The Sadness of Beautiful Things: Stories
Simon Van Booy
Oct 2018 · Penguin Random House Audio · Narrated by Simon Van Booy, Alana Kerr Collins, James Fouhey, Giordan Diaz, and Darren Burrows
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1 review
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Audiobook
3 hr 53 min
Unabridged
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About this audiobook
An exquisite new collection of short stories from award-winning author Simon Van Booy.
Over the past decade, Simon Van Booy has been listening to people’s stories. With these personal accounts as a starting point, he has crafted a powerful collection of short fiction that takes readers into the innermost lives of everyday people. From a family saved from ruin by a mysterious benefactor, to a downtrodden boxer who shows unexpected kindness to a mugger, these masterfully written tales reveal not only the precarious balance maintained between grief and happiness in our lives, but also how the echoes of personal tragedy can shape us for the better.
“Van Booy’s stories are somehow like paintings the characters walk out of, and keep walking.” —Los Angeles Times
"Simon Van Booy knows a great deal about the complex longings of the human heart." --Robert Olen Butler, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain
Audiobook Table of Contents:
A Sacrifice, read by Alana Kerr Collins
The Green Blanket, read by James Fouhey
Playing with Dolls, read by Simon van Booy
The Pigeon, read by Giordan Diaz
The Hitchhiker, read by Alana Kerr Collins
Not Dying, read by Darren Burrows
The Saddest Case of True Love, read by Simon van Booy
The Doorman, read by James Fouhey
Over the past decade, Simon Van Booy has been listening to people’s stories. With these personal accounts as a starting point, he has crafted a powerful collection of short fiction that takes readers into the innermost lives of everyday people. From a family saved from ruin by a mysterious benefactor, to a downtrodden boxer who shows unexpected kindness to a mugger, these masterfully written tales reveal not only the precarious balance maintained between grief and happiness in our lives, but also how the echoes of personal tragedy can shape us for the better.
“Van Booy’s stories are somehow like paintings the characters walk out of, and keep walking.” —Los Angeles Times
"Simon Van Booy knows a great deal about the complex longings of the human heart." --Robert Olen Butler, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain
Audiobook Table of Contents:
A Sacrifice, read by Alana Kerr Collins
The Green Blanket, read by James Fouhey
Playing with Dolls, read by Simon van Booy
The Pigeon, read by Giordan Diaz
The Hitchhiker, read by Alana Kerr Collins
Not Dying, read by Darren Burrows
The Saddest Case of True Love, read by Simon van Booy
The Doorman, read by James Fouhey
Ratings and reviews
5.0
1 review
About the author
Simon Van Booy is the award-winning and best-selling author of seven books of fiction, and three anthologies of philosophy. He has written for the New York Times, the Financial Times, NPR, and the BBC. His books have been translated into many languages. He lives in New York with his wife and daughter. In 2013, he founded Writers for Children, a project which helps young people build confidence in their storytelling abilities through annual awards.
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