Back to Blood

A Novel

By: Tom Wolfe

Narrated by: Lou Diamond Phillips

Length: 20 hrs and 48 mins

Publisher's summary

A big, panoramic story of the new America, as told by our master chronicler of the way we live now.

As a police launch speeds across Miami's Biscayne Bay - with officer Nestor Camacho on board - Tom Wolfe is off and running. Into the feverous landscape of the city, he introduces the Cuban mayor; the black police chief; a wanna-go-muckraking young journalist and his Yale-marinated editor; an Anglo sex-addiction psychiatrist and his Latina nurse by day, loin lock by night - until lately, the love of Nestor's life; a refined, and oh-so-light-skinned young woman from Haiti and her Creole-spouting, black-gang-banger-stylin' little brother; a billionaire porn addict; crack dealers in the 'hoods; "de-skilled" conceptual artists at the Miami Art Basel Fair; "spectators" at the annual Biscayne Bay regatta looking only for that night's orgy; yenta-heavy ex-New Yorkers at an "Active Adult" condo; and a nest of shady Russians.

Based on the same sort of detailed, on-scene, high-energy reporting that powered Tom Wolfe's previous best-selling novels, Back to Blood is another brilliant, spot-on, scrupulous, and often hilarious reckoning with our times.

©2012 Tom Wolfe (P)2012 Hachette

Genius book - Bad Spanish in Voice

If you could sum up Back to Blood in three words, what would they be?

Tom Wolfe Genius

What other book might you compare Back to Blood to and why?

Bonfire of the Vanities - same hilariously insidious sadistic approach to character development - utterly impossible to put down - jokes within jokes wrapped in jokes in every paragraph. If you read the same paragraph 12 times, you'll double over laughing for 12 different reasons - it reads like a knife through butter but every sentence is densely packed.

What three words best describe Lou Diamond Phillips’s voice?

Strong, Bad Spanish

If you could take any character from Back to Blood out to dinner, who would it be and why?

have to think about that one

Any additional comments?

My point in writing this is to encourage Audible to get a different narration - even if by the same guy - Phillips is excellent but fails fatally in one absolutely critical area: Cuban Spanish. Spanish in general, actually. For example, an important character goes to a Cuban gym called "Ññññññño, Qué Gym!", which is short for "Coño! What a gym!". "Coño" is like saying "whoa!" is English, but a bit more profane. You pronounce ño like this "nyo". But Phillips says "no". Now, I'm not Cuban and I'm not an expert in Spanish and I had hoped to benefit from hearing all of the Spanish in this book pronounced with a proper Miami Cuban accent, but EVERY GRINGO who knows the slightest thing about Cuba knows that it's nyo, not no! Everybody says ñññño all the time. It was practically the first thing I learned to say when I was in Cuba. If he gets THIS wrong, everything is suspect, and sure enough, a few pages later he says "DEE os me oh" instead of "dyos me oh" for "my god". This is not a Cubanism. It's just plain old "my God". In any Spanish dialect it's gonna be "dyos me oh" - one syllable on Dios. Again, EVERYBODY says "ay dios mío" (oh my god) over and over and over. If you can say "dee os me oh" and not hear that it sound wrong ... that's not good.

So, in summary, Tom Wolfe might be the greatest writer of fiction of the last century and this book is another stunning example of his art - it just needs a more authentic narration. It's too bad because in every other way Phillips is eminently listenable. I'd give him at least 4 stars if not for the horrendous errors in Spanish.

Outstanding performance by Lou Diamond Phillips

What made the experience of listening to Back to Blood the most enjoyable?

Great story, as expected, from Tom Wolfe, made better by Phillip's outstanding performance.

What other book might you compare Back to Blood to and why?

Bonfire of the Vanities and A Man in Full, both by Tom Wolfe. BACK TO BLOOD stands up to them, though in a different way.

What about Lou Diamond Phillips’s performance did you like?

Phillips differentiated the voices extremely well, portraying a wide variety of characters with varying accents and sensibilities. He always struck the proper emotional tone and made the most of Tom Wolfe's spoken-word style and frequent overemphasis without distracting the listener from the story. I have seen Phillips play character roles in many films and TV series and was delighted to find what a high level of skill and professionalism he brought to the book as reader. Bravo, Lou Diamond Phillips! I will be looking for him as a reader of other audiobooks in the future.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Many laughs and plenty of tension. No tears, but I didn't expect any from this particular story.

Interesting book, great performance!

Listening to this book was a wonderful experience. I grew up in Miami, and the reader and music added to the feeling of local ambiance and flavor. Plus it's a good story. There's no downside!

Back to Decent Writing (spoilers)

After the stinker that was _I am Charlotte Simmons_, _Back to Blood_ is a welcome return of the Tom Wolfe fans of good writing love.

Too much of the "PUMP PUMP PUMP, GRIND GRIND GRIND, SPRAY SPRAY SPRAY, YADA YADA YADA" sex scenes and whoever told him - a) police officers still carry revolvers and b) Glock makes revolvers - should be beaten to death with a bag of used typewriter ribbons, but otherwise good stuff. Very compelling until the end.

My biggest criticism is the abrupt ending - didn't feel like anything was really resolved. He finally has characters that are interesting and empathetic - as opposed to the Charlotte Simmons crowd - and they were just abandoned. It's the literary equivalent of _The Sopranos_.

If this is Tom Wolfe's last book, it's a nice exit from the stage, but he will still be better remembered for earlier works.

Social review of Cubano community....

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Educational explanation of Cubano family and social conditions in Miami. Mr. Wolfe provided memorable personalities and situations. Pace was brisk and entire book interesting.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Camacho - he was torn between many different life forces and 'uncertain' consistently on which path to follow.

What does Lou Diamond Phillips bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Voice inflections, pronunciations and 'flow'.

If you could take any character from Back to Blood out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Camacho's father to argue familial structuring.

great.

loved it. the performance was exceptional and very entertaining. funny and insightful. wanted it to last longer

Masterful Narration....so so book

If only the book was half as good as Lou Diamond Phillips' narration was (superb!).... the story was just "ok" for me. A few interesting parts but they were few and far between. I do not understand all the 5 star ratings on this one. The characters were interesting and the plot was decent, but it just felt rushed to me... especially the ending.

Poignant

This man's dilemma - to honor the rules of the country to which his family had fled, and to honor his duty to his profession,- or to "break the rules" when it involved family. Beautifully and convincingly done. Outstanding book.

satire on modern miami

Any additional comments?

Wolfe skewers ethnic groups and the wealthy in this satirical send up of life in modern multiethnic Miami. His repartees embellish a boy meets girl tale (or girl meets boy) with insights and characterizations that are amusing though occasionally over the top. There is a bit of Bonfire of the Vanities in here. It’s an amusing story which he might not have quite figured out how to end properly.

Fabulous

Where does Back to Blood rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Number 1

What did you like best about this story?

The narration

Which scene was your favorite?

The opening scene

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

Another great Tom Wolfe story

Any additional comments?

Very impressed with Lou Diamond Phillips and his ability to capture each individual character and all the accents. I will purchase everything he narrates.