Tomato Can Blues Audiobook By Mary Pilon cover art

Tomato Can Blues

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Tomato Can Blues

By: Mary Pilon
Narrated by: Bobby Cannavale
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About this listen

Charlie Rowan was a small-time cage fighter in rural Michigan who couldn't get a break.

His punches weren't landing. He owed money to impatient people. He needed to start over, but he didn't know how.

Then, at home on the sofa, he came up with a plan.

Original long-form journalism from The New York Times, read by the actor Bobby Cannavale.

Listen to more from The New York Times.

©2013 The New York Times Company (P)2013 The New York Times Company Emotionally Gripping Feel-Good
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Editorial reviews

When small-time cage fighter Charlie Rowan was reported dead from a car crash at age 25, it turned out there was a lot more to the story. In Tomato Can Blues, New York Times sports reporter Mary Pilon investigates aspiring MMA fighter Rowan's failed plan to end his troubles and start life anew by faking his own death. A polished performance from Emmy award-winning actor Bobby Cannavale, known for his portrayal of Gyp Rosetti on Boardwalk Empire, lends a dramatic edge to the story, while well-timed music adds to the mood and pace. A slickly-produced, compelling performance of a well-researched piece of long-form journalism, Tomato Can Blues makes for an intriguing listen.
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decided to give audible a try. saw this short highly rated one. wasn't disappointed :)

a fantastic first audibee

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good short for me to listen to. hope to have more shorts like this one

a twist

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This story reads like one of those "true crime" episodes on tv.
Sad-sack Charlie Rowan's life has always been on the "dead-end" track. He's a cage-fighter that fights for free, he owes some small time drug dealers some cash. So he decides to make the dash by playing dead. Only problem is, he doesn't leave the very small town in which he resides. To earn some cash to "maybe" leave town, Short-sighted Charlie decides to hold up a gun store.
It kind of goes down hill from there. Sort of a "how not to live your life " story. A bit dry in it's set up and delivery. But pretty good story.

True Crime episode

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my early childhood focused on "...good, better and best..."
competition, literacy and education were constantly stressed
and then, after 26 years of schooling, i became a resident physician

i was asked to care for people living "...good, bad and ugly..." lives
a steady diet of medicaid and uninsured patients came my way
i didn't help them so much as try to keep them from harming themselves

their capacity for self destructive behavior was truly impressive
their homes and neighborhoods were a finishing school for failure
mary pilon captures the mood and tone of this world better than anyone

bobby cannavale's matter-of-fact narration fits the story perfectly
does the USA really rank 38th in global, overall health care quality ?
the lives, brought to light, in mary pilon's story may help explain why

the good, the bad and the ugly

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I listened to this story and had it grip me from minute one. I don't know if it was the way the story was written or the the way it was read by the narrator, but, either way, I felt like I experienced the events in this story firsthand. Simply phenomenal!

Awesome Story!

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Minor story, boringly read and with weird long pauses, so long I kept thinking was wrong with the playback

Okay

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The story is pretty hum-drum. No drama, no suspense, no surprises or twists. A loser who makes bad decisions and suffers the consequences. That's real life, but poor fodder for a story in this case. If it hadn't been free, I'd be angry to have wasted my money.

I don't get the appeal

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i was not a fan of this book, not a lot of substance and not strung together well. maybe of i was familiar with the story before i may have appreciated it more. disappointed.

not much substance

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