
The Magic Kingdom
A Novel
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Narrated by:
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Danny Campbell
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MacLeod Andrews
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By:
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Russell Banks
About this listen
From one of America’s most beloved storytellers: a dazzling tapestry of love and faith, memory and imagination that questions what it means to look back and accept one’s place in history. In 1971, Harley Mann revisits his childhood, recounting his family's move to Florida’s swamplands—mere miles away from what would become Disney World—to join a community of Shakers.
“Eerily timely. Can what’s gone wrong in the past offer keys to the future? The Magic Kingdom confronts our longings for Paradise; also the inner serpents that are to be found in all such enchanted gardens.”—Margaret Atwood, author of The Testaments, via Twitter
Property speculator Harley Mann begins recording his life story onto a reel-to-reel machine, reflecting on his youth in the early twentieth century. He recounts that after his father’s sudden death, his family migrated down to Florida to join a Shaker colony. Led by Elder John, a generous man with a mysterious past, the colony devoted itself to labor, faith, and charity, rejecting all temptations that lay beyond the property. Though this way of life initially saved Harley and his family from complete ruin, when Harley began falling in love with Sadie Pratt, a consumptive patient living on the grounds, his loyalty to the Shakers and their conservative worldview grew strained and, ultimately, broke.
As Harley dictates his story across more than half a century—meditating on youth, Florida’s everchanging landscape, and the search for an American utopia—the truth about Sadie, Elder John, and the Shakers comes to light, clarifying the past and present alike. With an expert eye and stunning vision, Russell Banks delivers a wholly captivating portrait of a man navigating Americana and the passage of time.
©2022 Russell Banks (P)2022 Random House AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
“Masterfully crafted . . . The Magic Kingdom is not the experience as it happened but as it’s been distilled for decades in the crucible of a guilty conscience. [Banks is] interested in the way grand schemes intended to perfect human nature produce instead a combination of secrecy and shame that can spark wildly unpredictable results . . . Always in the background of Harley’s reminiscence hovers Disney’s effort to create the Happiest Place on Earth—just the latest project of dreamers and schemers who sought to make Florida in their image . . . Banks has created another fascinating volume in his exploration of the American experience.”—Ron Charles, The Washington Post
“Engrossing . . . As ever, Banks writes gorgeously about [Florida’s] natural wonders, pointing out the strange magnetism a place needs to have to attract the world’s detritus . . . Banks is writing with an eye to the present.”—Mark Athiakis, Los Angeles Times
“Tender . . . Mr. Banks has created a quietly beautiful memorial to a transitory way of life that would soon disappear behind the theme-park attractions of contemporary America.”—Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal
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The Last Collection
- A Novel of Elsa Schiaparelli and Coco Chanel
- By: Jeanne Mackin
- Narrated by: Sarah Mollo-Christensen
- Length: 11 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Paris, 1938. Coco Chanel and Elsa Schiaparelli are fighting for recognition as the most successful and influential fashion designer in France, and their rivalry is already legendary. They oppose each other at every turn, in both their politics and their designs: Chanel's are classic, elegant, and practical; Schiaparelli's bold, experimental, and surreal. When Lily Sutter travels to Paris to visit her brother, Charlie, he insists on buying her a couture dress for her birthday - a Chanel. Lily reluctantly agrees but wants a Schiaparelli, not a Chanel.
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Interesting story
- By KiLe on 07-08-21
By: Jeanne Mackin
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Who Does That Bitch Think She Is?
- Doris Fish and the Rise of Drag
- By: Craig Seligman
- Narrated by: Mela Lee
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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In the 1970s, gay men and lesbians were openly despised and drag queens scared the public. Yet that was the era when Doris Fish (born Philip Mills in 1952) painted and padded his way to stardom. He was a leader of the generation that prepared the world not just for drag queens on TV but for a society that welcomes and even celebrates queer people. How did we get from there to here? In Who Does That Bitch Think She Is? Craig Seligman looks at Doris’s short but overstuffed life as a way to provide some answers.
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A fantastic portal back to another era in San Francisco
- By Michael S. on 11-17-24
By: Craig Seligman
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The Lonely Hearts Hotel
- A Novel
- By: Heather O'Neill
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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From the author of When We Lost Our Heads, a spellbinding story about two gifted orphans - in love with each other since they can remember - whose childhood talents allow them to rewrite their future. The Lonely Hearts Hotel is a love story with the power of legend. An unparalleled tale of charismatic pianos, invisible dance partners, radicalized chorus girls, drug-addicted musicians, brooding clowns, and an underworld whose economy hinges on the price of a kiss. In a landscape like this, it takes great creative gifts to thwart one’s origins.
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IMPECCABLE BEAUTIFUL Writing, Interesting Story
- By Jordyn on 05-24-17
By: Heather O'Neill
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The Fairy Bargains of Prospect Hill
- By: Rowenna Miller
- Narrated by: Jesse Vilinsky
- Length: 16 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
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There is no magic on Prospect Hill—or anywhere else, for that matter. But just on the other side of the veil is the world of the Fae. Generations ago, the first farmers on Prospect Hill learned to bargain small trades to make their lives a little easier. Much of that old wisdom was lost as the riverboats gave way to the rail lines and the farmers took work at mills and factories. Alaine Fairborn’s family, however, was always superstitious, and she still hums the rhymes to find a lost shoe and to ensure dry weather on her sister’s wedding day.
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Characters and world building
- By Amandahawkes on 02-14-24
By: Rowenna Miller
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Three Keys
- A Novel
- By: Laura Pritchett
- Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman
- Length: 10 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Ammalie Brinks has just lost the three keys of her life’s purpose—her husband, her job, and her role as a mom, after her son went off to college. She’s also mystified to find herself in middle age: How exactly had that happened? The terrifying idea of becoming irrelevant, invisible, of letting her life slip away Into obscurity, has her driving distracted through Nebraska with a broken plastic fork in her tangled hair.
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Not Pritchett's Best Work
- By Lito Lindo on 10-15-24
By: Laura Pritchett
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Lo Fi
- A Novel
- By: Liz Riggs
- Narrated by: Jesse Vilinsky
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Most nights, you’ll find Alison Hunter at The Venue, the kind of sweaty Nashville spot that’s on the circuit for bands like Bon Iver and Death Cab. Sounds glamorous—but not for Al, who stamps hands at the door with Julien, the quiet coworker who treats her like a little sister. When she can sneak off, she bums drinks from the tattooed bartender and watches the bands, wondering if she’ll ever finish a song of her own after her disastrous attempt to play in public.
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Nostalgia in Nashville
- By Kalee Barbis on 07-11-24
By: Liz Riggs
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Daughters of the Dust
- A Gullah-Geechee Novel
- By: Julie Dash
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 15 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Drawing from the magical world of her iconic Sundance award-winning film, Julie Dash’s stand-alone novel tells another rich, historical tale of the Gullah-Geechee people: a multigenerational story about a Brooklyn College anthropology student who finds an unexpected homecoming when she heads to the South Carolina Sea Islands to study her ancestors.
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My BFF Bahni...
- By Lillian Collins on 12-31-22
By: Julie Dash
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Arrowood
- A Novel
- By: Laura McHugh
- Narrated by: Sarah Scott
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Arrowood is the most ornate and grand of the historical houses that line the Mississippi River in southern Iowa. But the house has a mystery it has never revealed: It’s where Arden Arrowood’s younger twin sisters vanished on her watch 20 years ago - never to be seen again. After the twins’ disappearance, Arden’s parents divorced and the Arrowoods left the big house that had been in their family for generations. And Arden’s own life has fallen apart: She can’t finish her master’s thesis, and a misguided love affair has ended badly.
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Haunting and Powerful
- By Jim N on 04-23-17
By: Laura McHugh
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Unmarriageable
- A Novel
- By: Soniah Kamal
- Narrated by: Soniah Kamal
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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In this one-of-a-kind retelling of Pride and Prejudice set in modern-day Pakistan, Alys Binat has sworn never to marry - until an encounter with one Mr. Darsee at a wedding makes her reconsider.
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Could be entertaining if not for unlikable heroine
- By Web_mistress on 02-06-19
By: Soniah Kamal
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The Burning Island
- By: Hester Young
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 11 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Journalist Charlie Cates has always believed in facts, in what can be proved - her career depends on it. Which is why she has never truly accepted the supernatural visions that guide her to children in danger. After her work on a high-profile missing-child case brings unwanted fame, she reluctantly flees to the lush Big Island of Hawaii with her best friend, Rae. Determined to avoid her disturbing visions, Charlie begins writing what seems to be a harmless interview of a prominent volcanologist. But soon, she's haunted by dreams of a local girl who went missing six weeks earlier.
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I enjoyed the story
- By M. Abrego on 03-04-20
By: Hester Young
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Three-Martini Lunch
- By: Suzanne Rindell
- Narrated by: Will Damron, JD Jackson, Rebecca Lowman
- Length: 16 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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In 1958, Greenwich Village buzzes with beatniks, jazz clubs, and new ideas - the ideal spot for three ambitious young people to meet. Cliff Nelson, the son of a successful book editor, is convinced he’s the next Kerouac, if only his father would notice. Eden Katz dreams of being an editor but is shocked when she encounters roadblocks to that ambition. And Miles Tillman, a talented black writer from Harlem, seeks to learn the truth about his father’s past, finding love in the process. Though different from one another, all three share a common goal.
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WOW
- By Jordan on 05-20-17
By: Suzanne Rindell
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The First Actress
- A Novel of Sarah Bernhardt
- By: C. W. Gortner
- Narrated by: Gabrielle De Cuir
- Length: 16 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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From her beginnings as the daughter of a courtesan to her extraordinary transformation into the most celebrated actress of her era, Sarah Bernhardt is brought to life by an internationally best-selling author praised for his historical novels featuring famous women.
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Disappointed
- By Doggy Bird on 08-05-20
By: C. W. Gortner
Not great
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Rx for Readers Who Want to Understand Cults
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Slowwww
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Intriguing
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Such a unique story
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A story
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The voice will put you to sleep
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Rewarding tale!
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This was well-written, but the story is boring for the most part. In the end it all came together.
From Shaker to Magic..
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Basically not what the cover design or title covey at all.
Be forewarned,
Deceiving Title, slower than a paddle boat
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