Welcome to Little Wing. It's a place like hundreds of others, nothing special, really. But for four friends—all born and raised in this small Wisconsin town—it is home. And now they are men, coming into their own, or struggling to do so. One of them never left, still working the family farm that has been tilled for generations. But others felt the need to move on, with varying degrees of success. One trades commodities, another took to the rodeo circuit, and one of them even hit it big as a rock star. And then there's Beth, a woman who has meant something special in each of their lives. Now all four are brought together for a wedding. Little Wing seems even smaller than before. While lifelong bonds are still strong, there are stresses—between the friends, between husbands and wives. There will be heartbreak, but there will also be hope, healing, even heroism as these memorable people learn the true meaning of adult friendship and love. Seldom has the American heartland been so richly and accurately portrayed. Though the town may have changed, the one thing that hasn't is the beauty of the Wisconsin farmland, the lure of which, in Nickolas Butler's hands, emerges as a vibrant character in the story. Shotgun Lovesongs is that rare work of fiction that evokes a specific time and place yet movingly describes the universal human condition. It is, in short, a truly remarkable audiobook—a novel that once listened to will never be forgotten.
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“The characters in NickolasButler’s small town of Little Wing are brought to life by a talented group ofnarrators. As old emotional buttons get pushed and new conflicts get explored,their performances grab the listener by the ears and don’t let go.”
— AudioFile
“The most lyrical parts of this big-hearted book are about how all the characters, including the star are almost physically drawn to the town and one another…Colorful…impressively original debut…Lovely.”
— New York Times“Sparkles in every way. A love letter to the open lonely American heartland…A must read.”
— People“Emotionally resonant…In prose that is as plain-spoken and honest as a Midwestern farmer, [Butler] tells the story of five friends and lovers in the fictional Little Wing, Wisconsin.”
— Minneapolis Star Tribune“There is…a profound empathy for the characters and the small-town dynamic that the reader will likely share, an appreciation for what ‘America was, or could be.’”
— Kirkus Reviews (starred review)“[Shotgun Lovesongs] a great listen with a multiple cast of narrators who are doing great justice to Nickolas Butler’s beautiful prose. Hearing his phrasing being spoken reminded me why I loved this book so much.”
— Bookreporter.com“Grabs the listener by the ears and doesn't let go… there's no question that all the narrators connect with the characters' emotional journeys.
— AudioFile MagazineUsing different narrators for the various characters is a brilliant move. Each is polished and well worth hearing.
— Christian Science MonitorBe the first to write a review about this audiobook!
Nickolas Butler was born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, and raised in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. His writings have appeared in Narrative Magazine, Ploughshares, the Kenyon Review Online, the Progressive, the Christian Science Monitor, and elsewhere. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop.
Sylvia True was born in Manchester, England, and now lives in Massachusetts with her husband and dogs. She teaches high school. The Wednesday Group is her first novel.
Ari Fliakos is an actor with experience in television, radio, film, theater, and voice-overs. He has earned four Earphones Awards, and his narration of Seth Patrick’s Reviver won the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration for paranormal fiction. On screen, he is best-known for his roles in Law & Order, Pills, and Company K.
Maggie Hoffman is a voice talent and Earphones Award–winning audiobook narrator.
Scott Sowers is an actor and audiobook narrator. AudioFile magazine named him the 2008 Best Voice in Mystery and Suspense. He is the winner of seven Earphones Awards.
Scott Shepherd is best known for his work with two internationally celebrated theater companies, the Wooster Group and Elevator Repair Service. He was the narrator of Gatz, a seven-hour staging of the entire text of The Great Gatsby, for which he won an Obie and an Elliot Norton Award.
Susan Bennett, Earphones Award-winning narrator, has enjoyed an extensive career as a vocal artist. She has worked with major agencies on such accounts as Coca-Cola, McDonald’s, AT&T, Blue Cross, Goodyear, and Club Med. She also dabbles in the music industry as the singer and keyboardist for The Interactive! Band. Along with her guitarist husband, Rick Hinkle, she is the co-owner of Audiocam Music, a full-service recording studio.
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.