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Dangerous Laughter: Thirteen Stories Audiobook
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(3.68) - 1,290 listener ratings
Publisher Description
In this acclaimed collection of short stories, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Stephen Millhauser shares the dark suspense and humor that have gained him a cult following. Millhauser's imagination and creativity are on full display with stories featuring artists gone mad, egomaniacal architects, and a historical society that's given up its chronicling of history. Characterized by "phenomenal clarity and rapacious movement" each story "focuses on the misery wrought by misdirected human desire and ambition." (Publishers Weekly)
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"Millhauser's experiments in examining perception, art, and human relationship vary in their success, but when they work they really work well. I was particularly fond of "Cat and Mouse", "The Room in the Attic" and "The Wizard of West Orange", though other stories were also very good."
— Mia (4 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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“Remarkable…Not just brilliant but prescient.”
— New York Times Book Review -
“[An] absorbing, impeccably imagined collection.”
— Entertainment Weekly -
“Readers seeking the perfect introduction to Pulitzer Prize–winning author Steven Millhauser need look no further…Dangerous Laughter draws on every facet of his imagination…It’s more akin to music-making than storytelling.”
— Seattle Times
Awards
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An ALA Notable Book
Dangerous Laughter Listener Reviews
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" With his extraordinarily vivid writing, Millhauser transcends the realm of the known but occasionally becomes so caught up in words that the plot remains hidden. "
— Brittney, 2/15/2014 -
" Very unusual author. A few of the stories are about everyday people, but most combine turn of the 19th century history and fantasy. "
— Fran, 2/1/2014 -
" Very strange short stories -- unsettling. "
— Joanne, 1/26/2014 -
" A couple of the stories were pretty good, but I can't really recommend it. "
— Rhod, 1/17/2014 -
" A collection of brilliant short stories by a creative and philosophical writer. I unreservedly recommend them to you. (Also, Millhauser wrote the short story that was the inspiration for the film THE ILLUSIONIST.) Definitely check him out. "
— Matthew, 1/16/2014 -
" Imaginative, absurd post modernist stuff for fans of Saunders. "
— Leoneil47, 1/14/2014 -
" Loved the book. Witty, sophisticated, original, with comprehensive historical depth. "
— Fan, 12/20/2013 -
" This is the best fiction I've read in donkey's years. He is wonderful, as in full of wonders. "
— Corey, 11/30/2013 -
" This is truly a fantastic book, and I'm eager to read more of his work. Just ordered "The Knife Thrower" ... "
— Lena, 8/28/2013 -
" This was a great read. A dark, sneaky, sexy, forboding, deliberate, pensive read. If you like atmospheric short stories that will make you sit and think for a moment, you will love Steven Milhauser. "
— Megan, 8/8/2012 -
" I read through the title story, maybe 4 or 5 stories in, but I kept having to force myself to go back to it. The stories were well-written and intelligent, but left me cold. "
— Nancy, 3/27/2012 -
" An interesting book of short stories. I preferred the first section WAY more than the others. "
— Tamara, 10/14/2011 -
" I loved the first few stories in this book and couldn't stop telling everyone I knew to read it. Each story was such a perfect gem of a short story -- perfect prose and such momentum. But by the end of the collection I was annoyed by his shtick. I would still recommend the first half of the book. "
— Lauren, 9/24/2011 -
" This is probably the best fiction I've read this year - a series of short stories that I think are better described as creative workouts. Millhauser's command over language and imagination is impressive, he paints places that are both familiar and strange at the same time. "
— deep, 8/9/2011 -
" Great. Today showed up on the NYT top 5 fiction books of the year. I picked a winnah!<br/>The Dome was particularly good. Great riff. "
— Cheryl, 7/29/2011 -
" Sometimes strange, sometimes laugh out loud funny, sometimes very thought provoking intellectually - an excellent, unusual and well written book of quasi science fiction short stories. "
— Bob, 7/6/2011 -
" Amazingly well written. Adventures into many extremes of human existence. "
— Kara, 7/3/2011 -
" Opening Cartoon begs to be animated; A Room in the Attic cherished and preserved; A Precursor of the Cinema selectively shared; The Other Town enacted; A Change in Fashion consumed; with the remainder serving as obsessive cautionary tales. "
— Boy, 5/15/2011 -
" Forced my way through these stories. Remember only that I suffered. "
— Ctb, 5/7/2011 -
" Possibly the most curious and unusual book I've ever read. Millhauser is just about 5 degrees off the straight and narrow but that 5 degrees makes him purely memorable. A work of funny and fervent genius. "
— Beckie, 3/30/2011 -
" Amazing stories. Not even one is inferior to the others. Fully deserved the prize it gets. "
— Dodokins, 3/4/2011 -
" With his extraordinarily vivid writing, Millhauser transcends the realm of the known but occasionally becomes so caught up in words that the plot remains hidden. "
— Brittney, 2/12/2011 -
" Everything I don't like about short story collections: every story is exactly the same. Some fun stories and concepts but horribly redundant. "
— Jean, 1/12/2011 -
" I really enjoyed every sentence!! This is brilliant book "
— Iva, 1/9/2011
About Steven Millhauser
Steven Millhauser is an American novelist and short story writer. His novel Martin Dressler won the 1997 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and was a finalist for the National Book Award. He won The Story Prize in 2011 for We Others: New and Selected Stories.
About the Narrators
George Guidall, winner of more than eighty AudioFile Earphones Awards, has won three of the prestigious Audie Award for Excellence in Audiobook Narration. In 2014 the Audio Publishers Association presented him with the Special Achievement Award for lifetime achievement/ During his thirty-year recording career he has recorded over 1,700 audiobooks, won multiple awards, been a mentor to many narrators, and shown by example the potential of fine storytelling. His forty-year acting career includes starring roles on Broadway, an Obie Award for best performance off Broadway, and frequent television appearances.
Adam Grupper, award-winning narrator, has garnered honors from AudioFile magazine, Publishers Weekly, iTunes, the Society of Voice Arts and Sciences, and the Audio Publishers Association. He has been in eleven Broadway productions, including the acclaimed revival of Fiddler on the Roof. His film and television credits include The Rebound, Homeland, Master of None, Music and Lyrics, Two Weeks Notice, Elementary, and Allegiance.
Andy Paris is an actor and writer. His audio narration have earned him the prestigious Audie Award, as well as AudioFile Earphones Awards. A member of the Tectonic Theater Project, he and others wrote The Laramie Project, which was nominated for an Emmy in 2002 and in which he played Stephen Belber. He has also appeared in Law & Order.
Jim Frangione is an actor and audiobook narrator who won AudioFile magazine’s 2011 Best Voice in Mystery and Suspense for his reading of Philip Carter’s The Altar of Bones and Spencer Quinn’s To Fetch a Thief. He has won numerous Earphones Awards and has been was a finalist for the prestigious Audie Award. His theater credits include the off-Broadway production of Scrambled Eggs and the New York premiere of David Mamet’s plays The Old Neighborhood, Romance, and Oleanna, in which he also performed with the national tour. His film and television appearances include Joy, Transamerica, Spartan, Heist, Brotherhood, The Unit, and Law & Order.
Sharon Washington is a critically acclaimed actress, whose performances have been called “Sensational … A breakout … Ferociously funny” by the New York Times. Notable theater credits include “The Lady” in the Broadway musical The Scottsboro Boys; Lady Anne, alongside Denzel Washington, in the New York Shakespeare Festival’s Richard III; and Valeria, alongside Christopher Walken, in Coriolanus. She is a graduate of Darmouth College and received her MFA from Yale School of Drama.
Tavia Gilbert is an acclaimed narrator of more than four hundred full-cast and multivoice audiobooks for virtually every publisher in the industry. Named the 2018 Voice of Choice by Booklist magazine, she is also winner of the prestigious Audie Award for best narration. She has earned numerous Earphones Awards, a Voice Arts Award, and a Listen-Up Award. Audible.com has named her a Genre-Defining Narrator: Master of Memoir. In addition to voice acting, she is an accomplished producer, singer, and theater actor. She is also a producer, singer, photographer, and a writer, as well as the cofounder of a feminist publishing company, Animal Mineral.