The Bayou Trilogy: Under the Bright Lights, Muscle for the Wing, and The Ones You Do Audiobook, by Daniel Woodrell Play Audiobook Sample

The Bayou Trilogy: Under the Bright Lights, Muscle for the Wing, and The Ones You Do Audiobook

The Bayou Trilogy: Under the Bright Lights, Muscle for the Wing, and The Ones You Do Audiobook, by Daniel Woodrell Play Audiobook Sample
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Read By: Bronson Pinchot Publisher: Mulholland Books Listen Time: at 1.0x Speed 10.00 hours at 1.5x Speed 7.50 hours at 2.0x Speed Series: The Bayou Trilogy Release Date: March 2022 Format: Unabridged Audiobook ISBN: 9781668612408

Quick Stats About this Audiobook

Total Audiobook Chapters:

56

Longest Chapter Length:

35:19 minutes

Shortest Chapter Length:

20 seconds

Average Chapter Length:

16:08 minutes

Audiobooks by this Author:

8

Other Audiobooks Written by Daniel Woodrell: > View All...

Publisher Description

A hard-hitting, critically acclaimed trilogy of crime novels from an author about whom New York magazine has written, "What people say about Cormac McCarthy . . . goes double for [Woodrell]. Possibly more." In the parish of St. Bruno, sex is easy, corruption festers, and double-dealing is a way of life. Rene Shade is an uncompromising detective swimming in a sea of filth. As Shade takes on hit men, porn kings, a gang of ex-cons, and the ghosts of his own checkered past, Woodrell's three seminal novels pit long-entrenched criminals against the hard line of the law, brother against brother, and two vastly different sons against a long-absent father. The Bayou Trilogy highlights the origins of a one-of-a-kind author, a writer who for over two decades has created an indelible representation of the shadows of the rural American experience and has steadily built a devoted following among crime fiction aficionados and esteemed literary critics alike.

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"Read the whole trilogy in one gulp. Woodrell conjures a whole-cloth coon-ass countryside, replete with every shade of lowlife. And every lowlife Shade is a gem. Rene Shade, iffy cop and native son, carries the first two novels, but his dad arrives with young daughter in tow to enliven the third novel. Though the first two books are well constructed and full of dialog that sizzles with local flavor, the third book holds hints of where this Winter's Bone author is headed. The elder Shade rips off some neologisms that I won't soon forget -- "stragedy" being my favorite. While the first two novels are more along the line of thriller/procedurals, the third is more along the line of No Country for Old Men, with unlikely criminals fleeing a relentless killer. The final scene is as elegiac as I've read in many years."

— Clay (4 out of 5 stars)

Quotes

  • Woodrell writes drolly and pungently of rednecks and swamp rats with the affection and exasperation of a man who has spent his life among them ... The Bayou Trilogy stands with the best crime fiction of its period.

    — St. Louis Post-Dispatch
  • Old fans and new readers alike out to be grateful....The novels showcase Woodrell's evolution as a writer....Woodrell's The Bayou Trilogy supplies all the pleasure of hard-boiled noir: laconic cynicism, casually colorful characters (a diner owner, for instance, is described as having 'slightly more than a basic issue of a nose') and a hero whose feet of clay make his dedication to law and order all the more admirable.

    — Chicago Tribune
  • "There's poetry in Woodrell's mayhem, each novel-and scene-full of gritty and memorable Cajun details.

    — Publishers Weekly, starred review
  • Really cool . . . Jump on these three top-shelf books.

    — Library Journal
  • The Bayou Trilogy is more than a landmark of crime fiction; it is an impressive and important addition to American letters. Bravo, Daniel Woodrell, and long live Rene Shade.

    — PulpSerenade.com
  • What people say about Cormac McCarthy . . . goes double for [Woodrell]. Possibly more.

    — New York Magazine
  • A backcountry Shakespeare . . . The inhabitants of Daniel Woodrell's fiction often have a streak that's not just mean but savage; yet physical violence does not dominate his books. What does dominate is a seasoned fatalism . . . Woodrell has tapped into a novelist's honesty, and lucky for us, he's remorseless that way.

    — Los Angeles Times
  • Daniel Woodrell writes in sentences that could be ancient carvings on a tree.

    — Chicago Tribune
  • Woodrell is the least-known major writer in the country right now.

    — Dennis Lehane, USA Today
  • Daniel Woodrell has quietly built a career that whould be the envy of most American novelists today.

    — Washington Times
  • Poetic prose and raw dialogue . . . dark-hued suspense.

    — Washington Post Book World, on Under the Bright Lights
  • A gritty, atmospheric slice of crime fiction . . . a superior piece of narrative noir.

    — Kirkus, on Under the Bright Lights
  • Vitality pulses from this perfectly paced book . . . a flawless novel.

    — San Francisco Examiner, on Under the Bright Lights
  • Sly and powerful.

    — John D. MacDonald, on Under the Bright Lights
  • As steamy as the bayou country that is its setting.

    — The Washington Post Book World, on Under the Bright Lights
  • Daniel Woodrell is stone brilliant--a Bayou Dutch Leonard, steeped in rich Louisiana language. Muscle for the Wing is vicious, colloquial, dark and--most surprisingly--brutally funny. To read it is to enter a superbly realized universe of surprises.

    — James Ellroy, author of LA Confidential and Blood's A Rover
  • Off-the-wall characters, quirky and bizarre, yet as authentic as any I've ever met in a novel. Woodrell succeeds--in fact triumphs . . . and spins a hell of a yarn to boot.

    — The Washington Post Book World, on Muscle for the Wing
  • The colorful characters and piquant tongues in which they speak . . . really have us swooning . . . All offer hot-breathed testimony to the human gumbo that is St. Bruno.

    — The New York Times, on Muscle for the Wing
  • Woodrell does for the Ozarks what Raymond Chandler did for Los Angeles or Elmore Leonard did for Florida.

    — LA Times, on Muscle for the Wing
  • Characters as screwy and dangerous as any in Elmore Leonard, as a sense of pace and language that never warns you whether a scene or sentence will end in a burst of poetry or a hail of bullets.

    — Kirkus, on The Ones You Do
  • Deeply atmospheric and oozing with the mojo of the swamp . . . Woodrell's work echoes that of William Kennedy, William Faulkner, and Walter Mosley . . . Fine writing.

    — The Chicago Tribune, on The Ones You Do
  • The pages snap, crackle, and pop. Woodrell's writing reminds me of the late, great John D. MacDonald, the kind of keen eye for the local detail, but he walks his own walk and talks his own talk.

    — Barry Gifford, on The Ones You Do

The Bayou Trilogy Listener Reviews

Overall Performance: 3.79166666666667 out of 53.79166666666667 out of 53.79166666666667 out of 53.79166666666667 out of 53.79166666666667 out of 5 (3.79)
5 Stars: 6
4 Stars: 11
3 Stars: 5
2 Stars: 0
1 Stars: 2
Narration: 5 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 5 (5.00)
5 Stars: 1
4 Stars: 0
3 Stars: 0
2 Stars: 0
1 Stars: 0
Story: 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5 (4.00)
5 Stars: 0
4 Stars: 1
3 Stars: 0
2 Stars: 0
1 Stars: 0
Write a Review
  • Overall Performance: 5 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 5 Narration Rating: 5 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 5 Story Rating: 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5

    — KJW, 7/26/2014
  • Overall Performance: 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5

    " The novels themselves were quite short, and I'm not sure how much I would have enjoyed them separately, but they made for a compelling whole. It's a trite way of putting it, but Woodrell's early books read like Elmore Leonard filtered through the sensibilities of an MFA-trained writer (which Woodrell was--Iowa, no less). "

    — Brandon, 2/20/2014
  • Overall Performance: 3 out of 53 out of 53 out of 53 out of 53 out of 5

    " I expected to enjoy this trilogy more than I did. I think the problem for me is that the stories are very much character driven rather than plot driven, and the central character (Rene Shade, the tough guy detective cliche) just wasn't particularly interesting. Out the three novels, the last (The Ones you Do) was my favourite, mainly because it centres on Rene's errant father "John X", a charismatic old (ex)pool hustler, who is far more entertaining than Rene ever could be. Also it has by far the best ending. "

    — David, 2/10/2014
  • Overall Performance: 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5

    " What brings me back to Woodrell is his ability to set a place and a mood and complete root the reader in them. The term "southern noir" is a perfect fit and his characters are both classic and wholly original. "

    — Jennifer, 2/3/2014
  • Overall Performance: 1 out of 51 out of 51 out of 51 out of 51 out of 5

    " I am planning to read this just because Obama is reading it while he's on vacation. Of course, he has been criticized for reading fiction; but, I like to be entertained while I'm on vacation, too. "

    — Denise, 1/17/2014
  • Overall Performance: 3 out of 53 out of 53 out of 53 out of 53 out of 5

    " I read Woodrell's books in the wrong order. Winter's Bone is so luminous and character-driven, that it's hard to switch into the broader, more violent (seriously!), and faster paced world of the popular hard-boiled murder mystery after that. And I'm a fan of hard-boiled crime fiction! Woodrell does a great job setting up the atmosphere of the bayou, and I do really enjoy the way he sets out former boxer and police detective Rene Shade as his investigating figure and sets him in a family where some are on the shady side of the law (hence the name) and others are devoted to shadiness but seem above board (like his brother, lawyer Francois Shade). I actually would have enjoyed spending more time with this family and less time with the criminal shenanigans that these novellas trace (and chase), which explains why the last book, about Rene Shade's long-absent father getting into trouble with a sadistic killer, appealed to me the most. Each is an enjoyable read, but none is as special as Winter's Bone was throughout, perhaps an unfair generic comparison, though I think some Chandler and Hammett mysteries are as luminous and thought-provoking as anything written in a realistic mode. Regardless, Woodrell nails atmosphere and dialogue, and this book is a fast read, though I kept picking it up and putting it down (hence it took me a long time to get through, which is never really a fair way of evaluating narratives based so much on suspense). "

    — Cat, 1/5/2014
  • Overall Performance: 5 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 5

    " Really loved this series - a great change of pace! "

    — Cami, 12/22/2013
  • Overall Performance: 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5

    " Almost through the 1st of the 3 stories and am stunningly impressed with Daniel Woodrell's story construction!! "

    — Marcleitson, 12/8/2013
  • Overall Performance: 5 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 5

    " This is a trilogy consisting of three earlier connected novels written at different times. I love Woodrell's work and these books are no exception; in my opinion, the best of the three is "The Ones We Do". "

    — Doctorwu51, 11/23/2013
  • Overall Performance: 5 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 5

    " I came to Daniel Woodrell through the film, Winter's Bone and The Bayou Trilogy is the first book of his I've read. I cannot put it down! "

    — Michael, 9/25/2013
  • Overall Performance: 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5

    " I had not read Woodrell before. He has a gift for description and dialouge. Rene Shade and the Shade family are a true find. "

    — John, 5/10/2013
  • Overall Performance: 3 out of 53 out of 53 out of 53 out of 53 out of 5

    " While on the whole, the three short novels here do not stand up to Winter's Bone, there are moments in each where Woodrell's genuis shines through. All in all, good, gritty, southern crime writing. If you like Woodrell, you'll like this omnibus edition. "

    — Casey, 4/25/2013
  • Overall Performance: 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5

    " Three books featuring detective Rene Shade. Daniel Woodrell is very talented and a great read. Similar to Burke although I think Cormac McCarthy is a more superior wordsmith. However, Woodrell has a sarcastic way with words which fits this genre well. "

    — Bentley, 4/7/2013
  • Overall Performance: 1 out of 51 out of 51 out of 51 out of 51 out of 5

    " I really wanted to like this, but found it too wordy for my taste and could only make it through half of 'Under the Bright Lights.' "

    — Corinna, 3/8/2013
  • Overall Performance: 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5

    " Three early mystery novels, more or less, collected in one volume. Good stuff, though Woodrell's writing really improved in Winter's Bone. I read the last novel before, and it reads much better here as part of the whole. "

    — Steve, 8/7/2012
  • Overall Performance: 5 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 5

    " Darker than expected, but I really liked it. Wonderful prose kept it fun. Definitely going to read more Woodrell. "

    — Margaret, 4/19/2012
  • Overall Performance: 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5

    " Read the first novel in a couple days. Not the best Woodrell, but that's like considering that every other writer isn't Woodrell. Tight plotting coupled with a horde of miscreants and goddamn do his characters say the coolest things. "

    — Nik, 1/21/2012
  • Overall Performance: 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5

    " The description of details and the dialogue is enough to keep you reading. "

    — Ed, 1/12/2012
  • Overall Performance: 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5

    " I looove this guy's writing! Winter's Bone is better than the 3 novels in this book, but these are great too. I just finished the second one--love reading about hillbilly mischief. "

    — Alexis, 9/30/2011
  • Overall Performance: 5 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 55 out of 5

    " Darker than expected, but I really liked it. Wonderful prose kept it fun. Definitely going to read more Woodrell. "

    — Margaret, 6/9/2011
  • Overall Performance: 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5

    " I looove this guy's writing! Winter's Bone is better than the 3 novels in this book, but these are great too. I just finished the second one--love reading about hillbilly mischief. "

    — Alexis, 6/6/2011
  • Overall Performance: 4 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 54 out of 5

    " What brings me back to Woodrell is his ability to set a place and a mood and complete root the reader in them. The term "southern noir" is a perfect fit and his characters are both classic and wholly original. "

    — Jennifer, 5/17/2011
  • Overall Performance: 3 out of 53 out of 53 out of 53 out of 53 out of 5

    " Received a copy from Goodreads First Reads. "

    — Itskevinzhang, 2/24/2011
  • Overall Performance: 3 out of 53 out of 53 out of 53 out of 53 out of 5

    " I started reading this the other night, and the heat began climbing in the room. What atmosphere! Great characters and sense of place. I'm just going to put this one aside for a bit. Going a little slow. "

    — Brian, 2/15/2011

About Daniel Woodrell

Daniel Woodrell lives in the Missouri Ozarks near the Arkansas state line. His five most recent novels were selected as New York Times Notable Books of the Year, and Tomato Red won the PEN West Award for the Novel. Two novels have been adapted as major motion pictures: Woe to Live On, filmed in 1999 by Ang Lee as Ride with the Devil, starring Tobey Maguire and Skeet Ulrich, and Winter’s Bone, a 2010 film accepted to the US dramatic competition category at the Sundance Film Festival.

About Bronson Pinchot

Bronson Pinchot, Audible’s Narrator of the Year for 2010, has won Publishers Weekly Listen-Up Awards, AudioFile Earphones Awards, Audible’s Book of the Year Award, and Audie Awards for several audiobooks, including Matterhorn, Wise Blood, Occupied City, and The Learners. A magna cum laude graduate of Yale, he is an Emmy- and People’s Choice-nominated veteran of movies, television, and Broadway and West End shows. His performance of Malvolio in Twelfth Night was named the highlight of the entire two-year Kennedy Center Shakespeare Festival by the Washington Post. He attended the acting programs at Shakespeare & Company and Circle-in-the-Square, logged in well over 200 episodes of television, starred or costarred in a bouquet of films, plays, musicals, and Shakespeare on Broadway and in London, and developed a passion for Greek revival architecture.