The Final Confession of Mabel Stark
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Narrated by:
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Betty Bobbitt
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By:
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Robert Hough
About this listen
This vibrant and moving fictional autobiography begins in 1968. Mabel is turning 80 and is about to lose her job. Faced with the loss of her beloved cats, she looks back on her life, her escapades and tragedies, her love affairs with tigers and men. She confronts her darkest secrets, her guilt at committing "the worst thing one person can do to another". Now, with the end of life in sight, there is one thing above all else she needs to do. Mabel wants to confess.
Exuberant and inventive, The Final Confession of Mabel Stark transports its readers to the carnival world of the Big Top to an age before cinema and television, when circus performers were superstars.
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Editorial reviews
Within seconds, listeners will realize there’s no one more fit to perform this wild and magical biography than veteran narrator Bobby Bobbitt. With her slight twang and raspy authority, Bobby brings to life Robert Hough’s fantastical version of Mabel Stark’s moving story. The Final Confession of Mabel Stark is an inventive and clever combination of fact and fiction, as Hough’s Mabel looks back on her life as one of the greatest tiger trainers in history. Full of all the romance, tragedy, and conquests that is associated with the real Mabel Stark, this audiobook is an extraordinary marriage of fact and fiction that will have listeners glued to their headphones.
Critic reviews
"Robert Hough pulls together fact and fiction to unfurl a life that invites sheer, slack-jawed fascination." (Time)
"A marvelous debut narrated with delicious humour and warmth. Just about perfect. One of the most entertaining novels in many a year." (Kirkus)
"Listeners are treated to Betty Bobbitt's performance of the indomitable, unconventional Mabel Stark.... Bobbitt's raspy voice and full-throated chuckle perfectly draw Mabel's sassy attitude, complete with period diction, circus lore, and Kentucky twang." (AudioFile)
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- Unabridged
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In his first novel to follow the publication of his enormous success, The Grapes of Wrath, Steinbeck's vision comes wonderfully to life in this imaginative and unsentimental chronicle of a bus traveling California's back roads, transporting the lost and the lonely, the good and the greedy, the stupid and the scheming, the beautiful and the vicious away from their shattered dreams and, possibly, toward the promise of the future. This edition features an introduction by Gary Scharnhorst.
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Steinbeck always touches the heart, makes you feel
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By: John Steinbeck, and others
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Stories
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- Unabridged
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The best stories pull readers in and keep them turning the pages, eager to discover more—to find the answer to the question: "And then what happened?" The true hallmark of great literature is great imagination, and as Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio prove with this outstanding collection, when it comes to great fiction, all genres are equal.
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Something for Everyone
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A literary icon sometimes seen as a bridge between the Beat Generation and the hippies, Ken Kesey scored an unexpected hit with his first novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. His successful follow-up, Sometimes a Great Notion, was also transformed into a major motion picture, directed by and starring Paul Newman. Here, Oregon’s Stamper family does what it can to survive a bitter strike dividing their tiny logging community. And as tensions rise, delicate family bonds begin to fray and unravel.
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Sometimes a Great Novel Pops up out of Nowhere
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- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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Inspired by the extraordinary events of Dr. May Chinn’s life, Angel of Harlem is a deeply affecting story of love and transcendence. Weaving seamlessly scenes from the battlefields of the Civil War, during which her father escaped from slavery, to the Harlem living rooms and kitchen tables where May is sometimes forced to operate on her patients, this fascinating novel lays bare the heart of a woman who changed the face of medicine.
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Really Enjoyed!
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Wish List
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A brilliant movie career, two adoring husbands - none of it is enough to erase the memory of Ariel Hart's one true love. Back when she was plain, shy Aggie Bixby, a dark-eyed young man named Felix touched her heart...then vanished from her life. Now, she's about to do something shocking and outrageous - sell her house and leave Hollywood behind. Making her new home in the quiet town of Chula Vista, she meets Lex Sanders, a wealthy rancher and breeder of Arabian horses.
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Terrible narrater, her voice is very irratating
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- Unabridged
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Sometimes even good girls need to be a little bad.... Marla Jean Bandy might be down, but she's not out. Even though her no-good ex-husband left her for another woman - a Bookmobile -driving librarian 20 years her senior - Marla Jean won't settle for another lonely night. She's not ready for Mr. Right, but why not have a little fun with Mr. Right Now? The only wrench in her plan is her childhood crush, Jake - and the memory of the one toe-curling kiss they shared on a hot summer night years ago....
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Absolutely Awesome!!!!
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Kentucky Rich
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- Unabridged
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Josh Coleman left SunStar, the thoroughbred horse farm he'd built from nothing, unfinished when he took to his deathbed. But his family's unfinished business cannot be ignored now that his long-lost daughter has come back to settle an old score. No longer resembling the teenage waif who slipped away in the middle of the night with her illegitimate child 30 years ago, Nealy is rich, sophisticated, and renowned in the racing world-a woman to be reckoned with - and her shocking return changes everything.
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Don’t force reviews
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Brick Lane
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- Abridged
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Nanzeen's inauspicious birth in a Bangladeshi village imbues in her a sense of fatalism that she carries across continents. Married off to a man old enough to be her father, Nanzeen moves to London and cares for her family. But gradually she begins to question whether fate controls her or whether she has a hand in her own destiny. She discovers both the complexity that comes with free choice and the depth of her attachment to her husband, her daughters and her new world.
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A truly wonderful book!
- By A M on 11-24-03
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A Death in Kitchawank, and Other Stories
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- Narrated by: T. C. Boyle
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Few authors write with such sheer love of story and language as T. C. Boyle, and that is nowhere more evident than in his inventive, wickedly funny, and always entertaining short stories. Here are 14 new tales previously unpublished in book form. By turns mythic and realistic, farcical and tragic, ironic and moving, Boyle's stories have mapped a wide range of human emotions. The stories here reflect his maturing themes.
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Mixed Bag
- By AuntGert on 09-22-20
By: T. C. Boyle
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The Best Horror of the Year, Volume 4
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- Length: 16 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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With tales from Laird Barron, Stephen King, John Langan, Peter Straub, and many others, and featuring Datlow’s comprehensive overview of the year in horror, now, more than ever, The Best Horror of the Year provides the petrifying horror fiction readers have come to expect - and enjoy.
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Only a few decent stories in this bunch.
- By Jerry on 12-06-14
By: Ellen Datlow - author/editor, and others
What listeners say about The Final Confession of Mabel Stark
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Kindle Customer Mildred
- 09-12-17
Great story teller, with well developed char acters
I did not know what to expect, but it held my interest through the life of Mabel. She such violence in her early life with hospitalization where he she receives brutal treatment,but was saved by someone who loved her. True to life is those people who come into your life with kindness when you need it. At first the ending where she took her life was aa surprise, but she lived her life on her own terms. Perhaps an lol of her connection and support systems 😭
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- Casey Keller
- 08-01-06
Couldn't stop listening
What an incredible idea... to take the known events from the life of an historic figure and, through research, empathy and imagination, create a novel that reads as though it were that figure’s autobiography. This is what Robert Hough has done with great success in “The Final Confession Of Mabel Stark.”
Stark, as you may be aware, was a circus superstar back in the 1910’s and 1920’s. She was a sensation with an act in which she, a tiny blond woman, wrestled a 500 pound tiger.
Working with tigers is a hazardous undertaking. So is setting out on your life adventure as an uneducated orphan. Both left huge scars on Mabel Stark. These scars, emotional and physical, create the theme of the book. With each trauma, Mabel learned more and grew as a person – at least the fictional Mabel did – and for that reason one has to cheer for her and ultimately empathize with her final heart break.
One also has to cheer for Mr. Hough whose visual metaphors, colorful ‘Kentuckyisms’ and ear for dialog created such a compelling book. The tale is incredibly plausible and the telling so convincing that you believe it is coming from the mouth of Mabel Stark – or that Mr. Hough spent years training big cats with a tent show.
Big applause is also due to Betty Bobbit, the actress whose reading brings Mabel to life so vividly. She was entirely believable as an old woman, born in Kentucky, looking back and examining the events and the emotions of a very tough and a very remarkable life.
A warning: Some people see a colorful dust jacket and a book about the circus and assume that it’s a book for children. It’s not. This book is fairly explicit in the way it deals with sex and while that shouldn’t be a problem for most adults, I would certainly not recommend it for the nursery.
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2 people found this helpful
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- A. Urbanek
- 07-29-20
Good book for anyone interested in early circuses
Fiercely feminist historical novel. not for the faint of heart. The book includes a great deal of sex (not all of it pleasant or consensual), self harm, and early 1900s mental hospitals abusing women. Difficult subject matter but despite that the book is overall fun. Great performance by the reader..
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- sigrid
- 09-27-10
could not stop listening
I loved, loved, loved this book. I was listening to it while driving across several states, and it was painful to have to stop to eat or sleep, because that meant not knowing what happened next in the story. Will listen to it again.
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- MLH
- 01-30-13
Reader was fantastic !
If you could sum up The Final Confession of Mabel Stark in three words, what would they be?
Entertaining, Funny, Enchanting
Who was your favorite character and why?
Mable Stark, it was her biography
Which scene was your favorite?
All of it
Who was the most memorable character of The Final Confession of Mabel Stark and why?
Mable Stark
Any additional comments?
This reader was spellbinding. Could have done with out a little of the sexual content, didn't add anything to the story, but it entire book was delightful.
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- Toni Larson
- 07-12-20
Fantastically entertaining.
This is the most entertaining book I’ve read in many years. Don’t miss it. I listened while driving across country and sometimes I was laughing so much I had to pull off the road.
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- Mary
- 07-13-05
The Final Confessions of Mabel Stark
Fantastic reader in Betty Bobbitt and a fascinating story!
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- James
- 03-07-05
A fun book perfectly narrated!
For the first hour I was convinced this was an autobiography read by the author! I had to double check to see it was fiction written by a man. The "voice" of the writer and the voice of the narrator are perfectly matched for this fictional account of the real "lady with the tigers." It's rather raunchy, much as if it were written by the Mae West contemporary that Mabel Stark was.
In addition, it reflects an empathy with animals that made it a perfect follow up to "Animals in Translation" which I read last week. When Stark was training tigers she had no models to follow, and no psych books to read, just pure instinct and self-preservation.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Love4Dufus
- 03-01-18
Good book!
I would have given it all 5 stars except for the jumping back and forth between time periods and the subject’s ages. It was very confusing and I didn’t feel as if the author did a good job of preparing me or “announcing” those time switches. It’s very hard with an audiobook to find places to go back and review facts. All this jumping around was very frustrating. Also, the book ended with her suicide waaay to abruptly. Nothing was discussed as to how she did it, who found her, what her last days were like, nor what might have led her to suicide. Again, frustrating.
I was so glad to have made the acquaintance of Mabel Stark! What an AMAZING woman!
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- Sarah
- 11-14-11
One of the Best
As an English professor, I've read many novels. This one, which I had never heard of, surprised me. It was wonderful, and I loved Betty Bobbitt's voice! I highly recommend it.
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