5 journalers for this copy...
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Journal Entry 1 by gnissorckoob from Miami, Florida USA on Monday, April 28, 2008
 from my audible.com subscription
Unabridged, runing time: approx 8 hours
Read by: Barbara Rosenblat
2007
"Any new book by Amy Bloom is a cause for celebration." The Times of London
This is her latest, and I have been waiting for it to come on audible. I noticed that the book did not receive top ratings at amazon, but I thought it was excellent. The plot was pretty gripping and the historical details (including sexual) were an added benefit. One thing that is satisfying about Amy Bloom's fiction is that she lets you know what happens to the secondary characters; they are not just walk-ons in service to the plot. Several of them were unforgettable, as was the main character Lillian. Bloom's range as a writer is astounding. This book is completely different from two other books that I have read: Normal: Transexual Ceos, Crossdressing Cops, and Hermaphrodites With Attitude (nonfiction) and Come to Me (stories).
On the negative side, I would have preferred another reader. For me, Barbara Rosenblat did not have the voice of Lillian I imagined when I read the book in print, although she did the other characters to my satisfaction. And her naration had a slight ironic flavor whereas I would have preferred a more serious and empathic tone.
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Journal Entry 2 by gnissorckoob from Miami, Florida USA on Saturday, October 04, 2008
Sending this off in batty14's All Fiction Audiobook Box.
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Journal Entry 3 by tranq1 from Tampa, Florida USA on Monday, October 20, 2008
Taken from batty14's All Fiction Audiobook Box.
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Journal Entry 4 by tranq1 at BookObsessed.com, Bookbox Virtual -- Controlled Releases on Friday, December 12, 2008
Released 3 yrs ago (12/12/2008 UTC) at BookObsessed.com, Bookbox Virtual -- Controlled Releases CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Sending to mellion108 for the Audio VBB.
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Journal Entry 5 by  mellion108 from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan USA on Saturday, December 20, 2008
Thank you, tranq1! The audio is here, and I can't wait to listen to it. It goes on the TBL pile until after all the holiday craziness is over, but I think this will fit perfectly into my January listening. Thanks!
Synopsis:
Panoramic in scope, Away is the epic and intimate story of young Lillian Leyb, a dangerous innocent, an accidental heroine. When her family is destroyed in a Russian pogrom, Lillian comes to America alone, determined to make her way in a new land. When word comes that her daughter, Sophie, might still be alive, Lillian embarks on an odyssey that takes her from the world of the Yiddish theater on New York's Lower East Side, to Seattle's Jazz District, and up to Alaska, along the fabled Telegraph Trail toward Siberia. All of the qualities readers love in Amy Bloom's work—her humor and wit, her elegant and irreverent language, her unflinching understanding of passion and the human heart—come together in the embrace of this brilliant novel, which is at once heartbreaking, romantic, and completely unforgettable.
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Journal Entry 6 by mellion108 from Bloomfield Hills, Michigan USA on Saturday, April 04, 2009
Just finished this earlier in the week. I nearly sent it out to someone else because I thought I had already listened to it. I'm so glad I caught my mistake because I absolutely loved this story. I was riveted to this tale from the beginning. I really like stories set in the 20s and stories about immigrants to America, and I especially love stories focusing on Jewish characters, so this book hit all the right spots.
Lillian Leyb is a determined, relentless character. She is sweet but has a line of steel running through her. I loved that she was willing to do anything and everything to make her life better and then to find her daughter. And all the secondary characters in this story were amazing! Gumdrop, the smart, business savvy prostitute; "Chinky" Chang, the clever Chinese girl well educated in the art of swindling; Yakov, the kind friend with a wicked sense of humor and a beyond-sad past; Meyer and Reuben Burstein, the father and son who both use and are used by Lillian (and all have deep, dark secrets); John Bishop, the former cop on the run and living alone on the Telegraph Trail...The characters were just so richly written, and I love that Bloom gives this tale a third person narrator so that she can provide us with glimpses into what happens to some of these characters after Lillian moves from their lives. The story is sad, saucy, dramatic, funny, and dark - Lillian is an uneducated young woman from rural Russia who immigrates to America after a horrible tragedy. She meets interesting people and finds herself in situations she never once imagined (having an affair with a father and son? drinking booze? eating non-kosher? traveling across the country in a cramped janitor's closet? trading sexual favors to get where she knows she has to go? working with a prostitute to recoup money stolen by a pimp? trekking through the uncharted wilderness to get to the Bering Straight?). What a story!
And, finally, I really like Barbara Rosenblat's narration. She nailed the Russian and Yiddish perfectly, I thought, and she managed to give each character its own voice. The only complaint I have about this book is that it ended much too quickly.
I'm gushing, aren't I?
Anyway, I really like this book, and now I need to enter other Bloom novels onto my wishlist.
Just a note about the CDs: I had a bit of trouble with skipping on, I believe, the 5th CD. However, if I estimated correctly, I only missed about 30 seconds, so it doesn't affect the overall story.
This audio is packaged and ready to mail to azuki for the Audiobook VBB over on BookObsessed. Hope you enjoy it!
Here's an excerpt if you need further convincing to give this novel a try.
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Journal Entry 7 by  azuki from Miami, Florida USA on Wednesday, April 15, 2009
It has safely arrived. Thanks all for sharing!
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Journal Entry 8 by azuki from Miami, Florida USA on Thursday, March 11, 2010
I think I enjoy this more than the average Amazon reader. :) And this definitely is one book where I can say that I probably would not like it as much if I just read it instead of listening to the audiobook. The narration has an interesting way of describing some events, then moving on to the future to describe what happen in the future to the secondary characters walking off the stage, then jumping the focus back onto Lillian.
This will now goes to Ace, who selected it from the audiobook vbb.
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Journal Entry 9 by AceofHearts from Mississauga, Ontario Canada on Tuesday, March 23, 2010
received in the mail today. Thanks!! What a neat CD holder.
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Journal Entry 10 by AceofHearts at Mississauga, Ontario Canada on Friday, October 07, 2011
My father listened to this and enjoyed it
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Away
