The Shipping News Audiobook By Annie Proulx cover art

The Shipping News

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The Shipping News

By: Annie Proulx
Narrated by: Paul Hecht
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Pulitzer Prize, Fiction, 1994

National Book Award, Fiction, 1994

At 36, Quoyle, a third-rate newspaperman, is wrenched violently out of his workaday life when his two-timing wife gets her just desserts. He retreats with his two daughters to his ancestral home on the starkly beautiful Newfoundland coast, where a rich cast of local characters all play a part in Quoyle's struggle to reclaim his life. As three generations of his family cobble up new lives, Quoyle confronts his private demons - and the unpredictable forces of nature and society - and begins to see the possibility of love without pain or misery.

A vigorous, darkly comic, and at times magical portrait of the contemporary American family, The Shipping News demonstrates why Annie Proulx is recognized as one of the most gifted and original writers in America today.

©1995 Annie Proulx (P)2011 Simon & Schuster Classics Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Heartfelt Funny

Critic reviews

" The Shipping News is that rare creation, a lyric page-turner." ( Chicago Tribune)
"The writing is charged with sardonic wit - alive, funny, a little threatening; packed with brilliantly original images... and, now and then, a sentence that simply takes your breath away." ( USA Today)
"Annie Proulx's stunning, big-hearted The Shipping News thaws the frozen lives of its characters and warms readers." ( San Francisco Examiner)
Beautiful Writing • Compelling Characters • Masterful Performance • Vivid Imagery • Emotional Depth
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I would be hard-pressed to say exactly why this novel is so transportive, there doesn't seem, at first glance, to be anything extraordinarily poetic about the writing, but nevertheless it utterly carried me away to another place. Who am I to argue with the Pulitzer committee?
Well worth the read and unexpectedly moving.

Odd yet compelling story beautifully told

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For a Pulitzer Prize winner, I expected more. Overall I liked the book because it was well constructed and interesting characters that you see grow. I especially like how we saw the younger characters grow in their understanding of life and death. However, I found the pace and excitement level to be like shipping news. I guess I can't fault it for living up to its name. In an era of YouTube short attention spans and over the top GoT characters, this book is a pleasant retreat to what seems like a forgone era. The plot is not complex and the characters feel realistic -- and that is not a short coming. The book is like a quiet companion on a slow and steady hike on a pleasant afternoon.

Good, not Monumental

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great read, wonderful mix of fun, emotion and general life circumstance. Great narrator story and presentation .

Shipping News

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I found it a bit slow at first but very worth sticking with. It had humor and insight, brought up real meaning of life issues, and ended wonderfully.

what a journey!

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Many years ago I saw this movie. The Audible narration really engaged me and the book itself is written with mastery.

Well worth the time spent!

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Annie Proulx's Pulitzer winner is so vivid and unique. The descriptions of the culture and the landscape of Newfoundland was tangible and beautiful. I could feel the cold wind in the winter. I could taste the fish. I could hear the flat, nasal accents of the region. Everything about this book makes you feel like you have actually been to the cliffsides of the small seaside villages in the arctic. I love when a book transports me, and this one did. This is a new favorite.

I think I have now traveled to Newfoundland!

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This is one of the best books I've ever read. Annie Proulx doesn't give shallow descriptions of anything or anybody. It is rich and textured. And in the end hopeful. Loved Paul Hecht's narration and good Newfie accents. It comes to life and you can picture all of it. Plus you learn some nautical stuff too.

The best

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what a wonderful story. i love the way Annie Proulx writes, it makes your imagination run with the sentences without hesitation. this narrator is my favorite so far, the way he does the childrens voices made me laugh out loud many times.

best narrator!!

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We’re reading, but I cant quite tell you why. Setting, style, different. it just is.

Strange but compelling

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This book has been praised for its lyrical writing, but for me it just didn't connect. There is almost a sense that you have to love Newfoundland in order to appreciate the book. The story follows a shy, apparently incompetent newspaper reporter living in a dark, frigid corner of Newfoundland as he matures and grows in self-confidence, both as a person and, somewhat magically it seems to me, as a newspaperman and writer. The plot is slow and word-heavy and, as one might expect in such an isolated location, very little happens. Even a few scenes near the end that contain some energy and excitement (his near-drowning in a storm, a drunken party) seem to come out of nowhere and fail to generate the emotions that you might expect a reader to feel. Many readers seem to have enjoyed this book, but I think you need a fair amount of patience to appreciate it.

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