likes of #mattgroening who found the inspiration and namesake of #homersimpson who was portrayed of one of the myriad Midwestern middle class men who came to the coast for health or a new start only to get caught up in the seemly world or brutally ambitious wannabe starlets, extras and , as is the case with the main character, a moderately talented artist with greater prospects painting film flats and mattes then any attempt at original art.
I also noted the great influence this book must have had on #jaketapper and his latest Hollywood based novel #thedevilmaydance . This period of Hollywood came at a time of transition as the original icons of the early years had spawned a second generation who had literally been born to entertain. A town rife with bohemianism, absolutely moral flexibility and everybody trying to fulfill their Hollywood career aspirations while also chasing the latest religious and nutrition fad, all in a quest for perfection and fame. Author #nathanielwest was a friend and favorite of #fscottfitzgerald , West and his wife died in a tragic car accident the day after Fitzgerald died from a heart aliment. Residing at #73 of the #modernlibrarytop100novels , I enjoyed the #audible version where, the storytelling was so compelling that I extended walk with the dog to catch one more chapter.
#americannovel #readtheworld #readtheworldchallenge #globalreadingchallenge #americanliterature #hollywood
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2 people found this helpful
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- gunnerThrax
- 05-20-23
A literary peak into the past
Finally(05/18/2023.) I read/listened to this short novel. Two positives: One, is the magnificent reader Grover Gardner - he may have one or two equals, but there is no one better; two, Nathanael West shows without telling what is happening, which is the hallmark of a good writer.
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- Anonymous User
- 02-04-23
Fun listen if you enjoy stream of consciousness
Reminded me of Bukowski’s Hollywood set a few decades earlier. Colorful characters take you on an interesting ride.
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- Jay L
- 07-22-23
Why is this a classic LA story?
I must have missed something. This book leaves a lot to be desired but of course Grover Gardner does his best to acquit the story with a solid narration.
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- Patrick Zircher
- 10-11-23
The Decline of the West
as told in 1930s California and the Golden Age of Hollywood. Ambitious, sometimes ugly, and memorable.
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- Anonymous User
- 05-03-24
What?
What an end…final chapter pushes it off the cliff…boysenberry oh boysenberry…oh sweet California…
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- Dr. Joe de Beauchamp
- 09-24-19
Chaos
Dark humor in this book matches the movie. A good listen for horror deep within all of us
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3 people found this helpful