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    The Living End
    The Living End
    The Living End
    Audiobook3 hours

    The Living End

    Written by Stanley Elkin

    Narrated by George Guidall

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    Stanley Elkin's The Living End is a marvelously funny novel about life and death, heaven and hell. In it, the National Book Award-winning author sets into motion a divine comedy that will have you chuckling at his wry visions of celestial affairs. Ellerbee, the unassuming owner of a small liquor store, is fatally shot in a holdup. First, the Angel of Death ushers him into a wondrous heaven, but St. Peter has other, more infernal plans for this hero. After his transfer, Ellerbee discovers that hell is a busy place. Even God pays an occasional visit there. But the pep talks God delivers to its tormented residents aren't anything like what he gave to Job. Veteran narrator George Guidall provides the perfect voices for the baffled Ellerbee, dutiful angels, and tattered souls who gather before God. He'll make you feel right at home in this spirited world of sight gags, one liners, and cosmic pranks.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateOct 7, 2011
    ISBN9781456124069
    Author

    Stanley Elkin

    Stanley Elkin (1930–1995) was an award-winning author of novels, short stories, and essays. Born in the Bronx, Elkin received his BA and PhD from the University of Illinois and in 1960 became a professor of English at Washington University in St. Louis where he taught until his death. His critically acclaimed works include the National Book Critics Circle Award–winners George Mills (1982) and Mrs. Ted Bliss (1995), as well as the National Book Award finalists The Dick Gibson Show (1972), Searches and Seizures (1974), and The MacGuffin (1991). His book of novellas, Van Gogh’s Room at Arles, was a finalist for the PEN Faulkner Award.

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    Reviews for The Living End

    4.5/5

    4 ratings2 reviews

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    • 3/5
      This reminded me of a shorter and smarter version of a Christopher Moore novel (no disrespect intended; believe me, Moore is no dummy). Only 3 stars because I thought it was strongest in the beginning and weakened a bit as it progressed.
    • 5/5
      More about the excesses of modern human life than the realities of Heaven or Hell, yet willing to challenge the myths of religion in the Western world, The Liviing End is a minor Stanley Elkin novel that could be a crowning glory in the bibliographies of most creative writers of the last half of the last century. Irreverent, thought-provoking, and funny as hell.