The Ballad of Peckham Rye, Muriel Spark
The Ballad of Peckham Rye, Muriel Spark
1 Rating(s)
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The Ballad of Peckham Rye

Author: Muriel Spark

Narrator: Wanda McCaddon

Unabridged: 4 hr 3 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 09/28/2009

Categories: Fiction

Synopsis

The Ballad of Peckham Rye is the wickedly farcical fable of a blue-collar town turned upside down. When the firm of Meadows, Meade & Grindley hires Dougal Douglas (a.k.a. Douglas Dougal) to do “human research” into the private lives of its workforce, they are in no way prepared for the mayhem, mutiny, and murder he will stir up. In fact, this Music Man of the thoroughly modern corporation changes the lives of all the eccentric characters he meets, from Miss Merle Coverdale, head of the typing pool, to V. R. Druce, unsuspecting managing director.This is Dame Muriel Spark at her most devilishly piquant.

About Muriel Spark

Muriel Spark (1918–2006) was born in Edinburgh, Scotland. She was the author of over twenty novels, including The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, as well as critical biographies, radio plays, children’s books, poetry, and short-story collections. She was made a Dame of the British Empire in 1993 and a Commandeur des Arts et des Lettres in 1996.

About Wanda McCaddon

Wanda McCaddon (d. 2023) narrated well over six hundred titles for major audiobook publishers, sometimes with the pseudonym Nadia May or Donada Peters. She earned the prestigious Audio Award for best narration and numerous Earphones Awards. She was named a Golden Voice by AudioFile magazine.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Violet on December 19, 2019

Muriel Sparks playfully takes on the Mephistopheles' theme. A devilish, sexually attractive young man who enjoys getting people to feel the bumps on his forehead where his horns were surgically removed creates mayhem in a small working-class community in Peckham, south London. It begins with a groo......more

Goodreads review by MJ on March 17, 2016

The art of the impeccably constructed comedy, lean and mean from scene to spleen, is Muriel’s MO. This one concerns a sharp-tongued Scot who invades Lyon’s Corner House-era Peckham and upsets the apple cart with his multiple machinations. Spark’s perfect ear and skill at crafting a knockabout romp i......more

Quotes

“We are never out of touch, in a Spark novel, with the happiness of creation; the sudden willful largesse of magic and wit, the cunning tautness of suspense.” John Updike, the New Yorker

“Not only funny but startlingly original, the legendary character of Dougal Douglas…may not have been boasting when he referred so blithely to his association with the devil.” Washington Post

“Touched with a Satanic glamour and a manner so disarming that grown men dissolve in tears at his slightest provocation, the Pied Piper of Spark’s charming 1960 satire captivates the residents of Peckham, a small London suburb…Witty and quite perfect in its construction, this light and mock-folkloric novel is the work of an inspired satirist.” Publishers Weekly

“A wickedly funny novel.” Library Journal

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