Preview
  • The Magician

  • By: Sol Stein
  • Narrated by: Tom Parker
  • Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins
  • 3.4 out of 5 stars (67 ratings)

Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.

The Magician

By: Sol Stein
Narrated by: Tom Parker
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $13.22

Buy for $13.22

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

The Magician is the now famous story of two 16-year-old antagonists locked in the crucible of their high school from which neither can escape.

Ed Japhet gives a skillful performance of magic at the school prom. After the prom, Ed and his girlfriend are beset by Urek, the leader of a school gang that extracts extortion money by "renting" kids their own lockers. Ed is the only student who refuses to pay extortion money. Urek's fury at Japhet's defiance results in an attempted murder, a criminal trial, and death, with a shocker of an ending.

Selected by the Book-of-the-Month Club and widely taught in American schools, this book has sold over a million copies and has been published all over the world, including Britain, France, Germany, and as far away as Russia and Japan.

©1972 Sol Stein (P)1999 Blackstone Audiobooks
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about The Magician

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    20
  • 4 Stars
    14
  • 3 Stars
    18
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    9
Performance
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    12
  • 4 Stars
    8
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    2
Story
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    8
  • 4 Stars
    5
  • 3 Stars
    6
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    2

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Very Good AudioBook

I enjoyed this audiobook very much. Unfortunately, the audio quality is poor in some places.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Great writer Horrible Narrator

I was spoiled by Frank Langella's reading of a Moon and Sixpence. His voice was perfectly matched to Maugham's words. I fell in love with Somerset Maugham's writing with this book. I was excited to see that he had a mystery. It was a real letdown when I downloaded the book and was subjected to this narrator's horrible narration. With a Moon and Sixpence, I was drawn into the story and the wonderful way that Maugham has with words. With the Magician, I could not get past the narrator. I will get the book.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Disappointing

I wanted to like this book. Unfortunately, the story includes horribly out of date characters, even for its time. The judicial system will never change, and that part of the story is quite good. However, the women characters are paper thin, pasted in the story to support the men and to be abused by them. It's been a long time since I have read a book that had left me so disappointed. Tom Parker's narration was wonderfull.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

Poorly performed

This is an excellent book completely let down by the narrator. I have heard two audiobooks read by this same performer and he has ruined both of them! It's quite a skill to make W.Somerset Maugham sound as thrilling as a telephone directory. If this was the narrator's intention then he has suceeded brilliantly.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

poor imitator of Catcher in the Rye but no sympathetic characters

read if you desire the perception of racism in the nineteen seventies that's compared to any form of reality.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Different opinion

I loved this book -- I found the characters interesting and the reader excellent. If, like me, you are alway looking for unabridged titles, check this one out.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful