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Let's Take the Long Way Home: A Memoir of Friendship Audiobook
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(3.43) - 56 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
In Let's Take the Long Way Home, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Gail Caldwell offers a powerful and moving memoir about her coming-of-age in mid-life and her extraordinary friendship with Caroline Knapp, the author of Drinking: A Love Story.
In her younger years, Caldwell defined herself by rebellion and independence, a passion for books, and an aversion to intimacy and a distrust of others. Then, while living in Cambridge in her early forties, Caldwell adopted a rambunctious puppy named Clementine. On one of their bucolic walks, she met Caroline and her dog, Lucille, and both women's lives changed forever.
Though they are more different than alike, these two fiercely private, independent women quickly relax into a friendship more profound than either of them expected, a friendship that will thrive on their shared secrets, including parallel struggles with alcoholism and loneliness. They grow increasingly inseparable until, in 2003, Caroline is diagnosed with Stage IV lung cancer.
In her signature exquisite prose, Caldwell mines the deepest levels of devotion and grief in this wise and affecting account about losing her best friend. Let's Take the Long Way Home is also a celebration of life and all the little moments worth cherishing—and affirms why Gail Caldwell is rightly praised as one of our bravest and most honest literary voices.
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"This book was one of the most beautiful and sad books that I have ever read (plus there are dogs in the book, too!). Can you imagine finding the best friend of your life and after being friends for years losing her in seven weeks to a sudden illness? "
— Michele (5 out of 5 stars)
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An exquisite testament to the bittersweet depths of love and loss.
— Patricia B. McConnell, author of For the Love of a Dog
Let's Take the Long Way Home Listener Reviews
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" A sentimental, self-indulgent look at a friendship between two women that ended too soon. Nothing terribly profound, just sad. "
— Andrea, 5/21/2011 -
" A sentimental, self-indulgent look at a friendship between two women that ended too soon. Nothing terribly profound, just sad. "
— Andrea, 5/21/2011 -
" A very poignant memoir of the friendship of two women as one of them is dying of cancer. Darn that cancer! "
— Rebecca, 5/20/2011 -
" I am not a memoir genre reader, so I am not sure if this is a fair review, but I thought this book was ok. I would have like to see more development around the friendship and characters. I though it explained very well grief and how it stays with you for the rest of your life. "
— Darcie, 5/20/2011 -
" A very poignant memoir of the friendship of two women as one of them is dying of cancer. Darn that cancer! "
— Rebecca, 5/20/2011 -
" I am not a memoir genre reader, so I am not sure if this is a fair review, but I thought this book was ok. I would have like to see more development around the friendship and characters. I though it explained very well grief and how it stays with you for the rest of your life. "
— Darcie, 5/20/2011 -
" Picked this one up at work as a promo from last summer. Very sweet, great metaphors for life in rowing, and swimming and developing long-term friendships. You know from the first paragraph that it will be emotional, but very triumphant, too. "
— Barbara, 5/15/2011 -
" Touching memoir - excellent writing - loved the relationships with their dogs. "
— Margery, 5/15/2011 -
" Picked this one up at work as a promo from last summer. Very sweet, great metaphors for life in rowing, and swimming and developing long-term friendships. You know from the first paragraph that it will be emotional, but very triumphant, too. "
— Barbara, 5/15/2011 -
" Touching memoir - excellent writing - loved the relationships with their dogs. "
— Margery, 5/15/2011 -
" Listened to this on cd - quite enjoyable "
— Emily, 5/12/2011 -
" Listened to this on cd - quite enjoyable "
— Emily, 5/12/2011 -
" Yuck. This book was about dogs. I didn't realize that or I wouldn't have bought it. "
— Tonya, 5/10/2011 -
" Yuck. This book was about dogs. I didn't realize that or I wouldn't have bought it. "
— Tonya, 5/10/2011 -
" An interesting, and tragic, portrait of a friendship. The lives of the two principals are so different than mine--solitary, writerly, strong attachment to large dogs--that it was sometimes a bit hard for me to empathize with and understand them. "
— Terrill, 5/4/2011 -
" An interesting, and tragic, portrait of a friendship. The lives of the two principals are so different than mine--solitary, writerly, strong attachment to large dogs--that it was sometimes a bit hard for me to empathize with and understand them. "
— Terrill, 5/4/2011 -
" A good book that highlights the complex friendship between two women. Really sad as one deals with the very early death of the other (a heavy smoker) from lung cancer. Deals with many issues in lots of diverse relationships, a good , but very sad, heavy story. "
— Angela, 5/2/2011 -
" A good book that highlights the complex friendship between two women. Really sad as one deals with the very early death of the other (a heavy smoker) from lung cancer. Deals with many issues in lots of diverse relationships, a good , but very sad, heavy story. "
— Angela, 5/2/2011 -
" This book was one of the most beautiful and sad books that I have ever read (plus there are dogs in the book, too!). <br/> <br/>Can you imagine finding the best friend of your life and after being friends for years losing her in seven weeks to a sudden illness? <br/> <br/> <br/> "
— Michele, 4/25/2011 -
" Beautiful memoir about friendship and grief and love. Highly recommended. <br/> "
— Judy, 4/25/2011 -
" Beautiful memoir about friendship and grief and love. Highly recommended. <br/> "
— Judy, 4/25/2011 -
" I listened to this book and liked it. It was a memoir of a Friendship between two women. Much of the story is how the author Gail Caldwell dealt with the death of her friend, Caroline. This book would be especially meaningful to someone who was grieving such a loss. "
— Kathy, 4/18/2011 -
" I listened to this book and liked it. It was a memoir of a Friendship between two women. Much of the story is how the author Gail Caldwell dealt with the death of her friend, Caroline. This book would be especially meaningful to someone who was grieving such a loss. "
— Kathy, 4/18/2011 -
" I cried on my lunch break. "
— Angeline, 4/17/2011 -
" I cried on my lunch break. "
— Angeline, 4/17/2011 -
" What a beautiful memoir, but so, so sad on so many levels. Those of us who are dog lovers will relate to the intimate connection she has with Clementine. "
— Lucy, 4/15/2011 -
" What a beautiful memoir, but so, so sad on so many levels. Those of us who are dog lovers will relate to the intimate connection she has with Clementine. "
— Lucy, 4/15/2011
About Gail Caldwell
Gail Caldwell, the former chief book critic of the Boston Globe, received the Pulitzer Prize for distinguished criticism in 2001. She is the author of the books A Strong West Wind and Let’s Take the Long Way Home, a New York Times bestseller and the winner of the New England Independent Booksellers Association award for nonfiction. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
About Joyce Bean
Joyce Bean is an accomplished audiobook narrator and director. In addition to having won several AudioFile Earphones Awards, she has been nominated multiple times for the prestigious Audie Award. Equally adept at narrating fiction and nonfiction, and she also narrates audiobooks under the name Jane Brown.