Search - North River (Audio CD) (Unabridged)

North River - Audio CD - Unabridged
Author: Pete Hamill

Hamill's quietly engrossing novel skillfully conjures the gritty world of lower Manhattan during the Depression, weaving elements of suspense, comedy and romance as Jim Delaney navigates the melting pot city. Strozier reads Delaney's part with gravelly and wise authority. He transforms his tone convincingly as Delaney, a newly widowed doctor and... more » war vet, finds his bitter heart starting to thaw when he is left to care for his grandson Carlos. Delaney hires a Sicilian immigrant, Rose, to help care for the child, and Strozier offers a credible take on her thickly accented, husky but womanly voice. Strozier also gives impressively distinctive voices to a long cast of well-drawn characters such as a good-hearted mobster, a brash young Jewish hospital doctor and assorted recent Irish immigrants who depend on Delaney's comforting ministrations. Listening to Strozier read Hamill's evocative descriptions of Delaney walking through Union Square, Greenwich Village and Chinatown and his encounters with a wide variety of New York denizens, one can almost feel that former Manhattan resurrected.

Famous New York City writer Hamill is as closely identified with his native city as the Empire State Building or the Bowery. As usual, his new novel draws closely and intensely from the streets of New York (details are plentiful, and all of them are just right), but, also usual for him, the book's appeal extends far beyond the five boroughs.

The time is the 1930s; New York, as elsewhere, is grim with economic staleness. Add into the stew that is New York life big helpings of political corruption and internecine Mob warfare. Dr. James Delaney is himself of the streets, and when his old friend, a Mob leader, needs emergency care, Delaney steps in; however, by that act, the doctor also steps into a rival Mob conflict. In the meantime, Delaney's teenage daughter has abandoned, literally on his doorstep, her three-year-old son, and now Delaney is called on to gather himself in the face of an obligation bigger than his funk over his runaway daughter and his also-gone-missing wife. He takes on Rose as housekeeper, and her presence in his household soon becomes essential. Hamill is not ordinarily thought of as a historical novelist, but if, as the saying goes, the shoe fits, wear it. It is an extremely good fit here.

Unabridged: 10 Compact Discs, Running Time: 12 hours, 15 minutes, Narrator: Henry Strozier

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ISBN-13: 9781428156524
ISBN-10: 1428156526
Publication Date: 6/2007
Rating:

Currently 4.3/5 Stars.

4.3 stars, based on 6 ratings

Publisher: Recorded Books
Book Type: Audio CD
Other Versions: Paperback, Hardcover, Audio Cassette
Members Wishing: 0
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Top Member Book Reviews

Currently 3.5/5 Stars.

Jay C. (jareylee) reviewed North River (Audio CD) (Unabridged) on 10/29/2009 + 23 more book reviews

1 member(s) found this review helpful.

Loved it! The reader of this audio book did a fine job of presenting the various characters of the book through voice and inflection. I looked forward to listening to the story unfold each time I could listen. The story is interesting, the characters real, the time (1934 in the heart of the Great Depression) well-presented. If you like Pete Hamill, if you like stories set in New York City, if you like characters working through their own personal conflicts and disappointments and histories, try this book.

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Currently 5/5 Stars.

Robin P. reviewed North River (Audio CD) (Unabridged) on 5/27/2011 + 3 more book reviews

Great story. Highly recommend!

Currently 4.5/5 Stars.

Carol V. (CarolR) reviewed North River (Audio CD) (Unabridged) on 7/16/2010 + 66 more book reviews

This one is a keeper. I second everything in the main description of the book. A lovely plot and lots of 1930's West Village details. Pete Hamill knows New York. His characters are complex and he has an understanding of each of them, Don't get the abridged version of this audio book. Savor every word and scene of the unabridged version. You'll be glad you did.

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Book Wiki

Common Title

North River A Novel

Real Places

United States

New York

Genres:

Literature & Fiction >> Genre Fiction >> Historical
Literature & Fiction >> General

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