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The Lay of the Land
- Frank Bascombe, Book 3
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 24 hrs and 51 mins
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Publisher's summary
His story resumes in the autumn of 2000, when his trade as a realtor on the Jersey Shore is thriving, permitting him to revel in the acceptance of "that long, stretching-out time when my dreams would have mystery like any ordinary person's; when whatever I do or say, who I marry, how my kids turn out, becomes what the world, if it makes note at all, knows of me, how I'm seen, understood, even how I think of myself before whatever there is that's wild and unassuagable rises and cheerlessly hauls me off to oblivion."
But as a presidential election hangs in the balance, and a postnuclear-family Thanksgiving looms before him, along with crises both marital and medical, Frank discovers that what he terms the Permanent Period is fraught with unforeseen perils: "All the ways that life feels like life at age 55 were strewn around me like poppies."
This is a holiday, and a novel, no reader will ever forget, at once hilarious, harrowing, surprising, and profound. The Lay of the Land is astonishing in its own right and a magnificent expansion of one of the most celebrated chronicles of our time.
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"As ever the drama is rooted in the interior world of its authentically life-sized hero, as he logs long hours on the highways and back roads of New Jersey, taking expansive stock of middle-age defeats and registering the erosions of a brilliantly evoked landscape of suburbs, strip malls and ocean towns." (New York Times Book Review)
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What’s happening in Acker’s Gap, West Virginia? Three elderly men are gunned down over their coffee at a local diner, and seemingly half the town is there to witness the act. Still, it happened so fast, and no one seems to have gotten a good look at the shooter. Was it random? Was it connected to the spate of drug violence plaguing poor areas of the country just like Acker’s Gap? Or were Dean Streeter, Shorty McClurg, and Lee Rader targeted somehow?
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A wonderful treat!
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Shadow Show
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Ray Bradbury - peerless storyteller, poet of the impossible, and one of America's most beloved authors - is a literary giant whose remarkable career spanned seven decades. Now 26 of today's most diverse and celebrated authors offer new short works in honor of the master; stories of heart, intelligence, and dark wonder from a remarkable range of creative artists.
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THE MAN WHO FORGOT RAY BRADBURY
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Short Squeeze
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Meet smart-aleck Southampton attorney Jackie Swaitkowski. Her business relies on constant movement of Hamptons' real estate market. After making an odd request to evict his sister-in-law from his home, one of her clients turns up dead. Jackie would have expected that to be the end of it, but an envelope found on the corpse contains an item so unusual that she finds herself working on something bigger, and more dangerous, than real estate.
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Great Listen - Good Series
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The Turner House
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The Turners have lived on Yarrow Street for over 50 years. Their house has seen 13 children grown and gone - and some returned; it has seen the arrival of grandchildren, the fall of Detroit's East Side, and the loss of a father. The house still stands despite abandoned lots, an embattled city, and the inevitable shift outward to the suburbs. But now, as ailing matriarch Viola finds herself forced to leave her home and move in with her eldest son, the family discovers that the house is worth just a 10th of its mortgage.
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The narrator's performance made the difference.
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Bullet in the Brain
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Anders is an angry, cynical man. A book critic known for his scathing reviews, he finds any excuse to dismiss, belittle, or insult. This afternoon is no more agitating than the next. Angers finds himself in a long line at the bank, waiting to reach a teller. Even after two men - wearing masks and carrying guns - take control of the building, Anders is unfazed. It's this behavior that lands him with a pistol against his stomach and a man screamingin his face. And when the bank robber, indignant over Anders' behavior, shoots the book critic in the head, his mind floats through the memories of his life, settling on one particular event....
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The Perfect Example
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Twelve-year old Sheldon Horowitz is still recovering from the tragic loss of his mother only a year ago when a suspicious traffic accident steals the life of his father near their home in rural Massachusetts. It is 1938, and Sheldon, who was in the truck, emerges from the crash an orphan hell-bent on revenge. He takes that fire with him to Hartford, where he embarks on a new life under the roof of his buttoned-up Uncle Nate.
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Absolutely wonderful story.
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Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules is a collection of short stories, some classic, others impending, selected and introduced by David Sedaris.
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Great stories but only 5 of 17 are included
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Crimes by Moonlight
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In number-one New York Times best-selling author Charlaine Harris’s "Dahlia Underground,” venerable vampire Dahlia Lynley-Chivers survives an attack by an anti-vampire terrorist group, only to show them they tried to blow up the wrong bloodsucker. Bailey Ruth Raeburn, a ghost assigned to assist humans in trouble, steps into the middle of a marital dispute with surprising twists in Carolyn Hart’s “Riding High”....
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Pleasantly surprised
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Would make a great movie!
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The best stories pull readers in and keep them turning the pages, eager to discover more—to find the answer to the question: "And then what happened?" The true hallmark of great literature is great imagination, and as Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio prove with this outstanding collection, when it comes to great fiction, all genres are equal.
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Something for Everyone
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Love Walked In
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- Unabridged
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Award-winning poet Marisa de los Santos crafts an irresistibly touching debut novel. Love Walked In is a contemporary tale, steeped in nostalgic, cinematic charm, of love in all its forms. Unapologetically idealistic about love, Cornelia Brown appears to catch the break of a lifetime when the dashing Martin Grace, her own personal Cary Grant, comes strolling into her life. But it is Martin's connection to 11-year-old Clare Hobbes that touches Cornelia's heart in ways she never imagined.
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Dreadful audio quality
- By Marenghi on 09-16-11
What listeners say about The Lay of the Land
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- MF Minnis
- 01-20-17
Depressing and lacks authentic relfection
This story might ring true for aging men but I found it downright depressing and lacking any compelling story. Just was not my kind of read aloud book.
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- TESSA
- 03-22-15
Parents or Divorced will "get this book"
If you could sum up The Lay of the Land in three words, what would they be?
When the best is yet to come is no longer a possibility, Your life has entered the permanent period. Frank Bascom explores and deals with life after divorce, adults kids returning home and cancer in this book that covers only 3 days in his life. It is a fascinating personality profile of Frank Bascom, realtor and the new permanent period of life.
Which scene was your favorite?
When Frank Bascom is interviewed by the detective on Thanksgiving Day ( aprx 6 hours and 14 minutes left in audio book). Frank has to explain many things to the old time cop. Cop finally explains how he just has to get people to stop killing each other- then he can retire.
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Overall
- Alan
- 01-31-07
Great book!
I liked this book quite a lot. There were several times that I laughed out loud so I consider the book to be quite funny. There's a really funny part that takes place when the main character (1st-person narrative) ends up stuck in a lesbian bar while waiting for his car to be repaired. The author is able to make events funny, while drawing out the seriousness and trouble that clouds our lives from time to time.
Not a lot happens in the book in terms of plot (at least until the last parts of the book). There are long and detailed descriptions of events, people, etc. that might cause many to call the book "slow." At first, that was a little off-putting, but eventually, I came to understand what the author was doing, and that style didn't make any difference to me at all at the end. I was sorry to have it end.
Themes include observations about modern life, fatherhood, loss of a child, neighbors, divorce, selling, late-middle age, cancer and more.
The narration was first rate. The reader put effort into different voices for each character, and did lots of accents (southern, midwest, East Indian and others) all of which I enjoyed.
I recommend it.
(There's a sixteen-mintute interview with the author after the end of the book, so it's not actually a 24 hour 57 minute book.)
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7 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Amazon Customer
- 02-05-07
Hyper-articulate writer/hyper-skillle reader
Can anyone alive turn a phrase better than Richard Ford? I believe listening to or reading good language can enhance the listener's/reader's language facility. Both writer and reader of Lay of the Land are inspiring.
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Jaci P
- 08-19-07
Amusing
This was a read about everyday life, in an area of the US I’ve never visited, and from the viewpoint of a man in the decade of his life I’m preparing to enter. Character, Frank Bascombe has great insight and amusing portrayals of family members, neighbors, and friends. I may have to go back and read the previous Richard Ford novels about this character. The book did move a little slow, but I smiled quite a bit, and it was a nice change of pace from fast action or high intrigue.
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3 people found this helpful
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- f. marion
- 05-22-21
This book is awful
Richard Ford’s novel Canada is one of the best I’ve ever read, so I was looking forward to diving into the rest of his work. My disappointment cannot be measured. The main character in this book is a narcissistic judge mental ass with a slight veneer of racism to go along with it. No depth no plot no no story. Just the constant snide ramblings of a man who constantly wants to remind you he has prostate cancer and drives a suburban. Ugh. Waste of time.
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- Leonard silberman
- 10-30-07
Interesting at first...
This is one of two books I've never finished. I listened to probably 80% of it but there was nothing holding me to the end. The author and the narrator seemed to drone on and on. I'm not saying that there was nothing good -- I still have the feeling of the beach setting and it was interesting seeing things from the perspective of the realtor. It was a picture of a person and a place... The picture just didn't move enough for me.... Maybe I'll go back finally and listen to the end of it....
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4 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Billie P. Sessions
- 08-28-09
On and on and on . . . blah, blah, blah
This is the first review I have ever written. I don't have time or take the time for this stuff. However, this book has driven me to it! Yes, Ford writes fabulous sentences, has a fantastic grasp of vocabulary and the "reader" sounds like he should. But OMGosh! What is the point of it all? There is no point! Just one sentence after another, and I have a Ph.D. and should be used to convoluted, pointless drivel -- and this is just too much! It's about a man my age and his daily life. Part I (of 3) covers 1 day in his life and I just can't give up two more days of my life for possibly 2 days of his! This has droned on long enough and has sealed the deal that I don't want a man in my life! So thanks Mr. Ford. I needed that! This is only the second book in my life that I just have to DELETE!
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall
- ogres3
- 09-29-07
self indulgence
This is the first audiobook (out of over 150) that I couldn't finish. I almost made it through the first third, but realized that I had sufficiently experienced the mid-life crisis about which the narrator is perpetually expounding. I found myself repeatedly telling him, almost out loud, to get over it. At the point that I stopped no plot had been established. I don't give up easily, having managed to complete Proust's "Swann's Way", which was no easy feat. "The Lay of the Land" is comparable to "Portnoy's Complaint", it is difficult to maintain any empathy with the narrator. Don't waste your time on this one!
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7 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Ronald
- 12-07-06
This Land is Pretty Flat
Some books are meant to be heard. This is not one of them. In many scenes, it takes 15 minutes to describe what happened in one or two minutes. It would work better for a speed reader. It would also be worth skipping a couple chapters that contributed nothing to the whole story. As a 54 years old while male, I should be able to identify with the main character, but such was not the case.
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5 people found this helpful