American Mermaid
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Tara Sands
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By:
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Julia Langbein
About this listen
A MOST ANTICIPATED BOOK OF THE YEAR • "Sublime." —New York Times Book Review
"Brilliantly sharp, funny, and thought-provoking, the gripping story of a woman trying to find her way in our chaotic world." —Madeline Miller, bestselling author of Circe
Broke English teacher Penelope Schleeman is as surprised as anyone when her feminist, eco-warrior novel American Mermaid becomes a best-seller. But when Hollywood insists she convert her fierce, androgynous protagonist into to a teen sex object in a clamshell bra, strange things start to happen. Is Penelope losing her mind, or has her fictional mermaid come to life, enacting revenge against society’s limited view of what a woman can and should be?
American Mermaid follows a young woman braving the casual slights and cruel calculations of a winner-take-all society and discovering a beating heart in her own fiction: a new kind of hero who fights to keep her voice and choose her place. A hilarious story about deep things, American Mermaid asks how far we’ll go to protect the parts of ourselves that are not for sale.
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Critic reviews
Named a Most Anticipated Book of the Year by LitHub
"Sublime...Langbein intertwines Penny’s story with chapters from her own novel, and this book-within-a-book structure allows us to mourn the gap between the novel Penny has written and the version she’s told will make a good movie...Langbein’s novel considers how we decide who owns a story — and, far more compelling, how we know when a story succeeds." —New York Times Book Review
“Let this book’s gorgeous and unassuming cover draw you into one of the smartest, most hilarious books you’ve ever read. Julia Langbein has crafted a perfect work of meta-fiction. . . [AMERICAN MERMAID] is so, so smart, toeing the line of the believably absurd. Langbein dazzles with her wholly original, sharply funny voice, making her a must-read author after this homerun fiction debut.” —Iowa Public Radio
“Wildly inventive, this book will get you thinking about artistic integrity as it elicits plenty of snarf-yourself laughs.” —Real Simple
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From the secret reels of a notoriously cursed cinematic masterpiece to the debauched livestreams of modern movie junkies who will do anything for clicks, Final Cuts brings together new and terrifying stories inspired by the many screens we can't peel our eyes away from. Inspired by the rich golden age of the film and television industries as well as the new media present, this new anthology reveals what evils hide behind the scenes and between the frames of our favorite medium.
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Not Poor, Not Rich
- By Gary & Jay on 08-23-20
By: Ellen Datlow
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The Amateurs
- By: Sara Shepard
- Narrated by: Renee Chambliss
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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As soon as Seneca Frazier sees the post on the Case Not Closed website about Helena Kelly, she's hooked. Helena's high-profile disappearance five years earlier is the one that originally got Seneca addicted to true crime. It's the reason she's a member of the site in the first place. So when Maddy Wright, her best friend from the CNC site, invites Seneca to spend spring break in Connecticut looking into the cold case, she immediately packs her bag.
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Most irritating narrator ever!
- By Hilary on 04-06-17
By: Sara Shepard
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Reprieve
- A Novel
- By: James Han Mattson
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 12 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
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On April 27, 1997, four contestants make it to the final cell of the Quigley House, a full-contact haunted escape room in Lincoln, Nebraska, made famous for its monstrosities, booby-traps, and ghoulishly costumed actors. If the group can endure these horrors without shouting the safe word, “reprieve,” they’ll win a substantial cash prize - a startling feat accomplished only by one other group in the house’s long history. But before they can complete the challenge, a man breaks into the cell and kills one of the contestants.
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creepy escape room story
- By Barbara S on 11-18-21
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The Day The Lies Began
- By: Kylie Kaden
- Narrated by: Casey Withoos
- Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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It happened the day of the Moon Festival. It could have been left behind, they all could have moved on with their lives. But secrets have a habit of rising to the surface, especially in small towns. Two couples, four ironclad friendships, the perfect coastal holiday town. With salt-stung houses perched like lifeguards overlooking the shore, Lago Point is the scene of postcards, not crime scenes. Wife and mother Abbi, town cop Blake, schoolteacher Hannah and local doctor Will are caught in their own tangled webs of deceit.
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good but mixed feelings
- By lisa on 09-16-19
By: Kylie Kaden
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Last Girl Standing
- By: Lisa Jackson, Nancy Bush
- Narrated by: Angela Dawe
- Length: 12 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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At Bristol High they were an elite clique known as the Five Firsts: Amanda, Bailey, Carmen, Delta and Zora...ABCD & Z. They could have accepted their classmate, Emmy, as "E", but with her bookish disposition and her embarrassing status of scholarship student to boot, they rejected her and chose wealthy Zora instead. At a pre-graduation party just before the end of senior year, Lance Ventura, the hottest guy in school, falls down an embankment toward the river and is barely rescued in time to save his life. One of the Five Firsts, Carman, rushes to save him, but isn't so lucky.
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Real life
- By lisa on 06-09-20
By: Lisa Jackson, and others
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The Stranger Behind You
- A Novel
- By: Carol Goodman
- Narrated by: Samantha Desz
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Journalist Joan Lurie has written a seething article exposing a notorious newspaper tycoon as a sexual predator. But the night it goes live, she is brutally attacked. Traumatized and suffering the effects of a concussion, she moves into a highly secure apartment in Manhattan called the Refuge, which was at one time a Magdalen Laundry. Joan should be safe here, so how can she explain the cryptic incidents that are happening?
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MeToo Redux
- By SB on 07-10-21
By: Carol Goodman
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Domestic Violets
- A Novel
- By: Matthew Norman
- Narrated by: Todd McLaren
- Length: 11 hrs
- Unabridged
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Tom Violet always thought that by the time he turned 35, he’d have everything going for him. Fame. Fortune. A beautiful wife. A satisfying career as a successful novelist. A happy dog to greet him at the end of the day. The reality, though, is far different. He’s got a wife, but their problems are bigger than he can even imagine. And he’s written a novel, but the manuscript he’s slaved over for years is currently hidden in his desk drawer while his father, an actual famous writer, just won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. His career, such that it is, involves mind-numbing corporate buzzwords....
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What a rollicking ride!
- By Pamela Harvey on 08-13-11
By: Matthew Norman
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great writing but horrible story
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When Catalina is admitted to Harvard, it feels like the fulfillment of destiny: a miracle child escapes death in Latin America, moves to Queens to be raised by her undocumented grandparents, and becomes one of the chosen. But nothing is simple for Catalina, least of all her own complicated, contradictory, ruthlessly probing mind. Now a senior, she faces graduation to a world that has no place for the undocumented; her sense of doom intensifies her curiosities and desires. She infiltrates the school’s elite subcultures—internships and literary journals, posh parties and secret societies.
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It is an unseasonably warm Sunday in November 1957. Katheen, a college tennis champion turned Delaware housewife, decides not to join her flagrantly handsome life insurance salesman husband, Virgil, or their two young boys, at church. Instead, she takes a dip in the kidney-shaped swimming pool of their apartment complex. And then she won’t come out.
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Two people who are cheaters in
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Over seven decades, from 1940 to 2010, the pieds-noirs Cassars live in an itinerant state—separated in the chaos of World War II, running from a complicated colonial homeland, and, after Algerian independence, without a homeland at all. This Strange Eventful History, told with historical sweep, is above all a family story: of patriarch Gaston and his wife Lucienne, whose myth of perfect love sustains them and stifles their children; of François and Denise, devoted siblings connected by their family's strangeness; of François's union with Barbara; of Chloe, the result of that union.
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Be Prepared for a Jarring Narration
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What listeners say about American Mermaid
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Lillian Gurandsrud
- 07-19-23
confusing.
this was not my favorite story, jumping between the mermaid story and the writers story was confusing and neither of them became satisfying on their own and just felt like a bit of a disappointment. it was funny sometimes and the writing style itself was good. I just feel like the story missed reasons for why the characters did what they did etc. it's like the story just got cut off.
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- Rachael LoBosco
- 04-30-23
Sometimes thought-provoking, often tedious
I'm not sure exactly how I want to rate this. The book blurb claims this book is "brilliantly funny," but I disagree. All the scenes of the main character, Penelope, interacting with shallow Hollywood folk were probably supposed to be satirical and funny, but they quickly became tedious. Some things were explored and described way too much - all the party scenes where Penelope was drunk or her meandering thoughts about her previous job as a teacher. I think it would have been more interesting if the author spent more time exploring Penelope's relationship with her family, her desire to partner up and have a family of her own, and her avoidance of romantic or sexual relationships.
The book also features a lot of excerpts from the novel written by Penelope. I found those excerpts more interesting than Penelope's antics in Hollywood, and I might have enjoyed just reading a book with that story. But by writing two parallel stories, Langbein shortchanged both. And then her effort at the end to connect them was clumsy. It did leave me thinking, though, so I'll give the book blurb that - the book is indeed "thought-provoking."
Ok, ultimately, I think this is a 2.5 star book, but I'll round up to 3 to give Langbein credit for imagination.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Lauren Goodsmith
- 04-21-23
Fun story marred by heavy-handed narration
I began American Mermaid eagerly, having listened to a sample and read synopses. The premise is great fun, as the protagonist gets sucked into the world of Hollywood while attempting to preserve some of the essence of her hilariously earnest novel.
I really enjoyed the first chapter or so. However, before long I found the narrator's voice grating. Although its deeply nasal pitch and tone of parody is appropriate for several passages, it never seems to vary between scenes: everything is at high volume and delivered in a heavy-handed way. At least for me personally, it became unpleasant to listen to and I returned it after a few more chapters.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Sarah and Curtis
- 03-31-23
Cringey
Was not a fan. The narrators voice was hard to listen to and the humor was odd.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Holly M.
- 08-02-23
Hilarious
A witty, fun, allegorical read. A bit of inside baseball on the book to screenplay world.
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- jo42n81
- 03-28-23
hard to follow
it was a very clever story idea but didn't really deliver enough to keep me interested
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2 people found this helpful
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- Victoria
- 06-25-23
Still unsure...
I was very excited to read/listen to this book. I enjoyed the book within a book. However, the main character,Penny, rubbed me the wrong way. She was unlikable and odd. I was more interested in the characters from Sylvia's story. The narrator was great and I'm not writing this book off. I will definitely read/listen again but this was my first impression.
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- Schacker
- 07-20-23
Terrible
This performance was so awfully executed that i couldn’t even listen to it. Worst ever!
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- Angie Dawn
- 06-28-24
Did not enjoy
I didn’t like Penelope I feel like she was trying to be funny but just came off awkward and weird. I didn’t like Sylvia I feel like she was weak and whiny.
I hated the whole LA piece and going back and forth was slightly confusing at times.
I found this at the airport and loved the idea of it. I wouldn’t recommend or read again.
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- jane
- 03-24-23
Pure Delight
I DO wish I were reading this novel. It’d be easier to go back and forth through the story-within-story doors. But, ya know, suspending disbelief isn’t such a challenge as it ought to be. Ms Langbein’s writing is so funny, immediate and relatable that I just want to see where she’s going. I trust her. The main character is having a relatable experience of L.A. from the perspective of a conscientious New Englander. Yup! It’s exploring “Alice in Wonderland” with your smartest friend.
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2 people found this helpful