Audition Audiobook By Katie Kitamura cover art

Audition

A Novel

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Audition

By: Katie Kitamura
Narrated by: Traci Kato-Kiriyama
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INSTANT NATIONAL BESTSELLER

“A tightly wound family drama that reads like a psychological thriller."—NPR

“Bold, stark, genre-bending, Audition will haunt your dreams.”—The Boston Globe

One woman, the performance of a lifetime. Or two. An exhilarating, destabilizing Möbius strip of a novel that asks whether we ever really know the people we love.

Two people meet for lunch in a Manhattan restaurant. She’s an accomplished actress in rehearsals for an upcoming premiere. He’s attractive, troubling, young—young enough to be her son. Who is he to her, and who is she to him? In this compulsively readable, brilliantly constructed novel, two competing narratives unspool, rewriting our understanding of the roles we play every day–partner, parent, creator, muse–and the truths every performance masks, especially from those who think they know us most intimately.

Taut and hypnotic, Audition is Katie Kitamura at her virtuosic best.

©2025 Katie Kitamura (P)2025 Penguin Audio Genre Fiction Psychological Women's Fiction

Critic reviews

“Slick, sharp, strange and singular. I love [Kitamura’s] work; she’s a writer who can conjure intrigue from the scantest detail, and you’ll gulp this novel down in one in-breath.”
—Samantha Harvey in The Guardian

"[A] taut, keenly observed take on the roles we play. . . worthy of a standing ovation."—People

"A deftly crafted, slow-burn psychological thriller full of sly metafictional reflections on the nature of storytelling and identity.”—The Washington Post
All stars
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What a confusing book. The author leaves it up to the reader’s interpretation, which I do not like. I had to research after I was finished. In an interview with the author, she likened this book to a house of mirrors. That is the most accurate description. It was not my cup of tea. I do not recommend.

Confusing

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There are MUCH better listens out there. Don’t waste your time or credits on this one.

Bizarre

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I kept waiting for this to improve, to make sense, to reveal its purpose. But it was absurd and abstract in the most boring way. I guess this is only for highbrow society privy to higher thinking and interpretation. The narration was also sleepy and monotonous.

Waste of time

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The talent of this writing is the detail of someone’s inner world —I would’ve thought you had to be inside the mind of someone with a mental disorder to understand what the experience must be like, but this was an impressive feat of relaying many possible realities coexisting & how confusing that must be…made so easy to understand when the world gives so much contradictory evidence. How amazing to find a way to relay what must be a reality(ies) for many. Knowing this story or experiencing one like it is a powerful experience, leaving me surprised and in deep compassion. I still don’t know who the crazy one is, but funny how we all agreed it still made most sense to put it on the mom.

Love reality shape-shifting

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I was so excited to listen, but lost me an hour and a half in. :(

Sounded like it was going to be a great read!

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Even going into this book knowing it was going to be a weaving of complications I found myself never seeing into the future. It was a wild ride, one that I found wholly enjoyable.

What a wildly unexpected narrative.

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Do not waste your money. This book seems like it can’t decide what message it wants to convey. The plot is two parts. The first part starts off promising. (Hence 2 stars) but slowly deteriorates. And by the time you get to the second plot line it is at first confusing and then just plain bad character development and lots of “I looked into his eyes to see what he meant….”
Overall, couldn’t wait to finish.

First quarter is promising. And goes downhill thereafter

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I enjoyed the narrator. The story lacks plot and gets confusing and strange as the characters morph from acquaintance to son to… whatever. I finished the book but was very disappointed.

Confusion

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The story was truly bizarre and the reader made me cringe. Every “g” was pronounced “guh.” I awaited every gerund with dread.

Bizarre, reader was annoying

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I liked the dichotomy in the story. I thought the character development of the husband was really good. I was hoping to find out an explanation for the mother/son relationship but I understand the author not answering everything. Beautifully written. The exquisite details were very effective and not at all over the top or tiring. I listened to the book after hearing K.K.'s interview on NPR. I'm glad I caught that. Well done, Katie!!

Left up to the reader

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