Round the Block
John Bell Bouton
Read by Grant Hurlock
In Round the Block (1864), John Bell Bouton, a newspaper editor who later became a travel writer, stirs together comedy and pathos to explore the schemes and dreams of the average and extraordinary people inhabiting and intermingling on a single New York City block. In the path of the novel's circumambulation lie mystery, romance, and a murder trial, as love-matches and fortunes are made and lost through invention, speculation, and flimflam - plenty of flimflam. This richly-charactered novel, told with Dickensian brio, offers a fascinating slice of life, vivid in detail, of the bustling big-city habits and mores of America shortly before the Civil War. (Introduction by Grant Hurlock) (18 hr 6 min)
Chapters
Reviews
VERRRRY INTERESTING
tripet
THIS IS A VERY LOOOONG BOOK, SO MANY THINGS HAPPENING, I CAN'T FOR THE LIFE OF ME THINK HOW A WRITER CAN COME UP WITH SO MANY FACETS OF ONE STORY, I DID REALLY ENJOY IT AND THE READER WAS JUST SUPERB. SO MANY VOICES . AND WHAT I REALLY LIKED WAS THAT IT WAS A MAN TELLING THE STORY OR SHOULD I SAY STORIES...AND A MAN READ IT. NOTHING WORSE THAN A BOOK ABOUT A SOLDIER BEING READ BY A WOMAN. A1A1
I agree
The Outlier
Careful, well written novel. Grant Hurlock, as reader,starts slow, but then warms to his task, drawing listeners right in, and has them waiting for the next development. It IS long, but a great listen for a day of housework, auto repair, gardening or chores where you can leave the story running as you work. Murder, mystery, romance-- all the best elements are included.. Never boring.