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Manhattan Beach
- Narrated by: Heather Lind, Norbert Leo Butz, Vincent Piazza
- Length: 15 hrs and 16 mins
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Manhattan Beach
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Summary
Winner of the 2018 Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction
The long-awaited audiobook from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Visit from the Goon Squad, Manhattan Beach opens in Brooklyn during the Great Depression.
Anna Kerrigan, nearly 12 years old, accompanies her father to the house of a man who, she gleans, is crucial to the survival of her father and her family. Anna observes the uniformed servants, the lavishing of toys on the children and some secret pact between her father and Dexter Styles.
Years later her father has disappeared, and the country is at war. Anna works at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, where women are allowed to hold jobs that had always belonged to men. She becomes the first female diver, the most dangerous and exclusive of occupations, repairing the ships that will help America win the war. She is the sole provider for her mother, a farm girl who had a brief and glamorous career as a Ziegfield folly, and her lovely, severely disabled sister.
At a nightclub she chances to meet Styles, the man she visited with her father before he vanished, and she begins to understand the complexity of her father's life, the reasons he might have been murdered.
Mesmerising, hauntingly beautiful, with the pace and atmosphere of a noir thriller and a wealth of detail about organised crime, the merchant marine and the clash of classes in New York, Egan's first historical audiobook is a masterpiece, a deft, startling, intimate exploration of a transformative moment in the lives of women and men, America and the world. Manhattan Beach is a magnificent audiobook by one of the greatest writers of our time.
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What listeners say about Manhattan Beach
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Keith
- 23-01-18
The New York Novel
Great work, joins the pantheon of classic New York novels. Anna is a searing character, nuanced and interesting. Plot throws in some light twists but I read it more as literature of the period and the city than a conventional mystery. Recommended.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- sara
- 15-02-18
MANHATTAN BEACH
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
YES SUCH A MATURE IN DEPTH LAYERED STORY
Who was your favorite character and why?
MAIN CHARACTER
What does the narrators bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?
DIDNT DETRACT FROM THE CHARACTERS
Any additional comments?
SUCH A BRILLIANT STORY FULL OF LAYERS AND WISTS AND TURNS
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Gillian
- 22-02-19
Worth keeping going
I enjoyed this overall, but I found it one of those I had to keep rewinding during the first third. Maybe the voices of the male characters were too similar? I was confused between Eddie and Dexter. By the end, I was really engaged with the characters and invested in knowing how their complex lives would turn out. Some of the storylines seemed very abruptly terminated... maybe that reflects some of the characters too!
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Rona Hunnisett
- 16-02-18
Book of the year
Loved it! Great performances, great pace, amazing use of language and a compelling story. 10/10
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Bee
- 10-07-18
Would like to have given this 3.5 stars
Some parts of this family saga are brilliant amd I was totally absorbed. Other parts dragged and if I'd been reading the book myself my reading pace would have picked up. The narrators however kept a rather slow pace and low key tone almost throughout which made the dullish bits duller.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- clive
- 05-11-17
Gripping and beautifully written
Another great novel from Jennifer Egan. Gripping and beautifully written - with a strong evocation of wartime New York and some fantastic set piece scenes. It's more linear and careful than 'A Visit From The Goon Squad' - if that novel was 'Pulp Fiction' this one is 'Jackie Brown' but highly recommended.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- bookylady
- 22-04-18
It could have been great but somehow it wasn't.
This was an exasperating book. I had high expectations of it since the author had previously won a Pulitzer Prize for fiction. But somehow this was a story that did not really catch fire and capture the imagination or the heart. I was left feeling 'what was the point of all that?'
The performances were really good, each narrator adding depth and nuance to the story. The overall premise of the plot was good and provided interesting insights into the world of organised crime in New York City and the work of civilian divers and munitions workers in World War II. But there were whole sections that flagged and dragged and I felt that the overall story could have been improved by more editing.
The characters were well thought out and believable until the very end. But the cliched ending of a strong, feisty, independent women ending up in unwanted, unplanned pregnancy and a good-time-girl turning into an earth mother was not only disappointing but absolutely infuriating. It felt like the author had run out of ideas on what to do with these women.
If I had to sum up this book in one word it would have to be 'disappointing.'
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5 people found this helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- Sarah
- 11-07-18
complex interesting story
The novel broaches a broad range of characters and scenarios. There is a lot of compelling detail that makes you feel you understand what life was really like in wartime 1940s NY. For example, I found myself telling friends what I'd learned about early navy diving. The characters are likable and complicated. Relevant contemporary social themes (women's rights, the class system, social mobility, gay rights, race) are covered in a subtle way--simply part of the natural story line. This was an engaging listen and I miss the characters already.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- holly bird
- 14-12-17
Entertaining, but doesn't hit the mark.
Found the narrative rolled along well and kept me listening, but the sum of the whole story was fairly weak. Enjoyed the diving detail.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Compass
- 28-11-17
Stunning.
After a slightly slow start, this book had me on the edge of my seat. The story and characters were original and fully rounded. I emphasised with them all so cared what happened next. Often I thought I knew what was about to happen. Sometimes I was right. But always there were twists and shocks that stunned and surprised me.
The narration was excellent with different actors taking over as the narration moved between the key characters. I always knew who was who.
Highly recommended.
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