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The King in Yellow

By: Robert W. Chambers
Narrated by: Philippe Duquenoy
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Publisher's summary

This collection by Robert W. Chambers was first published in 1895 and features stories loosely tied together with one theme, the supernatural. Many of the stories in The King in Yellow were not received well by the critics of the time due to their supernatural undertones.

Some of the stories mention a play by the same name that had been outlawed in some regions of the world. It was thought that the play could induce madness in those who viewed it. Two of the stories in this book take place in a fictional world of the future 1920s and are macabre in tone. Eventually, The King in Yellow would go on to become a sensation, partly due to its forbidden tone and subject matter. Today, this book of short stories is as popular as ever, especially with those who like a little supernatural mixed in with their literature.

©2017 A.R.N. Publications (P)2017 A.R.N. Publications
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What listeners say about The King in Yellow

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    4 out of 5 stars
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switches genres without a word.

dramatic tone shift half way through :/ it goes from decent and well written weird fiction to decent and well written turn of the century romances, which isn't what was advertised.

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    3 out of 5 stars

Mediocrity is the Scariest Thing in the World.

Would you consider the audio edition of The King in Yellow to be better than the print version?

The compelling message of Robert Chamber's, "The King in Yellow," in my opinion, has been missed. The first several stories are inspirational, disturbing, and terrifying prophetic in their universal warning that those who read The King in Yellow, the self-same book the reader is enjoying, will go mad once they read the 2nd act of the play. Anticipating, no, even enthusiastically awaiting the chance to put one's mental fortitude to the test, the reader continues notwithstanding the fact that the book is a collection of short stories and not a play and so could not be the actual terrible book the author references. The let down is real as the second half of the book may have been written by doe-eyed romantic in an afterschool creative writing class. Thus, you see the joke, the perverse slap in the face, the proverbial "got ya" yelled into your ear from decades ago. The thing that makes us go insane is mediocrity.

If you’ve listened to books by Robert W. Chambers before, how does this one compare?

A classic

Have you listened to any of Philippe Duquenoy’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

The narration was well done.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

See above.

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3 people found this helpful