Jonathan Lethem. (2015). Lucky Alan: And Other Stories. Unabridged Books on Tape.

Jonathan Lethem. 2015. Lucky Alan: And Other Stories. Books on Tape.

Jonathan Lethem, Lucky Alan: And Other Stories. Books on Tape, 2015.

Jonathan Lethem. Lucky Alan: And Other Stories. Unabridged Books on Tape, 2015.

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And Other Stories

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   • bioText: Jonathan Lethem is the New York Times bestselling author of nine novels, including Dissident Gardens, Chronic City, The Fortress of Solitude, and Motherless Brooklyn, and of the essay collection The Ecstasy of Influence, which was a National Book Critics Circle Award finalist. A recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship and winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Fiction, Lethem’s work has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s Magazine, Rolling Stone, Esquire, and The New York Times, among other publications.
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Random House Audio

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2015-02-24T00:00:00-05:00

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title

Lucky Alan

fullDescription

The incomparable Jonathan Lethem returns with nine brilliant stories that prove he is a master of the short form as well as the novel.
     Jonathan Lethem stretches new literary muscles in this scintillating new collection of stories. Some of these tales—such as "Pending Vegan," which wonderfully captures a parental ache and anguish during a family visit to an aquatic theme park—are, in Lethem's words, "obedient (at least outwardly) to realism." Others, like "The Dreaming Jaw, The Salivating Ear,", which deftly and hilariously captures the solipsism of blog culture, feature "the uncanny and surreal elements that still sometimes erupt in my short stories."
     The tension between these two approaches, and the way they inform each other, increase the reader's surprise and delight as one realizes how cleverly Lethem is playing with form. Devoted fans of Lethem will recognize familiar themes and tropes—the anxiety of influence pushed to reduction ad absurdum in "The King of Sentences"; a hapless outsider trying to summon up bravado in "The Porn Critic;" characters from the comics stranded on a desert island; the necessity and the impossibility of action against authority in "Procedure in Plain Air." As always, Lethem's work, humor, and poignancy work in harmony; people strive desperately for connection through words and often misdirect deeds; and the sentences are glorious.
Read by a Full Cast:
“Lucky Alan”…read by Mark Deakins
“The King of Sentences”…read by David Wain
“Traveler Home”…read by Mark Deakins
“Procedure in Plain Air”…read by Amy Landecker
“Their Back Pages”…read by Isaac Butler
“The Porn Critic”…read by Bruce Wagner
“The Empty Room”…read by Michael Goldstrom
“The Dreaming Jaw, The Salivating Ear”…read by Jonathan Lethem
“Pending Vegan”…read by Mark Deakins

reviews

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     November 3, 2014
     In Lethem’s collection, following the novel Dissident Gardens, the stories use absurdity, satire, or incongruity to contrast the quotidian. A bookstore clerk and his girlfriend obsess over the cadence and precision of language, stalking the reclusive writer they’ve deemed “The King of Sentences” (in the story of that name). In “Procedure in Plain Air,” the main character, sitting outside his favorite cafe, watches a work crew dig a hole in the street, then lower a bound and gagged man into the chasm. In “Porn Critic,” the lonesome Kromer reflects on his titular vocation, realizing his “special literacy was... positively toxic.” Unfortunately, the characters, with exquisitely improbable names like Sigismund Blondy, C. Phelps Northrup, and Invisible Luna, seldom surpass the concepts that formed them, and the ideas of the stories are more promising than the stories themselves. Although nearly every sentence captures Lethem’s sharp wit and copious imagination, reminding us that Lethem himself is perhaps the king of sentences after all, the sum of the parts rarely adds up. The most rewarding exception is “Pending Vegan,” which begins, “Paul Espeseth, who was no longer taking the antidepressant Celexa, braced himself for a cataclysm at Sea World.” The story that follows fulfills this line’s prediction with all the intrigue, emotion, and blunt force of reality.

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2. • value: Fiction
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shortDescription

The incomparable Jonathan Lethem returns with nine brilliant stories that prove he is a master of the short form as well as the novel.
     Jonathan Lethem stretches new literary muscles in this scintillating new collection of stories. Some of these tales—such as "Pending Vegan," which wonderfully captures a parental ache and anguish during a family visit to an aquatic theme park—are, in Lethem's words, "obedient (at least outwardly) to realism." Others, like "The Dreaming Jaw, The Salivating Ear,", which deftly and hilariously captures the solipsism of blog culture, feature "the uncanny and surreal elements that still sometimes erupt in my short stories."
     The tension between these two approaches, and the way they inform each other, increase the reader's surprise and delight as one realizes how cleverly Lethem is playing with form. Devoted fans of Lethem will recognize familiar themes and tropes—the...

sortTitle

Lucky Alan And Other Stories

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And Other Stories

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Books on Tape

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2. • code: FIC029000
   • description: Fiction / Short Stories (single author)
3. • code: FIC061000
   • description: Fiction / Magical Realism