Preview
  • A Stainless Steel Rat Is Born

  • Stainless Steel Rat, Book 6
  • By: Harry Harrison
  • Narrated by: Phil Gigante
  • Length: 7 hrs and 15 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (269 ratings)

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A Stainless Steel Rat Is Born

By: Harry Harrison
Narrated by: Phil Gigante
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Publisher's summary

The prequel to the Stainless Steel Rat. Slippery Jim is here a brash 17-year-old who has left his parents' porcuswine farm, planning to embark on a life of crime. The book opens with Jim bungling a bank job so that he can be arrested and sent to prison, where he plans to learn the art of being a master criminal. Deciding that the Bishop should be his mentor, Jim sets about proving himself worthy of the master's attention.

He eventually has to flee his home planet of Bit O' Heaven with the Bishop, but Garth, the captain of the ship who promised them safe passage, sells them into slavery. The latter part of the book details Jim's adventures on the planet Spiovente, a semi-industrial world fighting feudal wars with weapons smuggled in (against League regulations) by Captain Garth.

Man of steal: Listen to more in the Stainless Steel Rat series.
©1972 Harry Harrison (P)2011 Brilliance Audio, Inc.
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What listeners say about A Stainless Steel Rat Is Born

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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    184
  • 4 Stars
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Performance
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Story
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  • 4 Stars
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  • 3 Stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Great prequel

Great performance. Nice beginning of the stainless steel rat and his bedevilry. Definitely recommend this book.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

One of my favorites

I have read this book on several occasions and it is one of my favorites

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Thoroughly enjoyed it!!

Would you consider the audio edition of A Stainless Steel Rat Is Born to be better than the print version?

Yes. The narrator really made the characters come to life!

What other book might you compare A Stainless Steel Rat Is Born to and why?

Other Stainless Steel Books, or maybe Hitchhiker's guide to the Galaxy.

Which character ??? as performed by Phil Gigante ??? was your favorite?

The main one - Jim DiGriz

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

Robin Hood P.I.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

This narration is a work of art

What did you love best about A Stainless Steel Rat Is Born?

Phil Gigante's narration is a work of art, he masterfully captures the progression of Jim diGriz from a teenager with a whiny voice to a self-assured criminal.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Harry Harrison at his best, with excellent narrati

Harry Harrison is always guaranteed to provide hours of fun, specially so with the excellent narration by Phil Gigante

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Though long in the tooth ?

Would you listen to A Stainless Steel Rat Is Born again? Why?

Though Long in the tooth, The Stainless Steel Rat is a Joy to Read or to Listen to on Audio Books.
Mighty Jim, is everyone's Dream Adventurer, He Gets to go & do the things that most of us would always dream about.
A fun series of Books for the Teen to Elders whom enjoy Sci.-Fi. Books.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Jim d. & his often strange Family members, Why, Please explain why we enjoy Eye-Sight first & I'll attempt to explain why this main Character seems to push my need to read more.

What does Phil Gigante bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I have No Idea, I just find the books fun to read.

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

NO.

Any additional comments?

NO.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

A 'prequel' to the Stainless Steel Rat series

This book maintains the general sense of the earlier books in the series. It feels a little strained at times, like the author was reading his notes from the earlier books, but is nevertheless a good read. If you liked the earlier books, you'll like this one.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Still good

A book from my early years. Still enjoyable. Maybe I have not grown up!

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

The rat goes to school.

What did you love best about A Stainless Steel Rat Is Born?

The story is a prequel giving the series background The villains are well drawn, as usual. The story is crafted better than some of the others. Fun!

Who was your favorite character and why?

The Bishop made the story work. This character explained the mind set of Jim Degris.

Which character – as performed by Phil Gigante – was your favorite?

Phil Gigante showed his range in this narration. He is a star. He always makes good, entertaining stories better. His performance of Jim as a teen helped the entire series.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes. I will have that kind of time in about a year.

Any additional comments?

The production is always good in this series.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

The backstorry on Jim

This was interesting and better developed than a lot of the other books in the series. it is defenitely fun to see where the rat came from and what shaped him. Moving away from the other books in the series seems to have given the author a fresh view that made this better than most of the later boos. this one is worth a credit.

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4 people found this helpful