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Half of Paradise
- Narrated by: Mark Zeisler
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction
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Publisher's Summary
In this intense, fascinating story, Burke follows the lives of three young Louisiana men, each of whom finds himself in desperate circumstances. There's Avery Broussard, the last survivor of a family of once-prosperous land owners, who has a weakness for alcohol; J.P. Winfield, a poor singer and guitar player who rises to fame as a country music star, only to be destroyed by drug addiction; and Toussaint Boudreaux, a Black longshoreman who moonlights as a heavyweight boxer. The destinies of these men are tragically intertwined in this debut novel that showcases Burke's masterful and now-familiar style.
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What listeners say about Half of Paradise
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Bull
- 12-07-13
Excellent early Burke ruined by terrible narration
This book is probably Burke's first novel, first published in 1965. It consists of three stories loosely interwoven in Louisiana's seamier sides, including the fight game, blues singers, and prison camps. Early Burke sounds a lot like later Burke so far a tone, mood, and dialog. It's very good writing. But caution: these are not an uplifting stories. The prison camp in particular conjures up images of Cool Hand Luke's camp.
Except for the fact that everyone talks like some bland character from a TV family sitcom.
Not the dialog, Zeisler's narration. Escaped prisoners being chased through the marsh: they all sound the same, like a couple of frat boys talking about cars. Passionate lovemaking? Same thing. The woman even sounds the same, not like any woman I know and certainly not passionate. There's not even an attempt made to make some poor Louisiana coon-ass sound authentic. They're all the same, speaking with near monotone delivery. Everyone sounds like Zeisler ordering a cup of coffee at Starbucks.
Well, all but one. For some reason Zeisler has to take a shot at a British accent. It's terrible, and the story doesn't even need a Brit. Zeisler could have just gone on with his coffee-ordering delivery and no one would be the wiser.
The only reason I can see that Simon and Schuster Audio picked Zeisler for this read is that he does a pretty good job singing some of the blues lyrics sprinkled throughout the book, or at least he has the guts to try. They should have used him for just the lyrics and got someone else, almost anyone else, to do the narration.
If I had it to do over again I would get the print version and try to imagine Will Patton or Mark Hammer narrating it.
13 people found this helpful
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- Momac6
- 12-22-13
Not a feel good story
Any additional comments?
Half of Paradise, James Lee Burke
So you think you’ve had a rough life? You’re upset with what fate has handed you? Or maybe you’re feeling guilty about how good your life is and can’t forgive yourself for being so happy?
Then this book is for you. “Half of Paradise” is a very well written and extremely dark anthology of tragic people making tragic decisions on a tragic course to destruction.
Mr. Burke’s Dave Robicheaux series is one of my favorites, a great writer telling great stories. Maybe it was just my mood (or perhaps my story) but this book, “Half of Paradise” depressed the hell out of me.
1 person found this helpful
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- Bofo
- 03-05-22
A Real Disappointment for any James Lee Burke Fan
The entire story was full of depressing characters making one self destructive decision after another. The narration was monotone and uninteresting. I would not recommend this book to anyone and I am a huge James Lee Burke fan, having enjoyed over 30 of his other books.
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- Amazon Customer
- 04-13-21
Beautifully Written and Thoroughly Depressing
I really enjoy Burke but this book dragged downward and descended all the way to the bottom . The reader’s voice was good but he had awkward pauses and his characters all sounded the same. Bring back Will Patton to read ALL of Burke’s books.
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- larry
- 03-03-21
Love JLB, but
… a story of troubled characters going through trouble. It is a bit depressing to listen to. Well written, of course.
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- co2holland
- 05-14-20
I love Burke but this one was boring and I was disappointed Better time next time
Not the same as others and bored me to the end hope you get some more robicheax going
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- Dave Williamson
- 04-27-20
Not one of Burke's finest.
The story was predictable and drug on. I didn't like any of the characters and started to shut it off several times, but since it was Burke's I stuck with it. Mistake on my part.
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- Farm
- 10-24-17
Disappointing!
Certainly not what we’ve come to expect from Burke. Lacking in just about everything but filthy language. I’m not surprised that Will Patton didn’t narrate it.
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- Ben Harrison
- 10-07-17
Waste!
I am astonished that Burke has his name on this dismal, downbeat, disconnected series of profane vignettes. Where was his poetic phrasing, his picturesque Louisiana settings, his keen-eyed character insights? Not in this sorry tome.
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- James David Wages
- 07-02-15
Depressing
I am a huge fan of James Lee Burke's writing. But not of this one what a downer. I had a bad feeling about it when I read about wish I had saved my money.