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Half-Blood Blues: A Novel Audiobook
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(3.00) - 5,650 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Winner of the Scotiabank Giller Prize
Man Booker Prize Finalist 2011
An Oprah Magazine Best Book of the Year
Shortlisted for the Governor General's Literary Award for Fiction
Berlin, 1939. The Hot Time Swingers, a popular jazz band, has been forbidden to play by the Nazis. Their young trumpet-player Hieronymus Falk, declared a musical genius by none other than Louis Armstrong, is arrested in a Paris café. He is never heard from again. He was twenty years old, a German citizen. And he was black.
Berlin, 1952. Falk is a jazz legend. Hot Time Swingers band members Sid Griffiths and Chip Jones, both African Americans from Baltimore, have appeared in a documentary about Falk. When they are invited to attend the film's premier, Sid's role in Falk's fate will be questioned and the two old musicians set off on a surprising and strange journey.
From the smoky bars of pre-war Berlin to the salons of Paris, Sid leads the reader through a fascinating, little-known world as he describes the friendships, love affairs and treacheries that led to Falk's incarceration in Sachsenhausen. Esi Edugyan's Half-Blood Blues is a story about music and race, love and loyalty, and the sacrifices we ask of ourselves, and demand of others, in the name of art.
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"WOW! This is one fabulous tale! This was the Giller Award for 2011 in Canadian Lit. and has won numerous other awards and I must say very well deserved. I do not give 5 stars liberally, a novel must have a certain "grab" factor for my highest nomination, and this has it in spades. The flow and prose of this novel is so captivating that I was continuously using the annotations feature on my ereader. I have read a couple of Giller prize winners in the past (want to give a fellow Canuck props when I can)and found that some have been hit or miss with me but this book is real good, really good. Highly recommend!"
— Bernie (5 out of 5 stars)
Quotes
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Destined to win a wide audience…Deftly paced in incident and tone, moving from scenes of snappy dialogue, in which band members squabble and banter humorously, to tense, atmospheric passages of description…Edugyan makes fresh tracks in this richly-imagined story…Half-Blood Blues itself represent a kind of flowering--that of a gifted storyteller.
— The Toronto Star -
Ingenious.
— The Daily Telegraph (London) -
Shines with knowledge, emotional insight, and historical revisionism…Truly extraordinary in its evocation of time and place, its shimmering jazz vernacular, its pitch-perfect male banter and its period slang.
— The Independent (London) -
A superbly atmospheric prologue kick-starts a thrilling story about truth and betrayal…[A] brilliantly fast-moving novel.
— The Times (London) -
“Unforgettable…Brilliantly conceived, gorgeously executed. It's a work that promises to lead black literature in a whole new direction.
— The Globe and Mail (Toronto) -
“Unforgettable…Brilliantly conceived, gorgeously executed. It’s a work that promises to lead black literature in a whole new direction.”
— Globe and Mail (Toronto) -
“A superbly atmospheric prologue kick-starts a thrilling story about truth and betrayal…[A] brilliantly fast-moving novel.”
— Times (London) -
“Shines with knowledge, emotional insight, and historical revisionism…Truly extraordinary in its evocation of time and place, its shimmering jazz vernacular, its pitch-perfect male banter, and its period slang.”
— Independent (London) -
“Destined to win a wide audience…Deftly paced in incident and tone, moving from scenes of snappy dialogue, in which band members squabble and banter humorously, to tense, atmospheric passages of description…Edugyan makes fresh tracks in this richly-imagined story…Half-Blood Blues itself represent a kind of flowering—that of a gifted storyteller.”
— Toronto Star
Awards
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A 2011 Governor General’s Literary Award Finalist
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Winner of the 2011 Scotiabank Giller Prize
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A 2011 ALA Notable Book for Fiction
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A 2011 Library Journal Best Book for Fiction
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A 2011 Man Booker Prize Finalist
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Writers' Trust of Canada Awards Finalist, 2012
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Among shortlisted titles for Writers’ Trust of Canada Awards Finalist, 2012
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Walter Scott Prize Shortlist, 2012
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Among longlisted titles for Cleveland Plain Dealer's Best Books of the Year, 2012
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Among shortlisted titles for Walter Scott Prize for Historical Fiction Shortlist, 2012
Half-Blood Blues Listener Reviews
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" Really enjoyed this. At first I thought it was probably an overhyped book on generally "sexy" themes, but I was hooked by the midpoint mark and the second half was fantastic. "
— Jake, 2/13/2014 -
" Terrific insight into the jazz scene in Europe between the wars and the impact of WWII on African Americans in Europe at that time. "
— Sharon, 1/31/2014 -
" This book is so much better than the description. I felt like I had read nothing like it before! "
— Nicole, 1/21/2014 -
" Incredibly moving, it stays with you. Highly recommend. "
— Indiia, 12/21/2013 -
" Really interested and well written. Hard to find a completely original Holocaust book- this is a great one! "
— Ruthie, 12/18/2013 -
" A jazz group composed of Americans and Germans gets caught up in the political events of World War II. "
— Margaret, 10/31/2013 -
" The 1st person POV is incredibly strong and engrossing. The depiction of these characters in Berlin and Paris on the cusp on WWII was new to me and felt totally fresh. The betrayl at the heart of it seemed real and anchoring. Written with aplomb, totally satisfying. "
— Claire, 9/7/2013 -
" i enjoyed this book. very well written and quite engaging once i got into it. reminded me a bit of motzart and salierri. "
— Mar, 8/12/2013 -
" Fabulous book! Wonderful story that keeps you guessing on every page. Beautifully written. An absolute pleasure to read. "
— Terri, 7/19/2013 -
" Did learn quite a bit about what life was like for these black Americans leaving the USA due to racism and heading into Hell in WW2 in Germany and Paris. But it left me wanting more from the story. Not sure I would recommend to fellow followers. "
— Debbie, 12/30/2012 -
" Disappointing. The character were too enigmatic (or underdeveloped). I find't get much of a feeling for jazz either. "
— Debbie, 11/3/2012 -
" In part I enjoyed this book, although at times it was a struggle to keep reading it. Overall, left feeling so-so. "
— Margaret, 7/11/2012 -
" This is a full narrative that flips back and for th between a terrifying time at the beginning of WWII and 1992. The characters and the story are believeable. However, for me, the very ending was abrupt and almost as if the author ran out of words. "
— Pam, 7/9/2012 -
" I was quite disappointed in this book. Character development was shallow, plot thin and style non-engaging. "
— Maryan, 6/17/2012
About Esi Edugyan
Esi Edugyan is the author of several books, including Washington Black, longlisted for the ScotiaBank Giller Prize and the Man Booker Prize. Half Blood Blues won the Scotiabank Giller Prize and was a finalist for the Man Booker Prize, the Governor General’s Literary Award, the Rogers Writers’ Trust Prize and the Orange Prize. Her debut novel, The Second Life of Samuel Tyne, was nominated for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award and was chosen by the New York Public Library as one of 2004’s Books to Remember. She has a masters degree in writing from Johns Hopkins Writing Seminars and has held fellowships in the United States, Scotland, Iceland, Germany, Hungary, Finland, Spain, and Belgium. She has taught creative writing at both Johns Hopkins University and the University of Victoria and has sat on many international panels.