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The Song Is You Audiobook
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(3.00) - 1,389 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Each song on Julian's iPod, "that greatest of all human inventions," is a touchstone. There are songs for the girls from when he was single, there's the one for the day he met his wife-to-be, there's one for the day his son was born. But when Julian's family falls apart, even music loses its hold on him. Until one snowy night in Brooklyn, when his life's soundtrack-and life itself-start to play again. Julian stumbles into a bar and sees Cait O'Dwyer, a flame-haired Irish rock singer, performing with her band, and a strange and unlikely love affair is ignited. Over the next few months, Julian and Cait's passion plays out, though they never meet. What follows is a heartbreaking dark comedy, the tenderest of love stories, and a perfectly observed tale of the way we live now.
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"Nietzsche once said, "Without music, life would be a mistake." The Song Is You is a beautiful tribute to this. A man lost in a failed marriage and the death of his young son tries to make sense of his life through his guarded relationship with an up-and-coming singer. The prose throughout the book is electric, exactly how life feels sometimes but can so rarely be properly expressed in words (that's where the music helps). The author is talented enough to emote the joy of both words and music, and I found the book inspiring, (not at all one-note - ha)."
— Eden (4 out of 5 stars)
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“If novelists were labeled zoologically, Arthur Phillips would fall naturally into the dolphin family: his writing is playful, cerebral, likable, wide-ranging, and inventive…His maniacally brainy (brainiacal?) narrative voice seems to have been steeped in and tempered by the romance of all the songs that permeate the story, songs both embedded and overt, real and invented. A less rigorous writer might have turned this story into a sentimental, overwritten swamp. But thanks to Phillips’ thwarting of our (and his characters’) expectations, and to his objective, amused intelligence about the deep ways music affects us, he dances like Fred Astaire over any alligators and mangrove roots lurking in turgid waters…The whole novel zings with fresh insight and inspired writing…Impossible to put down.”
— New York Times Book Review (Editor’s Choice) -
“An ambitious story of love and obsession wrapped in our current addiction to techno gadgets…The Song Is You showcases Phillips’ gift for plumbing the depths of grief and emotional fragility. His love of music, including the profound song lyrics he creates for Cait, is a delight…A writer of enormous talent.”
— USA Today -
“Phillips’ best writing achieves an elaborate, gratifying precison, combining a naturally flamboyant style with neat, observational wit. This quality is sharpest in some of the character portraits and set pieces that animate this novel…[A] beautiful evocation of music’s consoling power to blur the borders between art, artist, and consumer.”
— New Yorker -
“Someone had to do it, write the great American iPod novel, and we’re lucky that it is someone with talent…Arthur Phillips is one subtle writer. I think that he’s dealing quietly with big themes such as illusion versus reality…and also offers wonderfully satirical moments on making commercials, failing rock stars, playing Jeopardy!, and some piercing, painful moments on what it’s like to be aging in youth culture and some extraordinary takes on contemporary sexual mores…He also writes extraordinarily well about grief.”
— Chicago Tribune -
“Phillips naviagates an ostensibly arid present that turns out to be richly human, filled with unexpected grace…Phillip’s descriptions of his characters are filled with startling intensity.”
— Washington Post (Critic’s Choice) -
“Playful…The Song Is You takes on loneliness, alienation, middle age, and what it means to feel passé and weighted down by your past…Yet despite these sober concerns, Phillips’ sparkling prose makes for a seriously fun read.”
— San Francisco Chronicle -
“A betrayed husband’s fascination with a charismatic singer is given several intriguing twists…The novel’s clashing harmonies seduce and fascinate. And Phillips still looks like the best American novelist to have emerged during the present decade.”
— Kirkus Reviews
Awards
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A New York Times bestseller
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A 2009 Washington Post Best Book for Fiction
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One of the 2009 New York Times Book Review 100 Notable Books for Fiction
The Song Is You Listener Reviews
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" Just couldn't do it. "
— Ms., 2/13/2014 -
" I probably would have enjoyed this more if I were a music fan. That at least would be something to relate to. The characters weren't particularly likable nor realistic, and I need at least one of the two. I did really like all of the stories of his parents, even the music parts. Both parts of the ending were disappointing -- how his relationship with each woman is resolved. Not disappointing as in I wished for something better so much as just "what a horrible decision; who would really do that?" The figurative language tended to pile up into these logjammed multi-metaphor paragraphs, and a couple sentences were confusing enough to be editing errors, but most of the writing was vivid. I just couldn't care for what he was writing about. "
— Kristen, 12/19/2013 -
" An engrossing read. I think everyone has felt a strong relationship to someone through music, and in this digital age, I think sometimes we use its distance to create relationships that are not what they seem. Could not put this down and was surprised at how it turned out. "
— Joanna, 12/3/2013 -
" Though critics praised Phillips's playful, clever prose, they diverged in their reactions to his latest novel. Some appreciated his portrait of electronic-age relationships, while others found it difficult to accept the "hokey and contrived" (New York Times) coupling of a creepy stalker and his improbably nonchalant victim. Some saw Phillips's hidden song titles, playlists, and repetitive tributes to iPods as ingenious depictions of the music industry, while others viewed them as blatant marketing ploys. The critics' disagreement seemed to stem from their reactions to Phillips's previous novels: detractors saw Song as a growth of his talent, but fans viewed it as something of a betrayal. An exploration of loneliness, alienation, and the power of music, The Song Is You is a tuneful take on a peculiar romance.This is an excerpt from a review published in Bookmarks magazine. "
— Bookmarks, 11/28/2013 -
" Not as good as his previous book, Prague. But then again, not much is. Still, the same talent in creating interesting characters is evident, as is Phillips' ability to make the spaces (both physical and emotional) they occupy believable, for the most part. "
— Sheerley, 11/25/2013 -
" So far, I am not enjoying this book. I find myself putting it down most of the time and I am not enjoying the storyline. So far boring and confusing at times. Only on like page 4. "
— Nathalie, 9/26/2013 -
" A bit pretentious, but mostly intriguing. One of the first books to use the plot device of "communication in technology" to tell a love story... am interested to see how much more this will be cropping up in the next few years. "
— Kristin, 8/12/2013 -
" Started slow (lots of interior monologues, almost no dialogue), but once the plot got going I tore through this in two feverish nights. Probably one of the saddest happy endings I have ever read, which seemed to fit the story perfectly. "
— Brendan, 2/28/2013 -
" I didn't get past page 25. I could not have cared less about the mysterious song he heard the day he got laid three times, the Irish girl half his age that he is obviously going to become entangled with, his failed marriage, or his great love for his iPod. Buh-bye. "
— Marie, 6/6/2012 -
" At times compelling, at others slow and meandering. Sometimes just plain creepy. How does one identify the fine line between the adventure of romantic interest and the infatuation of a stalker? "
— Matt, 3/12/2012 -
" Started out amazing then spiraled south. Too bad! "
— Saraht, 12/26/2011 -
" Story set in Brooklyn about a middle-aged man's obsession with a young singer. "
— Alan, 12/9/2010 -
" beautifuly tragic "
— Sarah, 1/27/2010 -
" I like his writing style. It's quite descriptive, and I found myself getting lost in the overall atmosphere Phillips weaves with his words. "
— Nicole, 10/7/2009 -
" I hate to walk away from things, especially books, but I just couldn't stay in it. "
— g, 8/16/2009 -
" Really good. Definitely hard to put down. "
— Kelly, 5/8/2009
About Arthur Phillips
Arthur Phillips is the acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of The Song is You, Prague, The Egyptologist, and others. Prague was named a New York Times Notable Book and received the Los Angeles Times/Art Seidenbaum Award for best first novel. His books Angelica and The Song Is You were both optioned for film, the former by Mitchell Lichtenstein and the latter by Focus Features. Phillips received his BA in history from Harvard University, and he had several occupations before becoming a novelist, including a speechwriter, a jazz musician, and a child actor; he is also a five-time Jeopardy! champion. He lives in New York with his wife and two sons.