Telegraph Avenue: A Novel Audiobook

" This inspired intergenerational panorama is required reading for anyone interested in East Bay culture and history. Chabon's writing is as electrifyingly alive as ever, and his knack for creating fully realized characters is astounding. Using an ailing independent record store as ground zero for a time-spanning story about fathers, sons, and legacy, "Telegraph Avenue" is like a funkier, less somber version of "The Place Beyond the Pines." Like most literary novels, it takes some time to really hit its stride, but once it did I was hooked. Even when the story lags or takes seemingly unnecessary diversions, Chabon's writing is captivating enough to keep the reader engaged. It wraps things up a bit too tidily, but was well worth the journey. "

" Dude can certainly write (and write and write). Too many indulgent scene/head riffs from this more than capable author. Saw a lot that still has me thinking but in the end, I just couldn't finish the sucker bc Chabon was so long-winded. "

" I continue to read Chabon's new books after absolutely loving Kavalier and Clay even though it is impossible to be as good as it. This was really different from K and C and The Yiddish Policemen's Union, other than major characters being Jewish. The story is mainly about two couples- where the husbands are best friends and in business with each other (the record store) and the wives are also good friends and in business together (as midwives). There are also family members as well, one couples' son and his friend whom we figured out pretty easily (and early in the story) has a family connected to the group as well. Also one of the men's estranged father heavily ties into the plot as well. It's hard to keep everyone straight especially listening to the audio-version. The thing I enjoyed the most was hearing about the wives, Aviva and Gwen, and their work. This is the first Chabon book I have read were he has given such a prominent voice to female characters and they were my favorites. The storyline takes a while to build up and doesn't really go anywhere great when everything comes together. Plus I didn't like the way it ended. "

" I forget it takes me FOREVER to get into Chabon's books, but once there, the reading is almost always worthwhile. In this case, it took over 200 pages, and a paragraph that lasted an entire chapter - 12 pages long...but the story lines connect and I feel satisfied I stayed. I enjoy the effort in coloring and bringing to life the neighborhood/city and it's inhabitants of Telegraph Avenue. "

" I've loved Chabon ever since "Kavalier and Clay" and "Telegraph Avenue" is as strong as anything he's done. The character work is awesome and the ending is as satisfying as anyone could ask for. From a pure craft standpoint, nobody does metaphors/similes like Chabon and I will likely never forget some of his for my entire life (like, for example, "smooth as a porn star's testicles."). If Chabon is guilty of any flaws, it's only that he occasionally lapses into a bit of what I'd call over-writing, i.e., attempting to describe a scene or character's feelings in such an intense and memorable way that in the end it comes out as being a bit over the top. Still, I love the guy. He's one of finest talents writing today. "

" wow, completely blew me away - first michael chabon book i read and clearly i've been missing out. the skill of the writing in this book is mindboggling. i listened to it as an audiobook, and my only wish was that i had read the book in a hard copy to look over the written word. i read a great article in the nytimes comparing the writing in telegraph avenue to a current ulysses. missing one star because i'm not sure it was an enjoyable read, as much as it was a literary masterpiece for me. "

" I loved it! Takes a bit of work to get into the rhythm of the writing and sentence structure but worth it - just like listening to jazz. Chabon is a wonderful writer. "

" The only other Chabon book I've read is The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, which was awesome. Telegraph Avenue isn't quite that, but it's still good. Great, rich characters (possibly too many of them) and a modern setting at the intersection of a few subcultures make for pretty rich storytelling opportunities, and Chabon does a good job at mining many of them. Though the promise of a "church of vinyl" novel motivated my purchase, I found some of the other storylines, like the midwives, more fleshed out and compelling. At times, Chabon's language is so clever it takes the reader out of the story. That said, it's a satisfying book, at least to this music lover from Detroit. "

" It was very different from his other books. I enjoyed it, but I didn't get into it as much as some of his others. "

" Too many words fighting for my attention. Stopped reading. "

" Telegraph Avenue contains a cast of well-crafted characters and amazing metaphors, but the plot moved at a snail's pace. "

" Leuk verhaal, maar iets te vol met personages, levensgeschiedenissen en verhaallijnen. Ik vond het een beetje een mix van High Fidelity (Hornby), Bezoek van een Knokploeg (Egan) en Vrijheid (Franzen). "

" Wonderful sense of place and time and marvelous description. At times I was able to go with the flow of that, but at other times the spill of words was like an undertow. "

" Very well written but sometimes he got a bit too clever and the prose distracted from the story. "

" Loved Cavalier and Klay, managed through the others but had to put this down midway. In the world of twitter self editing becomes more important. Cultural trivia is fun to a point and then it simply becomes a deterrent from the plot. "

" not my favorite of his, but of course pretty damn good anyway... "

" Loved this book. I didn't want it to end. Chabon's books are all so different; I became part of Telegraph Ave. I really enjoyed his characters & their relationships to one another. Parts of the book were very funny and others poetic. He captures the time, place, sights, sounds & taste very well. "

" Like Michael Chabon' books but this not one of them. Could not get into the characters or story line "

" Chabon's superlative use of metaphor makes this s masterpiece of writing and a textbook for writers. For me, the characters take second place to the joy of reading his prose. "

" Ugh...I just couldn't get into this book...such a GUY novel. Too bad too-I loved Kavalier and Clay, but nothing has been able to follow that one for me. "

" I'd give this a B. Took a while to get into reading Chabon's writing rhythm, but once in, the characters were interesting. The story doesn't wrap everything up, though... "

" Chabon's magical prose style is on full display in this humorous and heart warming novel. A tour de force from one of the best contemporary fiction writers around. "