At seventeen, David “Lizard” Hochmeyer is nearly seven feet tall, a star quarterback, and Princeton-bound. His future seems all but assured until his parents are mysteriously murdered, leaving Lizard and his older sister, Kate, adrift and alone. In a mansion across the pond from their Connecticut home lives the world’s greatest ballerina, Sylphide, and her rock star husband, whose own disasters intersect with Lizard’s—and Kate’s—in the most intimate and surprising ways.
Over the years that follow, Lizard and Kate are obsessed with piecing together the motives behind their parents’ deaths, returning time and again to their father’s missing briefcase, his shady business dealings and shaky finances, and to Sylphide, who has threaded her way into Lizard’s and Kate’s lives—much more deeply than either had ever realized. From the football fields of Princeton to a stint with the NFL, from the elaborate dances at the mansion to the gourmet restaurant he opens, it only takes Lizard a lifetime to set things right again.
Download and start listening now!
“After their parents’ mysteriousmurder while they’re still in high school, David Hockmeyer and his oldersister, Kate, spend decades attempting to untangle the web of their teenageyears to discover the truth in the lies. Pete Larkin narrates in a deep, evenvoice that conveys the darkness and mystery surrounding the murder and David’syears of trying to make sense of it. But Roorbach delivers far more than amystery to puzzle the listener. David’s memories of the past, mixed with hispresent, are full of love and angst, and Larkin expertly navigates through thestory, giving each section emphasis. The startling variety of people Davidmeets are all given unique accents. Larkin’s narration builds the suspense andlets Roorbach’s story unravel slowly, making this audiobook one to savor. Winnerof AudioFile Earphones Award.”
— AudioFile
“Hilarious and heartbreaking, wild and wise, Bill Roorbach’s Life Among Giants, which is earning comparisons to The World According to Garp, is a vivid chronicle of a life lived large.”
— Parade“A bighearted, big-boned story…Life Among Giants reads like something written by a kinder, gentler John Irving…Roorbach is a humane and entertaining storyteller with a smooth, graceful style.”
— Washington Post“Consistently surprising and truly entertaining…Part thriller, part family drama, Life Among Giants is deliciously strange and deeply affecting.”
— Boston Globe“[A] thrilling indulgence, a tale of opulence, love triangles, and madness, set against a sumptuous landscape of lust and feasts…This is a purely Gatsby-esque portrayal of celebrity.”
— Publishers Weekly (starred review)Be the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Bill Roorbach is the author of eleven books of fiction and nonfiction, including the Flannery O'Connor Prize and O. Henry Prize winner Big Bend and the Kirkus Prize finalist The Remedy for Love. The tenth-anniversary edition of his craft book, Writing Life Stories, is used in writing programs around the world. His work has been published in the New York Times, Harper's, the Atlantic Monthly, the New York Times Magazine, Granta, New York, and dozens of other magazines and journals.
Pete Larkin has narrated dozens of audiobook titles, won five Earphones Awards, and been a finalist in 2012 for the prestigious Audie Award for best narration. He has been praised for his expert ability to speak in multiple accents. He is also an on-camera host and accomplished voice-over artist for hundreds of commercials and promos for a variety of companies, corporations, and governmental agencies. He was the public address announcer for the New York Mets and has worked as a radio jockey in New York, Baltimore, and Washington, DC.