
The Feral Detective
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Zosia Mamet
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By:
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Jonathan Lethem
About this listen
Jonathan Lethem’s first detective novel since Motherless Brooklyn.
“One of America’s greatest storytellers.” (Washington Post)
Phoebe Siegler first meets Charles Heist in a shabby trailer on the eastern edge of Los Angeles. She’s looking for her friend’s missing daughter, Arabella, and hires Heist to help. A laconic loner who keeps his pet opossum in a desk drawer, Heist intrigues the sarcastic and garrulous Phoebe. Reluctantly, he agrees to help. The unlikely pair navigates the enclaves of desert-dwelling vagabonds and finds Arabella is in serious trouble - caught in the middle of a violent standoff that only Heist, mysteriously, can end.
Phoebe’s trip to the desert was always going to be strange, but it was never supposed to be dangerous....
Jonathan Lethem’s first detective novel since Motherless Brooklyn, The Feral Detective is a singular achievement by one of our greatest writers.
Bonus: Stay tuned after the end of the audiobook to hear an exclusive conversation between Zosia Mamet and Jonathan Lethem.
©2018 Jonathan Lethem (P)2018 HarperCollins PublishersListeners also enjoyed...
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This was the worst narration I have ever heard!
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the writing is good
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Phenomenal
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This is a comic detective story, and pretty whacky, in a playful, amusing way. But the weird turns in the story line make it all the harder to follow the action and details when the reader isn't always annunciating clearly. I gave up on listening and wound up reading the last half of the book.
As for the story itself, I'm glad I finished. The comic ride had its moments. But overall, I learned the genre of comic detective stories isn't going to become one of my favorites.
Amusing story but a flawed reading
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Horrible narrator
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great velocity
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The Feral Detective must battle the king of the Bear Clan, in a torchlit fight to the death to win back the lost / escaped young girl for whom Phoebe is searching. Other entanglements follow as the story works its adventurous way through the Bear Clan, the Rabbit Clan and remote and isolated Monster truck rallies to conclude their story
I thought the narration was great, bringing life, attitude and personality to our storyteller -- Phoebe.
Great story and great narration.
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The choice to go with a popular actress instead of a professional narrator made me angry. Here's why: Most book narrators I've experienced are male, regardless of the gender of the primary characters or dialog speakers. Using an actress with limited vocal skills as a narrator means that she will get worse reviews than a professional narrator and the gender inequality in audio book narration will be reinforced, as publishers will likely look at these negative ratings on performance and at least partially attribute it to the narrator's gender. I think Zosia Mamet not only took away an opportunity for a professional female narrator but also made it less likely there will be more opportunities for female narrators in the future.
Fortunately, I was able to make listening bearable by increasing the reading speed to 1.5x. It got rid of a lot of the drag in her speech and raised her pitch to where it probably should have been in the first place. It helped a lot with the grinding noise of her vocal fry. After that I found the book unusual and thought provoking and I was glad I found a way to stick with it. The author had many intriguing insights and the writing was sophisticated and professional. I think it's a shame that success and popularity of this well-written book, and the reader's enjoyment of it will suffer from the terrible choice of narrator. The author deserved better.
Good story, bad narrator
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Mamet is not the best narrator, but she's the best narrator for this book.....if that makes any sense. Once I got used to her style, I loved her performance. Don't give up too soon. This is a great audiobook and worth the investment. There is also an interview between Lethem and Mamet after the story ends, which may interest some listeners.
Overall rating: 4.81
4.81 stars.....fantastic
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GABRA ZACKMAN
ANGELA DAWE
MORGAN HALLETT
NICOLE ROBERTS
EMILY JANICE CARD
etc
Great Writing, BUT Wrong Narrator!
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Stellar reputation
Disappointed
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