Martin Dressler Audiobook By Steven Millhauser cover art

Martin Dressler

The Tale of an American Dreamer

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Martin Dressler

By: Steven Millhauser
Narrated by: George Guidall
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Pulitzer Prize, Fiction, 1997

The American Dream is a theme so compelling it resonates throughout our culture. In Martin Dressler, Steven Millhauser creates a young man who, in dedicating his life to it, becomes a symbol of that dream. Powerful, lyrical, finely crafted, this best-selling book won the Pulitzer Prize, was a National Book Award finalist, and was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year.

Martin Dressler, son of an immigrant cigar maker, believes he can achieve anything if he works hard enough. At the turn of the century, he rises from the shadows of his father’s shop in New York City to become a powerful entrepreneur and builder of hotels. But, as he contemplates this land of almost limitless opportunity, his plans grow impossibly grand. Through the curve of Martin’s spectacular rise and eventual downfall in the business world, his tale remains a uniquely American one. Martin may not always control an empire, but he will always be able to dream.

©1996 Monty Roberts (P)1998 Recorded Books, LLC Coming of Age Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Dream Mind-Bending
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This is the world's okay-est book. It's not bad, it's well written, the prose is clear and concise, and the narrator does a superb job. I would also say the description of the turn of the century New York is also fun. However, there isn't much conflict in the story. Martin Dressler seems to coast through life having every dream and desire fulfilled, and he wants the whole world.
The final chapter almost makes the whole book worth it, almost.

I have to ask myself, if I could trade back the time spent listening to this novel in turn for the memory of it, I dont know if I would. I feel indifferent about it.

That said, Steven Millhouser is a fantastic short story writer, and I would direct anyone who want to read him there instead of here, sadly.

The world okay-est book

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

He's one of the greats.

Any additional comments?

You should go into this knowing that it's a period piece. Millhouser is pushing against the Naturalistic strain of the literature of a century ago, and he infuses it with a sense of the fantastic. Martin's ambitions as a builder -- and his successes -- give this a haunting beauty, and there are absolutely parts of it to savor.

Just as Martin loses interest in his own creations, however, Millhouser seems to sour on his own novel. I recognize that's part of the beauty in the conception -- this America invites us to dream things larger than the world can accommodate, and it's high art to gauge the course of our best such dreamers -- but it's nevertheless disappointing to find as little retrospective insight as we do.

It Builds a Great Foundation

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I listen to it twice as I lived Life with Martin Dressler at the turn of the century

a great story of American Enterprise

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A delightful read but maybe a jot too fanciful in the tertiary stage for complete satisfaction

A cautionary tale of a dreamer

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I liked this book a lot for most of it, but at the end it got kind of weird and kind of boring and then just ended abruptly.

mostly good but the ending was disappointing

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The book starts out, enjoyably and follows a young man through his ambitious career. The ending is a fantastical, unrealistic, fantasy dream world. Didn’t understand it, didn’t like it, and didn’t think it related to the rest of the book.

Starts out good but…..

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We all day dream at times but the main character in this book seems to live in one. The descriptions of his world bring you into that world.

Descriptions are dream like

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This sad tale of Martin Dressler is told through an imagined weird development of Manhattan during the late 1800s & early 1900s. Guidehall’s narration added to the enjoyment of the book.

Weird, interesting, sad

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It's shocking when a book like this wins awards. Not even George Guidall could save me from the boredom.

Pulitzer Strikes Out Again

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this was so dull. I don't understand how/why this won any award. Don't waste your time listening to this book unless you need to fall asleep

boring!

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