Turbulence Audiobook By David Szalay cover art

Turbulence

A Novel

 Preview
LIMITED TIME OFFER

3 months free
Try for $0.00
Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT.
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 3 months. Cancel anytime.

Turbulence

By: David Szalay
Narrated by: Gabra Zackman
Try for $0.00

$0.00/mo. after 3 months. Offer ends July 31, 2025 at 11:59PM PT. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $11.24

Buy for $11.24

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

*A New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice*

A “masterful” (The Washington Post), “cathartic” (Star Tribune, Minneapolis), novel about twelve people, mostly strangers, and the surprising ripple effect each one has on the life of the next as they cross paths while in transit around the world—from the Booker Prize–shortlisted author of All That Man Is.

In this “compelling” (The Christian Science Monitor), “crisp and clever” (Vanity Fair) novel, Szalay’s diverse protagonists circumnavigate the planet in twelve flights, from London to Madrid, from Dakar to Sao Paulo, to Toronto, to Delhi, to Doha, en route to see lovers or estranged siblings, aging parents, baby grandchildren, or nobody at all. Along the way, they experience the full range of human emotions from loneliness to love and, knowingly or otherwise, change each other in one brief, electrifying interaction after the next.

Written with magic and economy, “Szalay explores the miraculous ability of our shared humanity to lift us from loneliness” (Esquire) and delivers a dazzling portrait of the interconnectedness of the modern world.

©2019 David Szalay (P)2019 Simon & Schuster Family Life Fiction Friendship Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Tearjerking

Critic reviews

"If an audiobook clocks more miles per hour than David Szalay’s Turbulence, a novel whose brief running time belies its broad ambitions, I can’t think of what it might be. . . . [Narrator Gabra Zackman] reads with empathy and dexterity, shifting nationalities and gender countless times, often multiple times on the same page." (James Tate Hill)

People who viewed this also viewed...

All That Man Is Audiobook By David Szalay cover art
All That Man Is By: David Szalay
Flesh Audiobook By David Szalay cover art
Flesh By: David Szalay
Audition Audiobook By Katie Kitamura cover art
Audition By: Katie Kitamura
All stars
Most relevant  
Confused as to the structure of the book. The Audible version seemed to me to have the chapters in reverse chronology;. I missed it if this was stated explicitly.

However, the prose was at times achingly poetic. I had to listen at 0.75 speed; I listen to most nonfiction at 1.25 speed. The actress's voice was very effective in spite of this.

I ordered two other books by this author before I even finished this one, I was so impressed by his writing. Truly worthy of the Booker Prize which it's nomination brought it to my attention in the first place.

Confused

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
...it was difficult to keep the characters straight - after all, there are 12 of them. At the beginning of each chapter the different destinations are announced, i.e. "LAX - SNA - SAN". Perhaps if I could write them down while listening, I could figure out who is who. The book has a leisurely pace to it, it's nice to listen to while I'm commuting to and from work. The characters are interesting and well-defined.

Very well-written, however....

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
around the world in two hours, at 1.5 speed. never got comfortable with the narrator, whose character voices were just not enjoyable, and the stories are over almost before they start. if you like very small bites of life stuff this is probably great for you. it's well written and moves, without a wasted word... but I like wasted words.

not my cup of airplane tea

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