-
Playworld
- A Novel
- Narrated by: Adam Ross
- Length: 15 hrs
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Playworld
Pre-order for $22.75
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Publisher's summary
A big and big-hearted novel—one enthralling, transformative year in the life of a child actor coming of age in a bygone Manhattan, from the critically acclaimed author of Mr. Peanut (“A brilliant, powerful, and memorable book” —The New York Times)
“In the fall of 1980, when I was fourteen, a friend of my parents named Naomi Shah fell in love with me. She was thirty-six, a mother of two, and married to a wealthy man. Like so many things that happened to me that year, it didn’t seem strange at the time.”
Griffin Hurt is in over his head. Between his role as Peter Proton on the hit TV show The Nuclear Family and the pressure of high school at New York's elite Boyd Prep—along with the increasingly compromising demands of his wrestling coach—he's teetering on the edge of collapse.
Then comes Naomi Shah, twenty-two years Griffin’s senior. Unwilling to lay his burdens on his shrink—whom he shares with his father, mother, and younger brother, Oren—Griffin soon finds himself in the back of Naomi’s Mercedes sedan, again and again, confessing all to the one person who might do him the most harm.
Less a bildungsroman than a story of miseducation, Playworld is a novel of epic proportions, bursting with laughter and heartache. Adam Ross immerses us in the life of Griffin and his loving (yet disintegrating) family while seeming to evoke the entirety of Manhattan and the ethos of an era—with Jimmy Carter on his way out and a B-list celebrity named Ronald Reagan on his way in. Surrounded by adults who embody the age’s excesses—and who seem to care little about what their children are up to—Griffin is left to himself to find the line between youth and maturity, dependence and love, acting and truly grappling with life.
Critic reviews
"A modern masterpiece, sharp and breathtaking and wise. Griffin, the young man at the center of this vivid bildungsroman, is someone you’d follow forward and backward and anywhere—across the sweaty mats of the high schoolwrestling team into a steamed-up car for a wildly sexy and heartbreakinglyhuman relationship with an older, married woman, and then into the glittering world of child acting. Remarkable." —Lisa Taddeo, author of Three Women
"It's difficult to overpraise Playworld’s tragicomic scope, dazzling ambition,categorical brilliance. Ross writes so close to the bone that I winced while reading. And while young Griffin is brutalized and betrayed by the adults putting him through his sentimental education, Playworld is never hopeless. It instead reinforces our faith in art, that it can make and save a life. I have not read a book this weighty and soulful since I put it down, and I doubt I will again." —Stephanie Danler, author of Sweetbitter
Related to this topic
-
Verity
- By: Colleen Hoover
- Narrated by: Vanessa Johansson, Amy Landon
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 124,768
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 110,012
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 109,878
Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of best-selling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish. Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity's notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn't expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
intriguing but skip if triggered by child abuse
- By Amazon Customer on 05-16-19
By: Colleen Hoover
-
The Glitch
- By: Leeanne Slade
- Narrated by: Sam Claflin, Daisy Edgar Jones
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,427
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 3,378
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,378
Five Years Earlier: Henry Dunne knows three things: that agreeing to host this raucous house party was a terrible idea, that he absolutely cannot show up to his nursing shift tomorrow with a hangover, and that the beautiful redhead in the corner will be sleeping in his bed tonight.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A Love Story. A Predictable One.
- By AS on 09-13-24
By: Leeanne Slade
-
Den of Vipers
- By: K.A. Knight
- Narrated by: Cornell Collins, Hollie Jackson
- Length: 19 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 6,036
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 5,538
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 5,531
Ryder, Garrett, Kenzo, and Diesel - The Vipers. Their deals are as sordid as their business, and their reputation is enough to bring a grown man to his knees, forcing him to beg for mercy. They are not people you mess with, yet my dad did. The old man ran up a debt with them and then sold me to cover his losses. Yes, sold me. They own me now. I’m theirs in every sense of the word. But I’ve never been meek and compliant.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Shrek
- By Shemika Holmes on 02-25-21
By: K.A. Knight
-
Drop Dead
- By: Lily Chu
- Narrated by: Phillipa Soo, John Cho
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,704
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,619
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,619
Obituary writer Nadine Barbault doesn’t mind being called “Lady Death”. It suits the ice queen persona she’s cultivated to survive the fast-paced Toronto Herald. So when Nadine learns that famous (and reclusive) author Dot Voline has died, she doesn’t hesitate to run the obituary…only to discover that Dot is very much alive. Nadine’s screw-up has brought Wesley Chen of the rival Spear no end of joy—she’s been a thorn in his extremely ambitious side for years. But the renewed interest in Dot also surfaced chatter about a mysterious past scandal.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Clean and sweet
- By Momma Nae on 08-02-24
By: Lily Chu
-
As Luck Would Have It
- By: Sonya Lalli
- Narrated by: Amrit Kaur
- Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 428
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 419
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 419
Hockey coach Ashley Jaswal doesn't take nonsense from anyone … except her overbearing and superstitious family. They believe she's a good luck charm for her brother Jas, the newest Vancouver Canucks draft pick, forcing Ash to attend all his games as he rises up the NHL ranks, sacrificing her personal life (not that she has one—who decided hockey season needed to be 10 months long anyway?). Ash also clashes with Jas’s teammate, Canucks captain Devin Snyder.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Felt more like a young adult book
- By Taa Palmer on 10-22-24
By: Sonya Lalli
-
Nocticadia
- By: Keri Lake
- Narrated by: Aaron Shedlock, Stella Hunter
- Length: 18 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,092
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,056
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,056
After watching my mother succumb to a mysterious illness, I promised myself two things. I'd find the cure for what ravaged her and leave the godforsaken city where she abandoned me. Four years later, I received an acceptance letter from Dracadia University, one of the oldest most prestigious schools in the country. Nestled on a secluded island off the coast of Maine, it's rumored to be haunted by the souls of the mental patients exiled there centuries before, those whose bones are said to make up the island's white sandy shores. And restless ghosts aren't even its most daunting peculiarity.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Good but a slight miss
- By Destinyreadsbooks on 01-17-24
By: Keri Lake
-
Verity
- By: Colleen Hoover
- Narrated by: Vanessa Johansson, Amy Landon
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 124,768
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 110,012
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 109,878
Lowen Ashleigh is a struggling writer on the brink of financial ruin when she accepts the job offer of a lifetime. Jeremy Crawford, husband of best-selling author Verity Crawford, has hired Lowen to complete the remaining books in a successful series his injured wife is unable to finish. Lowen arrives at the Crawford home, ready to sort through years of Verity's notes and outlines, hoping to find enough material to get her started. What Lowen doesn't expect to uncover in the chaotic office is an unfinished autobiography Verity never intended for anyone to read.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
intriguing but skip if triggered by child abuse
- By Amazon Customer on 05-16-19
By: Colleen Hoover
-
The Glitch
- By: Leeanne Slade
- Narrated by: Sam Claflin, Daisy Edgar Jones
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,427
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 3,378
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,378
Five Years Earlier: Henry Dunne knows three things: that agreeing to host this raucous house party was a terrible idea, that he absolutely cannot show up to his nursing shift tomorrow with a hangover, and that the beautiful redhead in the corner will be sleeping in his bed tonight.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A Love Story. A Predictable One.
- By AS on 09-13-24
By: Leeanne Slade
-
Den of Vipers
- By: K.A. Knight
- Narrated by: Cornell Collins, Hollie Jackson
- Length: 19 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 6,036
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 5,538
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 5,531
Ryder, Garrett, Kenzo, and Diesel - The Vipers. Their deals are as sordid as their business, and their reputation is enough to bring a grown man to his knees, forcing him to beg for mercy. They are not people you mess with, yet my dad did. The old man ran up a debt with them and then sold me to cover his losses. Yes, sold me. They own me now. I’m theirs in every sense of the word. But I’ve never been meek and compliant.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Shrek
- By Shemika Holmes on 02-25-21
By: K.A. Knight
-
Drop Dead
- By: Lily Chu
- Narrated by: Phillipa Soo, John Cho
- Length: 11 hrs and 25 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,704
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,619
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,619
Obituary writer Nadine Barbault doesn’t mind being called “Lady Death”. It suits the ice queen persona she’s cultivated to survive the fast-paced Toronto Herald. So when Nadine learns that famous (and reclusive) author Dot Voline has died, she doesn’t hesitate to run the obituary…only to discover that Dot is very much alive. Nadine’s screw-up has brought Wesley Chen of the rival Spear no end of joy—she’s been a thorn in his extremely ambitious side for years. But the renewed interest in Dot also surfaced chatter about a mysterious past scandal.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Clean and sweet
- By Momma Nae on 08-02-24
By: Lily Chu
-
As Luck Would Have It
- By: Sonya Lalli
- Narrated by: Amrit Kaur
- Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 428
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 419
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 419
Hockey coach Ashley Jaswal doesn't take nonsense from anyone … except her overbearing and superstitious family. They believe she's a good luck charm for her brother Jas, the newest Vancouver Canucks draft pick, forcing Ash to attend all his games as he rises up the NHL ranks, sacrificing her personal life (not that she has one—who decided hockey season needed to be 10 months long anyway?). Ash also clashes with Jas’s teammate, Canucks captain Devin Snyder.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Felt more like a young adult book
- By Taa Palmer on 10-22-24
By: Sonya Lalli
-
Nocticadia
- By: Keri Lake
- Narrated by: Aaron Shedlock, Stella Hunter
- Length: 18 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,092
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,056
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,056
After watching my mother succumb to a mysterious illness, I promised myself two things. I'd find the cure for what ravaged her and leave the godforsaken city where she abandoned me. Four years later, I received an acceptance letter from Dracadia University, one of the oldest most prestigious schools in the country. Nestled on a secluded island off the coast of Maine, it's rumored to be haunted by the souls of the mental patients exiled there centuries before, those whose bones are said to make up the island's white sandy shores. And restless ghosts aren't even its most daunting peculiarity.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Good but a slight miss
- By Destinyreadsbooks on 01-17-24
By: Keri Lake