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Beginner's Greek (Abridged): A Novel Audiobook
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(2.99) - 2,125 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
When Peter Russell finally meets the woman of his dreams he falls as madly in love as you can on a flight from New York to LA. Her name is Holly. She's achingly pretty with strawberry-blonde hair, and reads Thomas Mann for pleasure. She gives Peter her phone number on a page of The Magic Mountain, but in his room that night Peter finds the page is inexplicably, impossibly, enragingly...gone.
So begins the immensely entertaining story of Peter and his unrequited love for his best friend's girl; of Charlotte and her less-than-perfect marriage to a man in love with someone else; of Jonathan and his wicked and fateful debauchery; and of Holly, the impetus for it all. Along the way, there's the evil boss, the desirable temptress, miscommunications, misrepresentations, fiendish behavior, letters gone astray, and ultimately, an ending in which every character gets his due.
Both incisive and wonderfully funny, this is a brilliantly understated comedy of manners in which love lost is found again.
"James Collins has written a romantic, funny and insightful page turner about love in modern times, missed opportunities and the wheel of fate (with a blow-out!) that is so engaging and real, you will find it impossible to put down. Peter Russell is an everyman filled with longing, lust and good sense. I promise you will root for him as fate throws him curves aplenty on his path to true love. Beginner's Greek and Peter Russell are keepers." -Adriana Trigiani, bestselling author of Lucia, Lucia and Big Stone Gap
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"Listened to this on CD- originally checked it out soley because Jerry O'Connell (from Crossing Jordan) read it and I love him! This was a good "listen"- a love story written by a man and told from a man's percpective. A light, romantic, humorous read."
— Heidi (5 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“James Collins has written a romantic, funny, and insightful page-turner about love in modern times, missed opportunities, and the wheel of fate (with a blowout!), which is so engaging and real that you will find it impossible to put down.”
— Andriani Tragiani, New York Times bestselling author of The Shoemaker’s Wife -
“James Collins is on home turf when it comes to the secret world of the American aristocracy. He knows these people uncomfortably well. I enjoyed Beginner’s Greek enormously.”
— Julian Fellowes, creator of Downton Abbey -
“Part comedy of manners, part chick lit in male drag, James Collins’ Beginner’s Greek is a great big sunny lemon chiffon pie of a novel.”
— New York Times Book Review -
“James Collins’ debut relies on a stunning number of familiar tropes—the meant-to-be lovers thwarted, the hapless romantic in love with his best friend’s girl, the treacherous boss. But he makes magic of it all by infusing those would-be clichés with so much old-school charm that you want to believe, and with so much patient detail that you actually can. A-”
— Entertainment Weekly -
“Collins…writes as if fully aware that anyone who saw any one of a thousand other romantic comedies will find the plot familiar: he plays romantic comedy clichés with an expert coolness. Anyone for whom chick lit is a guilty pleasure will find the tone here multiple notches above the usual fare.”
— Publishers Weekly
Beginner's Greek Listener Reviews
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" You know it's a good book when a sleep-deprived woman keeps reading it even after she's finally managed to get her 9-week-old to sleep at 2:00 a.m. "
— Megan, 2/19/2014 -
" Peter and Holly meet on a plane and it's love at first sight. Even though he loses her phone number, he does manage to meet up with her again some time later ... except that she's now his best friend's girlfriend. Yes, a bit soap opera and too coincidental but I still liked this book. It's nice light reading and kinda sweet. "
— Elaine, 2/15/2014 -
" A love story from the man's point of view. Some of the characters were too precious and the ending was a little too neat, but a good interesting read for all those who believe true love always finds a way. "
— Tamara, 2/14/2014 -
" another book that I couldn't get thru the first 20 pages! The main character was a little too "girly" for me to relate to him... "
— Jocelyn, 2/8/2014 -
" Not terrible, but very predictable. "
— Lisa, 1/28/2014 -
" This was the author's first book and it seemed like he tried too hard. He did pretty good character development but went pretty in depth. It was a fun "fate" book with some good twists. "
— Molly, 1/20/2014 -
" Interesting premise but there was a lot of boring filler. It should have been half as long, or less. Generally a waste of time. "
— Molly, 12/24/2013 -
" A first novel for this artist. A modern love story of survival of the unfaithful. Funny ... sweet ... good character development. A good summer read. "
— Karen, 12/18/2013 -
" A little disappointing after all of the hype, but still an enjoyable read. "
— Michele, 11/26/2013 -
" All the characters were under-developed and the plot was unrealistic. "
— Salazarus, 11/6/2013 -
" Chick-lit for men. "
— Emily, 11/4/2013 -
" A forgettable farce. The author writes as though he isn't sure if he wants you to like the characters or not. It was an easy read that doesn't ask anything of you. "
— Sheila, 9/7/2013 -
" This was HIGHLY disappointing. The review on the back compares it to Austen...NOT OKAY TO DO THAT! It's clearly written by a man who doesn't understand women. Oy! "
— Katie, 2/11/2013 -
" Lame. Boring. Predictable. "
— Flavia, 1/11/2013 -
" A notch or two above trashy romance. Good vacation read. "
— Dianakushner, 12/24/2012 -
" Perfect beach read. I predict a screenplay to come out of this. "
— Barb, 6/6/2012 -
" Smart, fun and skillfully told in its use of multiple POVs. Also, a nice change to have a story of love found, lost and found again from a contemporary man's standpoint. "
— Sherri, 2/25/2012 -
" All I could think of while reading was that this would make a pretty cute movie, but as a book it was not the best. "
— h.schofi, 2/23/2012 -
" Totally cute albeit predictable...I'd give it 3.5 stars if I could... "
— Pam, 1/12/2012 -
" got started with this one and just couldn't finish it - didn't like the writing style. "
— Kayce, 12/5/2011 -
" I wasn't sure how this was going to be; it built very slowly, but it turned into a lovely little fairy tale of a book, with a phenomenal ending. "
— A., 11/26/2011 -
" Really? REALLY?? I couldn't get past page 12. Stop. "
— San, 10/4/2011 -
" This book was a great mind escape! It's a little long, but an easy read. Enjoy! "
— Ana, 7/14/2011 -
" Enjoyed this, for the most part. A surprisingly sentimental book to be written by a man. Kind of a pseudo-intellectual Nicholas Sparks. "
— Christina, 5/20/2011 -
" Liked it a lot. But still miss Laurie Colwin.<br/> "
— Susan, 5/4/2011 -
" Really? REALLY?? I couldn't get past page 12. Stop. "
— Sanjana, 4/27/2011 -
" This was listed as a "Smart Beach Read". It lived up to it's name, and was the perfect addition to my Coronas down in Cancun. "
— Caroline, 4/13/2011 -
" This would have been a fun light read, but it was way too long. I kept losing interest, which is too bad because the author's writing style was engaging. "
— Robyn, 3/31/2011 -
" Just so-so. Probably wouldn't have finished if I didn't feel like I always finish a book that I start. "
— Jennifer, 2/23/2011 -
" great story, great characters. Entertaining look into modern NYC people and lifestyles. "
— Heather, 12/11/2010 -
" I should have a bookshelf that says "skimmed" for this book. It was incredibly sticky-sweet and definitely not worth the energy to actually read with full attention. At best this novel about "love at first sight" could be seen as a adult fairy tale - but I wasn't sold. "
— Cari, 11/11/2010 -
" Started utterly charming and went downhill fast and furiously by the end. Bah humbug! "
— Bree, 11/11/2010 -
" Just couldn't do it!! It isn't often I can't get through a book, even one that doesn't 'wow' me. This, though, was an exception. Cute idea, but just not developed well and the writing was sophomoric. Moving on, so much to read ... "
— Joe, 11/6/2010 -
" This novel just didn't seem genuine to me - I can't pinpoint what it was missing, as the premise was cute and I'm always willing to suspend reason for a good, intelligent love story, but there was something about this book that just seemed insincere and false. "
— Christine, 10/25/2010 -
" I wanted a light-hearted love story . . . Instead I got a tedious novel by a writer who likes to "hear" his himself write. UGH! "
— Penny, 10/24/2010 -
" Poor. Poor writing. Poor story. Poor dialogue. Poor characters. "
— Erin, 10/17/2010
About James Collins
James Collins writes for the New Yorker, has been an editor at Time magazine, and is a former editorial assistant at Little, Brown. He is the author of Beginner’s Greek. Collins currently lives in Virginia with his family.