The Ballad of the Sad Café Audiobook By Carson McCullers cover art

The Ballad of the Sad Café

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The Ballad of the Sad Café

By: Carson McCullers
Narrated by: David Ledoux, Joe Barrett, Therese Plummer, Kevin Pariseau, Suzanne Toren, Edoardo Ballerini, Barbara Rosenblat
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Audie Award Finalist, Short Stories/Collections, 2014

A classic work that has charmed generations of readers, this collection assembles Carson McCullers' best stories, including her beloved novella The Ballad of the Sad Cafe. A haunting tale of a human triangle that culminates in an astonishing brawl, the novella introduces readers to Miss Amelia, a formidable southern woman whose cafe serves as the town's gathering place. Among other fine works, the collection also includes "Wunderkind", McCullers' first published story, written when she was only 17, about a musical prodigy who suddenly realizes she will not go on to become a great pianist.

©1951 Carson McCullers, copyright renewed 1979 Floria V. Lasky (P)2012 Audible, Inc. Anthologies Anthologies & Short Stories Classics Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Short Stories Funny Witty

Critic reviews

"The readings are uniformly fine, with appropriate regional accents that are more hinted at than broad. These subtle stories would be easy to overplay, but they get the delicate touch they require. Don't expect complete resolutions and happy endings, but do expect to hear from one of our finest storytellers through the voices of these top narrators." (AudioFile)
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Disjointed content. Hard to put it together as a continuous storyline. Connecting narrative missing for me.

See below. Unusual story contrnt & what are the connections? Hard to follow.

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The characters are created with such depth. After all these years, they still ring true

Carson McCullers at her best

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A beautifully narrated collection of literary short stories. Listen to them for the precise, evocative prose. These are character studies, not plot driven narratives. All of the readers are superior !

Literate short stories

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I'm torn on my feelings about this one. I loved the first story, but the rest did very little for me. The first story, while tragic, was relatable, entertaining. and flowed well; the others were simply bleak and quite flat. The first had a wonderful sense of lyricism, while the other stories simply over used the word "fugue". If there was a musical metaphor to be dragged throughout the stories it was lost on me.

A moment of greatness and then . . . Blah!

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an interesting group of short stories with color and character.
they are not all perfect but enjoyable

Charming

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A group of stories. Some catch you unaware with abrupt endings. Enjoyed but, left me thinking about what was being presented, Was there a message here? It held me to the end., but left me in the air, feeling unfinished.

Unrest, a thinker.

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The characters were complex and unknowable. The stories were of unrequited or disappointing love and separation. This was overall a collection of very melancholy stories.

Disappointed

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