The Beginner's Goodbye
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Narrated by:
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Kirby Heyborne
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By:
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Anne Tyler
About this listen
Anne Tyler gives us a wise, haunting, and deeply moving new novel in which she explores how a middle-aged man, torn apart by the death of his wife, is gradually restored by her frequent appearances: in their house, on the roadway, in the market.
Crippled in his right arm and leg, Aaron spent his childhood fending off a sister who wants to manage him. So when he meets Dorothy, a plain, outspoken, self-dependent young woman, she is like a breath of fresh air. Unhesitatingly he marries her, and they have a relatively happy, unremarkable marriage. But when a tree crashes into their house and Dorothy is killed, Aaron feels as though he has been erased forever. Only Dorothy's unexpected appearances from the dead help him to live in the moment and to find some peace.
Gradually he discovers, as he works in the family's vanity-publishing business, turning out titles that presume to guide beginners through the trials of life, that maybe for this beginner there is a way of saying goodbye.
A beautiful, subtle exploration of loss and recovery, pierced throughout with Anne Tyler's humor, wisdom, and always-penetrating look at human foibles.
©2012 Random House Audio (P)2012 Anne TylerListeners also enjoyed...
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In the wake of his wife's murder, agent Grady Shields turned his back on the FBI - and everything else-to retreat into the vast solitude of Montana, grieve for his lost love, and forget the world. But after years in seclusion, his sister's wedding draws him to St. Dennis, a peaceful town on the Chesapeake Bay. Though he swears he isn't interested in finding love again, Grady can't ignore the mutual sparks that fly when he meets Vanessa Keaton.
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Graet New Series from Audible
- By casey on 08-25-12
By: Mariah Stewart
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The Story of Arthur Truluv
- A Novel
- By: Elizabeth Berg
- Narrated by: Elizabeth Berg
- Length: 6 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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Three people find their way back from loss and loneliness to a different kind of belonging in this deeply moving novel. Arthur, an old widower struggling to overcome his grief, meets Maddy, a troubled teenage girl who avoids school by hiding out where Arthur goes every day for lunch. The two strike up a friendship that draws them out of isolation.
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Sickly Sweet
- By Amazon Customer on 01-19-18
By: Elizabeth Berg
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Language Arts
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- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 12 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Charles Marlow is a Seattle English teacher who instructs his students to expand their worlds through language. Lately, however, with one child off to college and the pressure from his ex-wife to make plans for their severely autistic son who's about to age out of the system, he prefers the company of the ghosts he turns up in the storage boxes in his crawl space.
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The beauty of the broken
- By SJ Evans on 04-27-18
By: Stephanie Kallos
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Far From the Tree
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Celeste English and Ronnie Frazier are sisters, but they couldn't be more different. Celeste is a doctor's wife, living a perfect and elegant façade. But secretly, her marriage is falling apart and her need to control people around her threatens to destroy them all. Ronnie is an actress, living in New York. But she has no money, she has no home, and her life is held together by "chewing gum, paper clips, and spit." When their father dies, the sisters inherit a house in Prosper, North Carolina.
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My Favorite Book So Far, by Far!
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By: Virginia DeBerry, and others
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To See the Moon Again
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The first step to letting go of the past is forgiving it …Every day of her life Julia Rich lives with the memory of a horrible accident she caused long ago. In the years since, she has tried to hide her guilt in the quiet routine of teaching at a small South Carolina college, avoiding close relationships with family and would-be friends. But one day a phone call from Carmen, a niece she has never met, disrupts her carefully controlled world.
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Beautiful Story of Forgiveness and Selfless Love
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Blue Blood
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To the dismay of her high-society mother, Cissy, Dallas heiress Andy Kendricks wants no part of the Junior League life - opting instead for a job as a website designer and a passel of unpedigreed pals. Now her good friend, Molly O'Brien, is in bad trouble, accused of killing her boss at the local restaurant Jugs. Though no proper deb would ever set foot in such a sleazy dive, Andy's soon slipping into skintight hot pants and a stuffed triple D bra to gain employment there and somehow help clear Molly's name.
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Cheesy
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By: Susan McBride
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The UnAmericans
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- By: Molly Antopol
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Again and again, Molly Antopol’s deeply sympathetic characters struggle for footing in an uncertain world, hounded by forces beyond their control. Their voices are intimate and powerful and they resonate with searing beauty. Antopol is a superb young talent, and The UnAmericans will long be remembered for its wit, humanity, and heart.
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Sensational stories! Brilliant new author.
- By MidwestGeek on 05-04-14
By: Molly Antopol
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The Portable Veblen
- By: Elizabeth Mckenzie
- Narrated by: Julia Gibson
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An exuberant, one-of-a-kind novel about love and family, war and nature, new money and old values by a brilliant New Yorker contributor. The Portable Veblen is a dazzlingly original novel that's as big-hearted as it is laugh-out-loud funny. Set in and around Palo Alto amid the culture clash of new money and old (antiestablishment) values, and with the specter of our current wars looming across its words, The Portable Veblen is an unforgettable look at the way we live now.
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Not what it was cracked up to be
- By Linda on 02-03-16
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Breakwater Bay
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Preservationist Meri Hollis loves her latest project, restoring one of Newport's forgotten Gilded Age mansions. And with summer approaching, she'll be able to spend more time with her Gran on the Rhode Island shore. She has a great job, a loving family and she's pretty sure her boyfriend is going to propose on her thirtieth birthday. But everything Meri believes about family, happiness, truth, and love is shattered when her family's darkest secret is exposed.
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Wasted Potential
- By Rusty on 03-15-15
By: Shelley Noble
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An Available Man
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Overall
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Performance
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When Edward Schuyler - a modest and bookish 62-year-old science teacher - is widowed, he finds himself ambushed by female attention. There are plenty of unattached women around, but a healthy, handsome, available man is a rare and desirable creature. Edward receives phone calls from widows seeking love, or at least lunch, while well-meaning friends try to set him up at dinner parties. The problem is that Edward doesn’t feel available. He’s still mourning his beloved wife, Bee, and prefers solitude and the familiar routine of work, gardening, and bird-watching.
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Lovely book, easy read, wonderful characters
- By Molly-o on 02-17-12
By: Hilma Wolitzer
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Terrific book, outstanding narration.
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Interesting Story!
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What listeners say about The Beginner's Goodbye
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Bette
- 01-18-13
Anne Tyler at Her Same
I'll be the first to say that Anne Tyler is one of America's finest contemporary novelists, but I couldn't help feeling a lot of been-there-read-that while listening to 'The Beginner's Goodbye'.
While Tyler's honed storytelling style and Heyborn's fine narrative got me through the book, I was bored by a too familiar cast of characters involved in yet another long, slow slide toward healing.
(huh: maybe I'm getting jaded in my old age....)
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3 people found this helpful
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- readqueen
- 05-28-12
Another Anne Tyler Success
I am a huge fan of all books written by Anne Tyler, but this is the first one I've listened to versus read. While the experience is equally enjoyable in both modes, I think the nature of her stories are excellent ones to listen to. Yes, as critics have mentioned, her characters are always not quite what is considered 'normal', but they are not evil or mean spirited. And the characters in this novel are no exception. While this story may not have the depth in the plot line found in her earlier work, it fully holds the reader's/listener's attention. The narrator performed excellently, allowing me to picture each character as the story unfolded. I know I've really enjoyed listening to a book when I turn on my car and am sorry to discover I'm on to another book. I really liked 'The Beginner's Goodbye' and regret having finished it so quickly.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 04-12-12
Dealing with Loss can be Painful but Enlightening
Would you consider the audio edition of The Beginner's Goodbye to be better than the print version?
I did not read the print version (this is the only Anne Tyler book I have listened to in audio) but as a devoted fan of Ms. Tyler's writing, believe that either version could deliver the emotional effect commonly found in Ms. Tyler's books.
Who was your favorite character and why?
The protagonist Aaron Woolcott. The true sorrow and love he describes when speaking of his wife, in spite of all the imperfections in their relationship-and themselves-was beautiful and heart wrenching.
What does Kirby Heyborne bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?
I loved the narration. Mr. Heyborne's reading brought me to tears.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Bonny
- 04-11-12
Typical Tyler, but not her best
The Beginner's Goodbye is a completely enjoyable, typical Tyler book. Aaron, the reserved, reclusive main character, loses his wife Dorothy in a freak accident when a tree crashes through their roof. The story unfolds when Aaron deals with his grief surrounded by slightly quirky family, co-workers, and neighbors. Dorothy appears to Aaron after her death, which begins to help him recover from his understandably crushing grief and loss. In one of the sadder aspects of the story, Aaron doesn't really seem to know and understand Dorothy well until after her death. The Hallmark ending was far too pat and predictable.
While this was a very pleasant read, it doesn't hold a candle to some of Tyler's best, like Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant and Breathing Lessons
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2 people found this helpful
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- Sandra
- 07-17-12
Anne Tyler is my favorite author, this is her best
Would you consider the audio edition of The Beginner's Goodbye to be better than the print version?
The narrator gave so much to the character and this performance was excellent
What did you like best about this story?
The strange characters
What about Kirby Heyborne’s performance did you like?
He made the book seem real
Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?
When the tree fell
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- Larry
- 03-19-13
Not Anne Tyler's best work
What did you love best about The Beginner's Goodbye?
The author did a good job of describing grief after losing a loved one.
Have you listened to any of Kirby Heyborne’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
Yes - Gone Girl. Performance was about the same, but better story.
If you could take any character from The Beginner's Goodbye out to dinner, who would it be and why?
I would pick the contractor. He seemed the best adjusted.
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- Mark
- 03-12-13
a short, pleasant novel
This novel is what I expect of Anne Tyler - quirky but very believable characters that I care about. The gimmick is that a widower in his mid-30's starts to see his recently deceased wife at various times. Most of this novel, though, is a series of flashbacks about the narrator Aaron's relationship with his wife Dorothy. I was drawn into the world of the main and secondary characters, through Aaron's early relationship, marriage, and then his grief after the freak accidental death of his wife. The least engaging part of the novel was Aaron's encounter with his dead wife. I liked this novel quite a bit in spite of the ghost theme. The reader is not easy to listen to, but the narrator is not the most likable, and so I suppose the voice does match the character. I did get used to hearing him.
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- KP
- 12-02-12
Sweet book but disappointing
What a sweet little book! Anne Tyler is certainly good at describing the small details of life and relationships. I found myself nodding and agreeing with so many of her observations about some of the smallest but telling details about life. However, overall these telling moments didn't really add up to much of a plot or make me particularly fond of the characters.
By the end, or the last 1/4 I'd say, I did feel a connection with Aaron and felt happy that he seemed to learn, in the end, that the most important thing about a relationship, with all of its human flaws and problems, is that both people need to appreciate each other while they still have the chance. The author has a minor character, Luke, state this theme overtly at the very end:
"My friend Luke told me once that he’d been considering my question about whether the dead ever visit. It was true that I had asked him, back around the time I asked Nate, but this was weeks and weeks later. Apparently he had been deliberating the issue ever since. “I’ve decided,” he said, “that they don’t visit. But I think if you knew them well enough, if you’d listened to them closely enough while they were still alive, you might be able to imagine what they would tell you even now. So the smart thing to do is, pay attention while they’re living. But that’s only my opinion.”
It is so simple and tried and true, and I WILL say that this book DOES do a good job of SHOWING that lesson. It just that it's a bit of a bore, with insightful moments breaking it up, along the way. Then, in the end, it packs a powerful, emotional lesson. I hope it sticks with me.
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- Debra Garfinkle
- 03-18-13
Anne Tyler Is Consistently Terrific
I have read all of Anne Tyler's books. She's one of my favorite authors. This book is terrific like her others. The protagonist is a stubborn young widower who walks with a cane and has trouble overcoming his grief. He is fully fleshed out, and surrounded by fun, quirky friends, coworkers, and relatives. If you like smart, character-driven novels with humor and poignancy, you can't do much better than an Anne Tyler novel such as this one.
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- Angela Rhodes
- 12-02-12
Unravel the complicated knot!
Sometimes when two people tie the knot, they overdo it and the knot gets awfully complicated. Then a freak accident occurs, and one person is left behind to unravel the mess they made together. So it goes for Aaron and Dorothy, a couple whose marriage was built on misconceptions. Despite these misconceptions, they manage to piece together a life slathered with the glue of commitment and love. Lucky couples get a whole lifetime to fix what is wrong in their marriage. But when a tree falls onto their house and Dorothy is abruptly killed, Aaron is left to sort out the reality of what they had.
Anne Tyler has a written a beautiful book about a broken marriage. The language is simple and clean. In scenes with dialogue between Aaron and Dorothy, Tyler captures the reality of marital angst and, if we’re honest, even reminds us of our own marriages. Along with this reminder comes a poignant question: if your marriage ended tomorrow, would you be comfortable with where it stands? If the answer is “no,” Tyler quietly urges us to do the work now to fix it, before it’s too late.
Narrator Kirby Heyborne breathes life into Tyler’s narrative. He allows us to feel all the tension and bliss that married life can bring. At times the narration feels dated, thus surprising the reader when modern conveniences like the Apple store are mentioned. I’m not sure if this is a result of Heyborne’s narration or Tyler’s writing. Luckily, it is only a slight distraction from an otherwise flawless performance.
If you are married now, or once were, or ever hope to be, you must read The Beginner’s Goodbye. This intimate portrayal of one couple will give you perspective on what is really important in life.
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