Awesome writing - horrible narrating

Would you consider the audio edition of Doctor Dealer to be better than the print version?

I have no way of knowing whether the print edition would be better than the audio, since I have not read the hardcopy to compare it with.

What was the most compelling aspect of this narrative?

It is just an extremely compelling story and to me, even the author's seeming desire to include every detail in no way detracts from the intense hold this book had on me, beginning to end.

What didn’t you like about Christopher Kipiniak’s performance?

What did I not like about the narrator? - where to begin!

A pet peeve I have is when the narrator attempts to act out each character in the story, applying various accents, voices, etc. It just CANNOT BE DONE in any effective manner. It is just a means for the narrator to draw attention to himself, and away from the writing. This narrator is guilty in the first degree of this crime! And what a horrible job of it he did.

But even on a different aspect, his straight reading was pitiful. He did not seem to have ever seen the pages before. He read very slowly and with a deliberate enunciation that might be more appropriate for kindergarden kids learning to associate the written word with the spoken word.

There did not seem to be any professional aspect to this narrator's reading, in my opinion. I think he saved his attention for the dialogues, where at least he did apply some attention and effort to it, such as it was. But for the non-dialogue parts, it was quite difficult to "sit through" it so as not to miss out on the flow of the story, because of the flat, labored presentation of the writing. For me, that took discipline, even though I did find the entire book, details and all, intensely interesting. The narration just added, for me, a pall of anger over what should have been a thoroughly positive experience - the anger being over why the narrator had to insert himself into my enjoyment of just the book itself. The book was not written to be acted out - it is NOT A SCREENPLAY. It was written to be READ.

It is amazing to me that quite a few narrators of audiobooks get away with hogging the action, as it were, when it seems the objective ought plainly to be READING the book. Why don't the people doing the hiring understand this point?

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

The story was incredible. And the authorship was so awesome that it was not at all hard to fathom how it happened that this one guy went from semi-normal kid to illicit drug kingpin over a short period of time. The focus was mainly on the main character, and the portrayal was somewhat sympathetic, but also unsparing of the fact of the overwhelming stupidity and endless greed that was at work.

I think a lot of us "of a certain age" can really identify with this guy, having been in similar situations early on and having come to a crossroads where we took a saner path but perhaps just as easily could have taken the one the guy did. It was the times - the 80's, there was lots of pot around on campuses, there was a lot of rebellion against the establishment. A lot of things came together in the person of the main character that brought the results he eventually had to face.

Any additional comments?

Mark Bowden in my opinion has joined the ranks of Olsen and Rule. This is just an outstanding piece of work. I will definitely be on his trail from here on in. True crime lovers, rejoice! Even with the passing of the great ones, we still have the means to feed our craving.

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3rd TIME BETTER THAN 1ST

Mark Bowden characterized, and depicted Larry Lavin as one of the many amiable, professional entrepreneurs many of us want to emulate one day; whether ones path be legitimacy or illegitimacy, perhaps both- To read the story of Mr Lavin is true pleasure, while easily relating to not only his character/personality but that of his peers, associates, and fellow drug dealers who all make this entertaining saga of riches living high, inclusive of the ups & downs associated with the aforementioned risk with drugs. A semi Wolf Of Wall Street, Jordan Belfort persona is exuded in lavish things in life, while having an out more than one occasion, Unfortunately greed cannot continue to persevere in the lifestyle chosen by Larry Lavin in this book, and Bowden rocked it out as he did in writing Killing Pablo, only this lesser known story Trumped that in my opinion. Well written, easy to form characters cations based on Bowdens attention to detail & seamless portrayal of the story in addition to the setting, history, and overall tone....Only question: WHERE IS THE SCREENPLAY!

1 person found this helpful

Disappointing

Would you try another book from Mark Bowden and/or Christopher Kipiniak?

I have read other books by Bowden including Killing Pablo and Black Hawk Down. The book is a pale comparison to those 2 excellent writings.

Has Doctor Dealer turned you off from other books in this genre?

No, but I wish that the author had chosen a more compelling story or more colorful characters. This is a very uninteresting book.

Which character – as performed by Christopher Kipiniak – was your favorite?

None, they all blend into each other that it's difficult to tell them apart.

Any additional comments?

Surprised and disappointed that Mark Bowden chose to tell this story. These people are boring and the story is the direct opposite of "suspenseful".

1 person found this helpful

so - so

Unfortunately I was fooled into thinking this was some unknown underground big wig with an extremely interesting life. All I found out about was a pretty low level drug dealer that basically spent the whole book making it seem like he wasn't a bad guy. Not very interesting at all.

1 person found this helpful

Terrible narration

This story is fantastically interesting and Mark Bowden does a good job of telling it though for a book published in 2020 there are times some of the language and attitudes make you feel like it’s the 1980’s again. The narration is absolutely awful. The voice affectations are just bad. Presumably the narrator is attempting a New England accent for the main character but he fails, miserably, and just sounds… bad. It’s disappointing and distracting from the story.

Fabulous

Great narrator and story, well worth the credit. plus it's long so a great value.

Read!!

Everything about this book is great. The narrating is great, the story is great. It was easy to keep listening to, and I felt very much like I could see, feel, and hear everything as if I were in the very room with the characters.

Intimate Portrait of Drug Dealing

The rewards, risks, relationships and lifestyle of a drug dealer are intimately portrayed by the author. The details of conversations and situations allow the reader to understand the opportunities, moral dilemmas and out-sided risks that had to be handled. Would the reader have taken the opportunity, handled it differently or walker away ? Each character has a different perspective, takes different actions and suffers different consequences.
The narrator did a great job with at least a dozen different character voices.

By Far the Worst Dialogue Narration I've Heard

I can't even review the book because the narrator stood out like a painful, weeping wound. He's one of those narrators who changes his voice when reading the dialogue of each character... and he is absolutely abysmal at it. With any bit of dialogue the book itself takes an instant nosedive and becomes intolerable. It's like being trapped at a party or in a bar with someone extremely drunk trying to do cartoon voices . . . for hours on end.

almost unendurable

I really wanted to like this book, but I just couldn't.

I guess as a work of journalism, maybe there's something to be said for it. And there are some interesting details about the cocaine business. But, honestly, I struggle to see the value of (e.g.) the exhaustive detailing of how Dr. Lavin's wife locked her keys in her car on the day he was arrested. It's just waaaaaaaaaaaay too much detail. All the interesting stuff in this book could have fit in a long magazine article.

If you're looking for an entertaining story, I'd say look elsewhere. If for whatever reason Dr. Lavin is someone you're just dying to know more about, I'd say get the print version. The narration was agonizing. Sorry, narrator guy, but it was. I almost never fail to finish an audiobook, but this one was a real struggle.