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Title details for The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian - Available

The Double Bind

A Novel

by Chris Bohjalian
Susan Denaker
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
1 of 1 copy available
As the New York Times has said, “Few writers can manipulate a plot with [Chris] Bohjalian’s grace and power.” Now he is back with an ambitious new novel that travels between Jay Gatsby’s Long Island and rural New England, between the Roaring Twenties and the twenty-first century.
When college sophomore Laurel Estabrook is attacked while riding her bicycle through Vermont’s back roads, her life is forever changed. Formerly outgoing, Laurel withdraws into her photography and begins to work at a homeless shelter. There she meets Bobbie Crocker, a man with a history of mental illness and a box of photographs that he won’t let anyone see. When Bobbie dies suddenly, Laurel discovers that before he was homeless, Bobbie Crocker was a successful photographer.
As Laurel’s fascination with Bobbie’s former life begins to merge into obsession, she becomes convinced that some of his photographs reveal a deeply hidden, dark family secret and falls into into a cat-and-mouse game with pursuers who claim they want to save her.
In this spellbinding literary thriller, rich with complex and compelling characters Chris Bohjalian takes listeners on his most intriguing, most haunting, and most unforgettable journey yet.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Awards

  • Release date

    February 13, 2007

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781415936580
      • File size: 333769 KB
      • Duration: 11:35:21

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      THE DOUBLE BIND asks a lot of its listener. It asks that one suspend reality enough to believe that the characters from Fitzgerald's classic THE GREAT GATSBY are actual people who interacted with its own characters, becoming part of a mystery the protagonist must solve. The premise is enough to keep one interested, and Susan Denaker's performance is a reasonable one. She stumbles with minor characters such as children and the elderly, lending their voices stereotypical twists, but overall her reading is fine. In fact, the audiobook is exactly that: fine. It promises great drama but falls short by overuse of narrative and slow-paced delivery of action. A listen to this audiobook is diverting, but not riveting. L.B.F. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine
    • Library Journal

      Starred review from September 1, 2007
      Bohjalian is well known for addressing issues head on from various points of view (hunting and vegetarianism in "Before You Know Kindness", gender identification in "Trans-sister Radio", etc.) and has created mystery in earlier plots (e.g., "Midwives"). Here he manages to do all that as well as enlarge the characters and plot of F. Scott Fitzgerald's classic novel "The Great Gatsby"! The story revolves around Laurel Estabrook, a young social worker employed at a homeless shelter; her haunted past and a new assignment to discover the truth in a deceased client's box of old photos and negatives merge to create a compelling mystery that crosses time and geography. Susan Denaker's reading helps one almost see Bobbie Crocker's photos, which lead from East Egg, Long Island, to Vermont. Delivered with great sensitivity, this title is highly recommended.Joyce Kessel, Villa Maria Coll., Buffalo, NY

      Copyright 2007 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Susan Denaker guides Bohjalian heroine Laurel Estabrook through a progressively tangled web. After Laurel is viciously attacked while biking in Vermont, she withdraws from life and devotes herself to working in a homeless shelter. There she meets an old man with a box of photos that depict the characters from THE GREAT GATSBY, as well as Laurel herself--on that infamous biking road. Denaker makes Laurel so sane and convincing that the explosive climax is never tipped off by her voice or inflections. Denaker is not as strong with the minor players, however; some come off as caricatures. At the end, a new voice playing the novel's psychiatrist comments on Laurel's story and socks us with the shocking conclusion. His voice is powerful but is not credited. M.T.B. (c) AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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