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Mothers and Sons Audiobook
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Publisher Description
Award-winning novelist Tóibín brings to this stunning first collection of short works an acute understanding of human frailty and longing. These nine beautifully written, intensely intimate stories explore the psychological push and pull between mother and son. Each story is centered on a transformative moment that alters the delicate balance of power in that relationship and changes the way mother and son perceive one another. With exquisite grace and eloquence, Tóibín writes of men and women bound by convention, by unspoken emotions, and by the stronghold of the past. Many are trapped in lives they would not choose again. Through the unique lens of each complex mother-son relationship, surprising hidden facets of character are revealed.
Note: this collection contains adult subject matter that may be unsettling to some.
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“Gerard Doyle’s introspective and masterful reading of most of Tóibín’s short stories is nearly perfect…Doyle phrases the stories carefully in order to highlight the rich nuances and stark lighting and scenery…Tóibín’s consummate writing skills are not to be missed by lovers of serious literature.”
— Publishers Weekly
Quotes
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“Gerard Doyle does the best and apparently hardest thing for a narrator: He makes himself invisible so that the stories come alive for the listener. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”
— AudioFile -
“In all the wise, tender and illuminating stories to be found in this collection, [Tóibín] aims simply to show how, for better or for worse, the bond between mother and son is as inexplicable as it is unbreakable.”
— Washington Post -
“Tóibín is a writer of extraordinary emotional clarity…These are beautiful stories, beautifully crafted.”
— Literary Review (UK) -
“Longing, frustrated expectations and an offhandedly gorgeous Ireland run steadily throughout…Wistful, touching and complex, these stories form a panoramic portrait of loss.”
— Publishers Weekly -
“[Tóibín’s] exacting control over both form and material never varies…his adaptability in writing short or long, and in working with characters far different from one another, is astonishing…[A] rich but supple prose style seals each story’s—and thus the collection’s—absolute success.”
— Booklist (starred review)
Awards
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Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award
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One of the 2007 New York Times Book Review 100 Notable Books for Fiction
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About Colm Tóibín
Colm Tóibín is an Irish novelist, short story writer, essayist, playwright, journalist, critic, and poet. His novel The Master won the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, the Prix du Meilleur Livre Étranger, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for Fiction, and was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize. His other books of fiction have earned similar awards and have been translated into numerous languages. He lives in Dublin, Ireland.
About Gerard Doyle
Gerard Doyle, a seasoned audio narrator, he has been awarded dozens of AudioFile Earphones Awards, was named a Best Voice in Young Adult Fiction in 2008, and won the prestigious Audie Award for best narration. He was born of Irish parents and raised and educated in England. In Great Britain he has enjoyed an extensive career in both television and repertory theater and toured nationally and internationally with the English Shakespeare Company. He has appeared in London’s West End in the gritty musical The Hired Man. In America he has appeared on Broadway in The Weir and on television in New York Undercover and Law & Order. He has taught drama at Ross School for the several years.