The Son Audiobook

Quotes

• “An old-fashioned family saga set against the birth of Texas and the modern West, this is a riveting slow burn of love, power, and a legacy of violence spanning generations. Meyer is a writer of vast ambition and talent, and he has created nothing less than an American epic.”

  — Parade

• “It may not be the Great American Novel, but it certainly is a damn good one.”

  — Entertainment Weekly (Grade A)

• “In gorgeously gritty prose, this epic novel follows three generations of the McCullough family—as wild as the untamed Texas frontier where they’ve settled—in their ruthless quest for power.”

  — O, The Oprah Magazine

• “As bold, ambitious, and brutal as its subject: the rise of Texas as seen through the tortured history of one family. At 561 pages, The Son is a demanding read...But by the end, Meyer ties it together and not too neatly. Tougher-than-tough Eli McCullough would respect that.”

  — USA Today (4 stars)

• “There is an extravagant quantity of birth, death, and bitter passion in Philipp Meyer’s grand and engrossing Texas saga.”

  — Wall Street Journal

• “Meyer has demonstrated that he can write a potboiler of the first rank, aswirl with pulpy pleasures: impossible love affairs, illicit sex, strife between fathers and sons, the unhappiness of the rich, the corruptions of power.”

  — New York Times Book Review

• “Every facet of Meyer’s world—scent and sight and sensation—has weight and heft…Meyer’s dream is a nightmare in which blood seeks power. It’s also unputdownable.”

  — Esquire

• “Philipp Meyer offers a tale that spans generations and, in its own way, encapsulates the history of the state itself.”

  — Los Angeles Times

• “With its vast scope—stretching from pre-Civil War cowboys to post-9/11 immigrants—The Son makes a viable claim to be a Great American Novel of the sort John Dos Passos and Frank Norris once produced.”

  — Washington Post

• “[In] Meyer’s brilliant second novel…the writing is strong…and rich with detail…A wonderful novel.”

  — Financial Times (London)

• “A novel that is an epic in the truest sense of the word: massive in scope, replete with transformations in fortune and fate, and drenched in the blood of war.”

  — Huffington Post

• “One of those books that remind you how totally absorbing a novel can be... the work of an uncommonly visionary and skillful writer with a superb sense of pacing... A beautiful, violent and frequently heartbreaking book, but it is not without a sense of fun.”

  — Washington Independent Review of Books

• “Meyer’s massive Texas saga is perhaps the best Indian captive story ever written…[Meyer’s] tale is best compared to Giant. Little Big Man and Lonesome Dove also come to mind.”

  — Booklist (starred review)

• “Meyer never falters…Like all destined classics, Meyer’s second novel speaks volumes about humanity—our insatiable greed, our inherent frailty, the endless cycle of conquer or be conquered. So, too, his characters’ successes and failures serve as a constant reminder: ‘There is nothing we will not have mastered, except, of course, ourselves.’”

  — Publishers Weekly (starred review)

• “Meyer brings the bloody, racially fraught history of Texas to life. Call it a family saga or an epic, this novel is a violent and harrowing read.”

  — Library Journal

• “An expertly written tale of ancient crimes, with every period detail—and every detail, period—just right.”

  — Kirkus Reviews (starred reviews)

• “The story of our founding mythology; of the men and women who tore a country from the wilderness and the price paid in blood by subsequent generations. An epic in the tradition of Faulkner and Melville, this is the work of a writer at the height of his power.”

  — Kevin Powers, award-winning author

• “Philipp Meyer’s wonderful novel employs beautiful turns of phrase, imaginative imagery, and vivid scenes. It’s all matched by the quality narration of a full cast. Will Patton’s grizzled voice is perfect for Eli, who becomes a man at a young age. Kate Mulgrew’s deep-voiced twang gives great-granddaughter J. A. the vocal personality her independence deserves. And Scott Shepherd’s slightly shaky and tired voice is perfect for Peter, Eli’s son, who details his perspective through the pages of his diary. Meyer’s story recounts more than 150 years, covering rough and rocky ground, which is smoothed out by attentive narrators. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award. A 2014 Audies finalist.”

  — AudioFile