The Golden House: A Novel
Written by Salman Rushdie
Narrated by Vikas Adam
4/5
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Currently unavailable
Currently unavailable
About this audiobook
On the day of Barack Obama's inauguration, an enigmatic billionaire from foreign shores takes up residence in the architectural jewel of "the Gardens," a cloistered community in New York's Greenwich Village. The neighborhood is a bubble within a bubble, and the residents are immediately intrigued by the eccentric newcomer and his family. Along with his improbable name, untraceable accent, and unmistakable whiff of danger, Nero Golden has brought along his three adult sons: agoraphobic, alcoholic Petya, a brilliant recluse with a tortured mind; Apu, the flamboyant artist, sexually and spiritually omnivorous, famous on twenty blocks; and D, at twenty-two the baby of the family, harboring an explosive secret even from himself. There is no mother, no wife; at least not until Vasilisa, a sleek Russian expat, snags the septuagenarian Nero, becoming the queen to his king—a queen in want of an heir.
Our guide to the Goldens' world is their neighbor René, an ambitious young filmmaker. Researching a movie about the Goldens, he ingratiates himself into their household. Seduced by their mystique, he is inevitably implicated in their quarrels, their infidelities, and, indeed, their crimes. Meanwhile, like a bad joke, a certain comic-book villain embarks upon a crass presidential run that turns New York upside-down.
Set against the strange and exuberant backdrop of current American culture and politics, The Golden House also marks Salman Rushdie's triumphant and exciting return to realism. The result is a modern epic of love and terrorism, loss and reinvention—a powerful, timely story told with the daring and panache that make Salman Rushdie a force of light in our dark new age.
Advance praise for The Golden House
"Ambitious and rewarding . . . a distinctively rich epic of the immigrant experience in modern America, where no amount of money or self-abnegation can truly free a family from the sins of the past."—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"A ravishingly well-told, deeply knowledgeable, magnificently insightful, and righteously outraged epic which poses timeless questions about the human condition. . . . As Rushdie's blazing tale surges toward its crescendo, life, as it always has, rises stubbornly from the ashes, as does love."—Booklist (starred review)
Salman Rushdie
Salman Rushdie is the author of many acclaimed novels, including Midnight’s Children (winner of the Booker Prize and the Best of the Booker), Grimus, Shame, The Satanic Verses, Haroun and The Sea of Stories, The Moor’s Last Sigh, The Ground Beneath Her Feet, Fury, Shalimar the Clown, The Enchantress of Florence, Luka and the Fire of Life, and Two Years Eight Months and Twenty-Eight Nights—and a collection of short stories: East, West. He has also published works of nonfiction, including Joseph Anton (a memoir of his life under the fatwa issued after the publication of The Satanic Verses), The Jaguar Smile, Imaginary Homelands, and Step Across This Line—and co-edited the anthologies, Mirrorwork and Best American Short Stories. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters and a Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University. A former president of PEN American Center, Rushdie was knighted in 2007 for services to literature.
More audiobooks from Salman Rushdie
The Satanic Verses Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Haroun and the Sea of Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Midnight's Children Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Fury Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Shame Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Moor's Last Sigh Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5East, West: Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Imaginary Homelands: Essays and Criticicsm 1981-1991 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Luka and the Fire of Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Jaguar Smile: A Nicaraguan Journey Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Grimus Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Shalimar the Clown Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsStep Across This Line: Collected Nonfiction 1992-2002 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Enchantress of Florence Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratings
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Reviews for The Golden House
18 ratings4 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I only wanted to write one word for this review but I needed at least 10 so now I have them and here is the word: CONVOLUTED!
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I would call this novel a psyhological mystery. This was my first book from Salman Rushdie, and I was caught by his unique style right away. This author is something else. He created a style that is not like anyone else's I know. His characters are very much alive: all of them have a unique psyche that is easy to get into even though the characters personalities are far from the everyday reader I think. Still, we get to live their not so glamourous lives with them.
The reason I give three stars is that I found the first and the last part too slow, too full of philosophy and cultural references, which just break up the story too much. I nomally don't have a problem with either of these, but here it was too much. I almost stopped reading after the forst 20%, but the middle part of the book was great. Unfortunately the third part was like the first one. - Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Rushdie has captured an important time in history told within a family tragedy.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Very Well written. I enjoyed the narration as well, quite a few characters played by one narrator. Highly recommended!!