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The Humans: A Novel Audiobook
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Publisher Description
The bestselling, award-winning author of The Midnight Library offers his funniest, most devastating dark comedy yet, a “silly, sad, suspenseful, and soulful” (Philadelphia Inquirer) novel that’s “full of heart” (Entertainment Weekly).
When an extra-terrestrial visitor arrives on Earth, his first impressions of the human species are less than positive. Taking the form of Professor Andrew Martin, a prominent mathematician at Cambridge University, the visitor is eager to complete the gruesome task assigned him and hurry home to his own utopian planet, where everyone is omniscient and immortal.
He is disgusted by the way humans look, what they eat, their capacity for murder and war, and is equally baffled by the concepts of love and family. But as time goes on, he starts to realize there may be more to this strange species than he had thought. Disguised as Martin, he drinks wine, reads poetry, develops an ear for rock music, and a taste for peanut butter. Slowly, unexpectedly, he forges bonds with Martin’s family. He begins to see hope and beauty in the humans’ imperfection, and begins to question the very mission that brought him there.
Praised by The New York Times as a “novelist of great seriousness and talent,” author Matt Haig delivers an unlikely story about human nature and the joy found in the messiness of life on Earth. The Humans is a funny, compulsively readable tale that playfully and movingly explores the ultimate subject—ourselves.
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“Narrator Mark Meadows portrays thealien visitor at the heart of this fascinating story, adroitly vocalizing thecreature’s evolution. A native from the utopian planet Vonadoria is sent toEarth to take the place of a math professor and bury his discovery: thesolution to a mathematical conundrum that promises to elevate humans—to thedetriment of the rest of the universe. As voiced by Meadows, the ersatzprofessor, Andrew Martin, at first speaks with a clipped British accent as hedescribes what repulses him about humanity. But as he slowly goes native, hisspeech becomes, well, more human, including instances of slang and profanity.This production examines what it means to be human, and Meadows does aremarkable job of humanizing its extraterrestrial protagonist.”
— AudioFile
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“Matt Haig is a novelist of stunning talent, with a laser eye for the absurd and endless reserves of compassion.”
— Parade -
“Funny, poignant, and full of heart.”
— Entertainment Weekly -
“The Humans is by turns silly, sad, suspenseful, and soulful….Haig manages…to burrow beneath clichés as he explores the meaning of sentimentality, loyalty, love, and mortality….Haig’s insights are often compelling.”
— Philadelphia Inquirer -
“This is a tender, funny novel about the often irrational ways humans behave, written in accessible prose and invites comparison with Mark Haddon and Patrick Ness.”
— Independent on Sunday (London) -
“A literary virtuoso…Matt Haig is a supreme talent and a writer to cherish, and The Humans is undoubtedly his magnum opus.”
— Guardian (London) -
“A novel with an enormous heart, infused with a sense of gratitude for everything that makes us who we are.”
— Daily Express (UK) -
“Haig’s unexpectedly raw tale of love, belonging, and peanut butter…It’s funny, clever and quite, quite lovely.”
— Sunday Times (London) -
“Great idea, great plot, and superb comedy, especially from the alien’s puzzled analyses of primitive human ways.”
— Daily Mail (London) -
“A funny and touching tale about an alien who visits and experiences the weird and often frightening beauty of being human.”
— Shelf Awareness -
“A surprisingly touching and often hilarious tale…Haig elevates the premise with his deft, humor-rich storytelling skills. A reverence for mathematics and history also runs through the book, cutting through some of the sentimentality with a healthy dose of intellectualism. The Humans is an engaging summer read.”
— BookPage -
“Haig strikes exactly the right tone of bemusement, discovery, and wonder in creating what is ultimately a sweet-spirited celebration of humanity and the trials and triumphs of being human. The result is a thought-provoking, compulsively readable delight.”
— Booklist (starred review) -
“Funny, touching and written in a highly appealing voice.”
— Joanne Harris, award-winning author of Chocolat -
“Troubling, thrilling, puzzling, believable and impossible. Matt Haig uses words like a tin-opener. We are the tin.”
— Jeanette Winterson, award-winning author of Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit -
“Lovely stuff. So heartfelt, touching and funny.”
— Patrick Ness, author of The Crane Wife
Awards
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A 2014 Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Novel
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One of Parade Magazine’s Top Books
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About Matt Haig
Matt Haig writes fiction and nonfiction for children and adults, including four series, eleven stand-alone novels, novellas, short stories, and a memoir. His Shadow Forest, aka Samuel Blink and the Forbidden Forest, won the 2009 Blue Peter Book Award for Book of the Year.
About Mark Meadows
Mark Meadows is an actor and audiobook narrator. He can be heard on the radio broadcasts of Lost Souls and The Worst Journey in the World, both first aired for BBC Radio. On television, he has appeared as Reverend Wallace in EastEnders. He also has extensive credits as a composer and arranger.