The Descendants by Kaui Hart Hemmings audiobook

The Descendants

By Kaui Hart Hemmings
Read by Jonathan Davis

Blackstone Publishing, Blackstone Publishing 9780812977820
• 9.15 Hours • Unabridged
Format : Digital Download (In Stock)
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Now a major motion picture starring George Clooney! Matthew King was once considered one of the most fortunate men in Hawaii. His missionary ancestors who came to the islands were financially and culturally progressive—one even married a Hawaiian princess, making Matt a royal descendant and one of the state’s largest landowners. But now his luck has changed. His two daughters are out of control—10-year-old Scottie has a smart-ass attitude and a desperate need for attention and 17-year-old Alex, a former model, is a recovering drug addict. His thrill-seeking and high-maintenance wife, Joanie, lies in a coma after a boat racing accident, and will soon be taken off life support. The King family can hardly picture life without their charismatic mother, but as they come to terms with this tragedy, their sadness is mixed with a sense of freedom that shames them—and spurs them into surprising actions.

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Summary

Summary

A New York Times bestseller

A USA Today bestseller

A New York Times Editor's Choice of Fiction That Explores Matters of the Heart

Now a major motion picture starring George Clooney! Matthew King was once considered one of the most fortunate men in Hawaii. His missionary ancestors who came to the islands were financially and culturally progressive—one even married a Hawaiian princess, making Matt a royal descendant and one of the state’s largest landowners. But now his luck has changed. His two daughters are out of control—10-year-old Scottie has a smart-ass attitude and a desperate need for attention and 17-year-old Alex, a former model, is a recovering drug addict. His thrill-seeking and high-maintenance wife, Joanie, lies in a coma after a boat racing accident, and will soon be taken off life support. The King family can hardly picture life without their charismatic mother, but as they come to terms with this tragedy, their sadness is mixed with a sense of freedom that shames them—and spurs them into surprising actions.

Editorial Reviews

Editorial Reviews

“Audaciously comic…Hemmings channels the voice of her befuddled middle-aged hero with virtuosity, as he teeters between acerbic and sentimental, scoffing at himself even as he grasps for redemption.” —New Yorker
“Hemmings is a determinedly unsentimental writer, and she manages her hazardous subject matter—all of it ripe for strenuous melodrama—in a dry, understated way, subverting her characters without reducing them utterly…Her comic sense is finely honed in this refreshingly wry debut novel.” —New York Times Book Review
“Gripping and funny…A brave and intelligent novel.” —Sunday Telegraph (London)
“With beautiful and blunt prose, Hemmings explores the emotional terrain of grief, promising something far more fulfilling than paradise at its end.” —San Francisco Chronicle
“Manages to be shockingly irreverent and funny while exerting that all-important emotional tug…The Kings prove to be a richly complicated as their Mexican housekeeper’s cooking…A well-plotted, unexpectedly twisting saga which…manages to avoid mawkishness and schmaltz.” —Guardian (London)
“Hemmings pulls off a remarkable feat in making the Kings’ sense of loss all the more wrenching for being directed at a woman who was neither a good wife nor a good mother.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“[A] sharply observed, frequently hilarious, and intermittently heartbreaking look at at well-meaning but confused father trying to hold together his unconventional family.” —Publishers Weekly
“Evincing a sublimely mature style and beguiling command of theme and setting, Hemmings’ virtuoso performance offers a piquantly tender and winsome comic portrait of a singular family’s revealing response to tragedy.” —Booklist

Reviews

Reviews

by Ash Ryan 9/13/2017
Narration
Overall Performance
Story

A dysfunctional family story with some depth

The Descendants tells the story of Matt King, who tries to figure out how to be a single father to his two daughters while his wife lies dying in a coma. To complicate matters, he learns that she had been having an affair prior to her accident, and he sets out with his daughters to find and confront her lover before she dies.

In some ways, this is a typical "dysfunctional family" story, but it examines what "family" means at a deeper level than most. The Hawaiian setting is vivid, as are the characters, who are mostly likeable despite their problems. Worth a read, though I would say the recent movie adaptation is actually slightly better.

Author

Author Bio: Kaui Hart Hemmings

Author Bio: Kaui Hart Hemmings

Kaui Hart Hemmings, American novelist, has degrees from Colorado College and Sarah Lawrence, and she was a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. Her first novel, The Descendants, has been published in twenty-two other countries and is now an Oscar-winning film directed by Alexander Payne and starring George Clooney.

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Details

Details

Available Formats : Digital Download, CD
Category: Fiction/Literary
Runtime: 9.15
Audience: Adult
Language: English

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