The Prettiest Star
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The Prettiest Star
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Narrated by:
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Tiffany Morgan
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Charlie Thurston
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By:
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Carter Sickels
About this listen
Small-town Appalachia doesn't have a lot going for it, but it's where Brian is from, where his family is, and where he's chosen to return to die.
At 18, Brian, like so many other promising young gay men, arrived in New York City without much more than a love for the freedom and release from his past that it promised. But within six short years, AIDS would claim his lover, his friends, and his future. With nothing left in New York but memories of death, Brian decides to write his mother a letter asking to come back to the place, and family, he was once so desperate to escape.
Set in 1986, a year after Rock Hudson's death shifted the public consciousness of the epidemic and brought the news of AIDS into living rooms and kitchens across America, The Prettiest Star is part Dog Years by Mark Doty and part Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt. But it is also an urgent story now: It a novel about the politics and fragility of the body; it is a novel about sex and shame. And it is a novel that speaks to the question of what home and family means when we try to forge a life for ourselves in a world that can be harsh and unpredictable.
Contains mature themes.
©2020 Carter Sickels (P)2020 TantorListeners also enjoyed...
What listeners say about The Prettiest Star
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- caroline
- 06-08-20
Heartbreaking breathtaking real
If you only ever listen to one book about AIDS make sure it’s this one
Listening to the different points of view gave this book a depth that you don’t often find
It’s beautifully narrated and keeps you coming back for more
The very real emotions around gay people and AIDS in the 1980’s are front and foremost in this book making it a must read
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 25-04-25
Just incredible
Wow! What can I say about this book?
It’s so heartbreaking, touching, real and raw
What an incredible book
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sock Monkey
- 16-04-25
Beautifully Written
Brian is a young man who moves back home to die of AIDS. Set in 1980s America, Brian has been living in New York City for 6 years but has lost his boyfriend and many friends to the virus. The 'home' Brian returns to is a small town in Appalachia where he hasn't seen his family since his escape to the New York to live his authentic self.
The story is written in first person narrative in a diary form from the point of view of three different characters: Brian, his mother and his younger sister. Many other characters are discussed: Brian's father, grandmother his cousins and the locals, who all have different attitudes toward's Brian's return.
The descriptive writing is beautiful and really brings the story to life, a story that can only ultimately, end in death.
Some reviewers found the characters and storylines bit cliched but I loved this book; it really is a pretty thing.
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