The Hour I First Believed, Wally Lamb
The Hour I First Believed, Wally Lamb
53 Rating(s)
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The Hour I First Believed

Author: Wally Lamb

Narrator: George Guidall

Unabridged: 25 hr 10 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: HarperAudio

Published: 11/11/2008

Synopsis

When high school teacher Caelum Quirk and his wife, Maureen, move to Littleton, Colorado, they both get jobs at Columbine High School. In April 1999, while Caelum is away, Maureen finds herself in the library at Columbine, cowering in a cabinet and expecting to be killed. Miraculously, she survives. But when Caelum and Maureen flee to an illusion of safety on the Quirk family's Connecticut farm, they discover that the effects of chaos are not easily put right. While Maureen fights to regain her sanity, Caelum discovers five generations' worth of diaries, letters, and newspaper clippings in his family's house. As unimaginable secrets emerge, Caelum grapples with the past and struggles to fashion a future from the ashes of tragedy. His quest for meaning is at once mythic and contemporary, personal and quintessentially American.

About Wally Lamb

Wally Lamb is the author of five New York Times bestselling novels: She’s Come Undone, I Know This Much Is True, The Hour I First Believed, Wishin’ and Hopin’, and We Are Water. His first two works of fiction, She’s Come Undone and I Know This Much Is True, were both #1 New York Times bestsellers and selections of Oprah’s Book Club. Lamb edited Couldn’t Keep It to Myself, I’ll Fly Away, and You Don’t Know Me, three volumes of essays from students in his writing workshop at York Correctional Institution, a women’s prison in Connecticut, where he has been a volunteer facilitator for two decades. He lives in Connecticut.

About George Guidall

George Guidall is one of the foremost narrators in the audiobook industry, having recorded over 500 unabridged books ranging from classics to contemporary bestsellers. He is the recipient of the 1999 Audie Award presented by the Audio Publishers Association for the best narration of unabridged fiction.

Reviews

AudiobooksNow review by CMC on 2009-02-27 23:50:58

I enjoyed this book. It was very interesting. Some of the history from the five generations of letters and diaries got a little boring to listen to, but it was still very interesting and it was great how he tied it all together.

AudiobooksNow review by Dawn on 2009-05-06 12:01:41

This book began very well. I have to agree with the previous review when it comes to the family history part of the book - I could have done without most of it - as a result, it made this book much too long. Overall, it was a good book, but could have been oustanding if not for the side story

AudiobooksNow review by MELISSA on 2011-06-07 23:58:47

Amazing book!

Goodreads review by Jen on December 05, 2008

It truly pains me to give this book only two stars, but after struggling through it, I can't bring myself to give it more. There are definitely redeeming qualities about this novel, and ultimately I ended up getting something out of it. But it was so hard to push through, and it was such a disappoin......more

Goodreads review by Jeff on November 27, 2008

When an author asks you to go on a 700+ page journey, the trip should be enjoyable and/or the destination should be fulfilling. Unfortunately, I don't feel that "The Hour I First Believed" really offers either a good trip or a satisfying final destination. Rather, it is joyless, self-indulgent, and......more

Goodreads review by Alexa on November 12, 2008

Unbelievably good. I never thought I'd say that about a book that incorporates Columbine, prison, drug addiction, Hurricane Katrina and troubled youth but it's the truth. I had to stop and sit and think after I finished this long book. After thinking for awhile, I realized that I would always think......more

Goodreads review by Nina on November 19, 2008

Say what you will about this book; in my opinion it's a tour de force. The author covers a wide range of topics starting with the Civil War, abolitionism, the Columbine horrors, 9/11, lost souls, death, alcoholism, the power of love, and so much more that it's difficult to quantify. I'm sure this wi......more

Goodreads review by Jen on March 27, 2009

This was not an easy book to read. For all the effort I put into it, Wally Lamb should have been standing on the last page offering me a sash, a trophy, and large sums of money. It kind of turned into a joke as every night I would tell my husband what the new plotline was. Some of the subjects were:......more

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