Saigon Kids
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Narrated by:
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Patrick Lawlor
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By:
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Les Arbuckle
About this listen
Looking for unusual coming-of-age books? The events leading up to the Vietnam War provide a fascinating backdrop for this coming-of-age tale with a twist.
In May 1962, Naval Chief Petty Officer Bryant Arbuckle flew to Saigon to establish a new armed forces radio station. Next to follow were his wife and three boys, Leslie among them. Saigon Kids is the candid, recondite slice of 14-year-old military brat Les Arbuckle's experience at the American Community School during the critical months of the Vietnam War when events would, quite literally, ignite in downtown Saigon.
In 1963, Saigon was beautiful, violent, and dirty - and the most exciting place a 14-year-old American boy could live. Saigon offered a rich array of activities, and much to the consternation of their parents and teachers, Les and his fellow military brats explored the dangers with reckless abandon - running from machine gun fire, watching a Buddhist monk burn to death, visiting brothels late at night, trading currency on the black market.
When Les first arrives in Vietnam, he is a stranger in a strange land, expecting boredom in a country he doesn't know. But the American social scene is more vibrant than he expected. The American Community School is a mix of kids from all over the globe who arrived just as the fuse on Saigon was about to ignite. As the students continue their American lifestyle behind barbed wire, Saigon unravels in chaos and destruction. Despite this ugliness - an ever-present feature of everyday life - Les tells his story of teenage angst with humor and precocity.
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Story
Born into the beautiful bedlam of downtown New York in the eighties, iO Tillett Wright came of age at the intersection of punk, poverty, heroin, and art. This was a world of self-invented characters, glamorous superstars, and strung-out sufferers, ground zero of drag and performance art. Still, no personality was more vibrant and formidable than iO's mother's. Rhonna, a showgirl and young widow, was a mercurial, erratic glamazon. She was iO's fiercest defender and only authority in a world with few boundaries and even fewer indicators of normal life.
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Can’t wait for more from this Author!
- By Team Hobson on 07-24-19
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Point B
- A Teleportation Love Story
- By: Drew Magary
- Narrated by: Rebecca Soler
- Length: 15 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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When the corporate monolith PortSys brought porting to the masses, CEO Emilia Kirsch and her son, Jason, accomplished what every other start-up company had failed to deliver. They really did change the world. They reversed climate change. They created a multitrillion-dollar industry out of thin air, curing economic woes across the globe. They made it so that anyone could be anywhere simply by touching a screen...including the man who murdered Sarah Huff. Now, Sarah’s 17-year-old sister, Anna, is determined to hunt the bastard down. But there are a few problems.
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Sherry Potter’s only got one spell: portkey
- By aaron gilbert on 11-02-20
By: Drew Magary
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When a Stranger Comes to Town
- By: Michael Koryta
- Narrated by: Cindy Kay, Janina Edwards, Fajer Al-Kaisi, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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It's been said that all great literature boils down to one of two stories—a man takes a journey, or a stranger comes to town. While mystery writers have been successfully using both approaches for generations, there's something undeniably alluring in the nature of a stranger: the uninvited guest, the unacquainted neighbor, the fish out of water. In the newest collection of stories by the Mystery Writers of America, each author weaves a fresh tale surrounding the eerie feeling that comes when a stranger enters our midst, featuring stories by prolific mystery writers.
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The narrators are outstanding here.
- By Jennifer Baratta She/Her on 05-16-21
By: Michael Koryta
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We Begin at the End
- By: Chris Whitaker
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 10 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
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Duchess Day Radley is a 13-year-old self-proclaimed outlaw. Rules are for other people. She is the fierce protector of her five-year-old brother, Robin, and the parent to her mother, Star, a single mom incapable of taking care of herself, let alone her two kids. Walk has never left the coastal California town where he and Star grew up. He may have become the chief of police, but he’s still trying to heal the old wound of having given the testimony that sent his best friend, Vincent King, to prison decades before. And he's in overdrive protecting Duchess and her brother.
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Horrible narrator in this audible book
- By M. patton on 03-03-21
By: Chris Whitaker
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Tristan
- By: Cora Brent
- Narrated by: Rachel Butera, Ryan Vincent Anderson
- Length: 7 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Tristan Mulligan knows how to get under my skin. He says this is his town and that I don’t belong. He says I’ll get eaten alive here. He’s arrogant and condescending and insanely sexy. He’s also a criminal. I knew better than to start something with him. I did it anyway. Tristan might shatter my heart. He might destroy my future. And there's something dangerously explosive about the way we are together. You can warn me about him all you want.
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very good
- By Kindle Customer on 10-24-22
By: Cora Brent
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Saguaro
- By: Carson Mell
- Narrated by: Carson Mell
- Length: 3 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Saguaro chronicles the life of rock legend Bobby Bird as he finds himself rolled up in barbiturates, at sea with satanic cults, finding true love, selling out, and coming back. Bird may be many things - a legend in pink cotton, a living history in tattoos, the very embodiment of rock and roll - but he isn’t a bad man. At least not all the time. He made his name as a crooner, revered as a singer with soul, a soul he quickly sold without ever considering the implications.
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Animal Cruelty Warning
- By AJLecter on 02-06-23
By: Carson Mell
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Preparation for the Next Life
- By: Atticus Lish
- Narrated by: Robertson Dean
- Length: 15 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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Zou Lei, orphan of the desert, migrates to work in America and finds herself slaving in New York's kitchens. She falls in love with a young man whose heart has been broken in another desert. A new life may be possible if together they can survive homelessness, lockup, and the young man's nightmares, which may be more prophecy than madness.
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Incredible craftsmanship.
- By B.J. on 04-23-15
By: Atticus Lish
What listeners say about Saigon Kids
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- LEE
- 09-07-20
Remembrances of Saigon
I thought this would be an interesting book, and it turned out to be so much more. 'Vietnam War' means something a bit different to me now after this perspective from a 13 year old boy who spent 18 formative months in Saigon, a very interesting city. Also, the narration performance was outstanding - am a fan of Patrick Lawlor.
Saigon was full of corruption and violent overthrows when Les Arbuckle was there, but it was also exciting and loaded with expat teenage camaraderie. I found myself wondering how people survive anywhere else after having so much fun and adventure, and yet they all moved on and formed their own little version of diaspora.
My impression is Les didn't pay any attention to his studies there and that was probably wise. Few places in time can offer such a show. I'd like a far more detailed version of the aftermath than what was provided in the book, not only about how the author's life was influenced but also about what became of his friends and associates there.
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- Eric Keever
- 04-04-23
this book was great
it was a great story a peek into life during that time period and Vietnam
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- Stephen McGrath
- 07-15-24
Nostalgic story tainted by horrible pronunciation.
Even though my own childhood was spent in rural Australia, I've lived my last 16 years (and will continue for rest of my life, I hope) in Saigon. Despite those generation and historical differences, Les still managed to awaken in me a sense of wonder and nostalgia for my early years here. This is an important feeling that I must maintain in every waking hour, as it can't be replaced or relived, once lost.
The only real problem I have with this audiobook is one that rears its ugly head in almost EVERY book about Vietnam that makes its way onto an audio platform. Can you guess? Yes, it's the pronunciation of Vietnamese places, streets, food and people. I simply can't understand why Audible persists in contracting narrators without a Vietnamese upbringing, near-native language skills or a relevant linguistic degree. It's a shoddy and unprofessional practice that their management team ought to be ashamed of, particularly while accepting money from customers who are forced to sit through such lazy, disrespectful production.
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- AlohaDesert
- 01-26-23
Story of an Obnoxious Kid
The pluses of the story is an inside view of pre-wartime Saigon by an outsider. The downside is that it was a story lived by the child you would never want, and of a person we never would want to be. The author never made an attempt to make a native friend or really get to know the real Vietnam culture or language. If he did, it wasn't something he appreciated because it was never told in the story. When the story was over there wasn't much to admire of the main characters, and I wasn't surprised that nothing much came of them.
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- Ken Bachman
- 04-16-23
Adolescent bravado
Interesting, but very focused on adolescent shenanigans if you like that sort of thing
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