The Blue Book, A. L. Kennedy
The Blue Book, A. L. Kennedy
List: $20.99 | Sale: $14.70
Club: $10.49

The Blue Book

Author: A. L. Kennedy

Narrator: Rosalyn Landor

Unabridged: 11 hr 50 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download (DRM Protected)

Published: 03/12/2013


Synopsis

From one of the U.K.’s most dazzling novelists — whom Richard Ford has called “a profound writer” — comes this daring new novel set in the unsteady, self-contained world of a luxury liner.While on a transatlantic trip with her soon-to-be-fiancé Derek, Elizabeth unexpectedly runs into ex-lover Arthur, with whom she shares a shady past: the pair once worked as traveling spiritual mediums who conned the vulnerable by pretending to contact the spirits of departed loved ones. While Derek remains seasick and cabin-bound, Elizabeth wanders the ship, alternately avoiding and seeking out Arthur. Unable to avoid memories of their fractured past, she must face the deception they practiced even as she accepts the peace they brought to the grief-stricken who sought their services.Intimately addressed to “you,” the listener, The Blue Book is both a portrait of two methodical con artists and a meditation on “how love is a private language, a set of codes, to which the outside world ought not admit impediment” (Telegraph). Irresistibly written, by turns comically wry and stunningly lyrical, with “some of the most unashamedly erotic writing since Nicholson Baker first contemplated a telephone receiver” (New Statesman), the book slowly, deliberately, and devastatingly reveals itself to the listener. The heartbreaking stakes are ultimately nothing less than fact and fiction, life and death.

About A. L. Kennedy

Twice named one of Granta’s Best Young British Novelists, A. L. Kennedy is the author of twelve other books, including the novels Paradise, So I Am Glad, and Day, which won the Costa Book of the Year Award. Kennedy is an associate professor of creative writing at the University of Warwick, the recipient of a Lannan Literary Award, and a well-received standup comic. She lives in London, where she contributes to many British publications.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Jo on November 30, 2014

After reading Oatley's book Such Stuff as Dreams on the psychology of fiction I understand that for a piece of fiction to be taken into the mind of a reader and become a simulation within their own mind they have to touch their reader. There are a few writers who do this for me to the extent of shak......more

Goodreads review by Alexa on September 06, 2021

Todavía no estoy segura de lo que leí... quiero releerlo para antes de dar una opinión. Pero sí puedo decir que el libros es bello y que la edición impresa vale mucho la pena.......more

Goodreads review by Blair on February 25, 2017

The Blue Book is a complex, fractured story. It centres on middle-aged Beth, who is taking a cruise with her boyfriend, Derek, who may be about to propose. But it also jumps into Beth's past, when she was the lover and professional partner of Arthur, a fake medium, and in turn visits scenes from Art......more

Goodreads review by Susanne on January 28, 2016

A.L. Kennedy "Das blaue Buch" - Buchbesprechung oder auch: Ich bin ein Fan der Langeweile Ich hatte "Das Blaue Buch" von A.L. Kennedy bereits Weihnachten vor einem Jahr bekommen (oder war es sogar vor zwei Jahren?) und es lag eine Weile in meinem Regal und ich konnte mich nicht aufraffen, es zu lese......more

Goodreads review by Peter on June 01, 2013

A.L.Kennedy is one of those writers who's books always intimidate me. She is not the easiest read, and her characters are not the easiest to connect with. Her intensity is daunting, even though her levity is always evident (she has a second career as a stand up comic.) But I find myself always, alwa......more