Preview
  • Tough Island

  • True Stories from Matinicus, Maine
  • By: Crash Barry
  • Narrated by: Crash Barry
  • Length: 5 hrs and 58 mins
  • 4.9 out of 5 stars (8 ratings)

Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Tough Island

By: Crash Barry
Narrated by: Crash Barry
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $19.95

Buy for $19.95

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

Tough Island is a movie for your ears. Author Crash Barry’s evocative, gritty, and funny storytelling, authentic sound effects, and vocal dramatics create a soundscape that transports you to Maine’s most remote inhabited island. Crash narrates and voices the entire cast of memorable characters, including the salty Captain Donald and his insufferable wife, brawny fishermen, and other eccentric islanders.

Tough Island simultaneously chronicles the coming-of-age story of Crash, a 23 year-old wannabe poet living in a rustic fish shack, working as a sternman on a lobster boat. On Tough Island, he deals with love and loss, and is participant and witness to the debauchery and violence of youth. On Matinicus, 20 miles out to sea, population of 50, the ferry visited nine times a year, and airplanes only landed when there was no fog, rain, snow, sleet, or darkness.

Tough Island is a gritty guided tour of a unique society inhabited by resourceful individuals and scoundrels filled with stories of danger and drugs, sex and sorrow and death, all unfolding in a landscape of breathtaking beauty.

©2011, 2013 Crash Barry (P)2021 Crash Barry
activate_Holiday_promo_in_buybox_DT_T2

What listeners say about Tough Island

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    7
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    7
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    7
  • 4 Stars
    0
  • 3 Stars
    0
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0

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

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Listener received this title free

Great memoir of remote Maine life in the 90s

This is the first audiobook I ever listened to and it was fantastic. I enjoyed the podcast and wanted to hear the audiobook because the author provided voices for the people depicted from his time in Tough Island. The book brought me back to the early 90s. The book describes how I imagined life in rural Maine to be 30 years ago.
I read a lot of autobiographies and enjoy the ones where the author includes the good and the bad. The author doesn’t hesitate to express regret or admit when he made mistakes which makes the book more believable.
This was the first book by Crash Barry I experienced and since I enjoyed it so much I will be checking out his other works.
Definitely recommend this book.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Listener received this title free

A meticulous narration! Non-Stop Listening! 5X

Voiced in a meticulous narration, Lifetime writer and Film Director Crash Barry brings you "Tough Island". Taking you into the nitty gritty of Maine. This is an Audible you'll be playing every evening to get the next salty scoop. I hope you enjoy the story as much as we did. -Tyler

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
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Listener received this title free

A real Different sort of story

This is a piece of Crash Berry's life and I remember reading, in other places, a couple of the incidents cited in the book. Imagine, if you can, a completely different experience and then, open this title and see if your imagination even comes close. Maine islands are thought of as tourist attractions but, really, people live and work there. This island is 20 miles off the coast; today, with internet, it isn't quite the same, but in 1991 the distance made a real difference; one had to be prepared for nearly anything. And thus, almost anything you can imagine might have happened on Tough Island. It's not just a fishing story and it's definitely not a fish story; real things with real people (not actors) are included in these well woven tales. Enjoy, it's worth the price!

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
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Radio theater par excellance!

Crash tells a wonderful story of life and love and Matinucus! A truly marvelous experience. thank you Crash! Best regards, Carl

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
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
Listener received this title free

Captivating and wonderfully entertaining!

I fully enjoyed my listening experience. Crash presents a memorable soundscape of his experience living on Matinicus Island. I found myself lost in his storytelling and laughed my way throughout the book. I found his character descriptions captivating and his adventures enjoyable and relatable. Crash takes you along for the ride while he makes his way from the Coast Guard to Matinicus and side adventures like Presidential campaigns and LSD trips. He shares tales of hilarity, infidelity, death and island trash dumps with humor, whit and love.
This is eight hours of storytelling I will be visiting again soon. Tough Island has so much humor in the storytelling but also a hell of a lot of heart. Highly recommended as an audio book adventure though Im certain the physical book is just as much fun.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!