Accordion Crimes Audiobook By Annie Proulx cover art

Accordion Crimes

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Accordion Crimes

By: Annie Proulx
Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte
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Buy for $22.49

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Pulitzer Prize–winning author Annie Proulx brings the immigrant experience to life in this stunning novel that traces the ownership of a simple green accordion.

E. Annie Proulx’s Accordion Crimes is a masterpiece of storytelling that spans a century and a continent. Proulx brings the immigrant experience in America to life through the eyes of the descendants of Mexicans, Poles, Africans, Irish-Scots, Franco-Canadians and many others, all linked by their successive ownership of a simple green accordion. The music they make is their last link with the past—voice for their fantasies, sorrows and exuberance. Proulx’s prodigious knowledge, unforgettable characters and radiant language make Accordion Crimes a stunning novel, exhilarating in its scope and originality. Literary Fiction Historical Fiction Genre Fiction Fiction World Literature Italy Heartfelt Family Life
All stars
Most relevant
The discretion of how some of the characters felt about others was hard to hear.

Ugly tirades

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Other reviews called it gritty, but that doesn't convey just how graphically brutal this book is. Suicide, murder, dismemberment, child abuse, elder abuse, spousal abuse, animal abuse, and rape after rape after rape.

I was so torn whether to even finish it because it's also a really fascinating story about a century's worth of the American experience, shining light on immigrant communities which aren't often featured in literature. i got the feeling that the author was trying to out-do Steinbeck in both the highs and lows. I think I'm glad I struggled through, although I may have nightmares from it. And to think I was drawn in by the music connection (which definitely is there, and very well-researched, but ultimately is more of an excuse for telling the other stories).

Brutal - every possible trigger warning

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I loved it, Sad and beautiful! Great narration by Tom Stechschulte. I highly recommend it!

Awesome

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It's a string of stories, loosely connected, but told fantastically. The narrator does an exquisite job.

Annie Proulx can tell a story

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What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

For this to be a 4 or 5 star experience, it would have had to be a different story. It was dreary, depressing, endlessly gruesome, and just plain awful.

What was most disappointing about Annie Proulx’s story?

There was unending pain and misery in this story. There were no characters to root for. Everyone was either awful, crazy, or abused and/or all of the above. As the book progressed, the story rambled more and more until I just wanted to be finished so I could stop reading this horrible book.

Which character – as performed by Tom Stechschulte – was your favorite?

Although he did an admirable job with the material, I have to say that none of them were my favorite.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Accordion Crimes?

All of them.

Any additional comments?

I read this for my book club and when we met to discuss it, everyone in the group really could not stand this book. It probably generated the most conversation of any book we have discussed and that's the only good thing I can say about it.

This book should be a crime

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