Author: Chuck Redman
Narrator: Michael Butler Murray
Length: 6 hours and 12 minutes
Publisher: Chuck Redman
Released: Mar. 5, 2019
Genre: Historical Fiction
Rating: 4.5 Stars
I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Chuck Redman. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.
Nebraska: not just a place on a map. It has a heart, and it has a voice. It has a then. It has a now.
Several centuries ago, a young Sioux woman called Lark rebels against her people's traditions and crosses the plains to save her adopted sister from a bad marriage proposal and return the girl to the Pawnee village from which she was abducted in childhood. At the end of her journey, Lark finds herself the center of a mysterious Pawnee ritual that undermines her plan as well as her confidence.
In this century, Janet Hinderson runs a small-town newspaper and crusades against a proposed meatpacking plant that will destroy the fabric of the town, along with its landmark stand of cottonwoods. But Janet's hard and soft sides must grapple when the meat company's general counsel comes to town and reveals some cryptic interest in her.
These are not two stories. They are connected, told and wound into one - each exploring social issues and themes that are vital and timeless.
Chuck Redman was born and raised in small-town Nebraska, a place that still gives him chills even though the scenery is less dramatic than the goosebumps on his arm. But he eventually rambled east for undergrad at Michigan and law school at NYU. Then he marched west to practice criminal and immigration law in Los Angeles for 40 years. In his spare time, he wrote a little. He’s retired now, freeing him to enjoy his wife, his kids, his reading, his writing, his worrying about the future of the planet.His novel A Cottonwood Stand, set in Nebraska, takes a satirical look at the way our nation has chosen to evolve, in terms of values. Mr. Redman’s daughter, a musician and artist, created a beautiful needlepoint of the story’s “legendary” cottonwood, and his son, a musician and community activist, adapted the needlepoint for the book cover.
His short fiction or humor have appeared in Writer’s Digest, Lowestoft Chronicle, Hemlock Journal, Jewish Literary Journal, and The Jewish Magazine.
Website⎮Twitter⎮Facebook⎮Goodreads
Michael Butler Murray is a professional actor, narrator and musician who has voiced over 58 audiobooks. His recorded titles run the spectrum from dramatic to comedic fiction and nonfiction titles varying in topics from the Middle East to understanding your dog's olfactory senses. Born on Long Island, NY, he has been performing his entire life. Over the past few decades, he has performed in slews of musicals, dramas and improv shows across the country, has appeared in several films, and performs regularly with his guitar comedy duo, Schoolcraft & Murray. He loves stretching his legs in the great outdoors, sailing, surfing and, naturally, sitting in a quiet box reading aloud.Website⎮Facebook
When I first started listening to this story, it reminded me of the old time radio shows or more current would be the Garrison Keelor show. Mr. Murray does a great job with all the characters. The way he's able to change his voice helps to bring them to life - whether it be male or female. I don't know the process of how a narrator is chosen but they made the perfect choice here. I felt like I was sitting on a porch listening to the narrator telling me a story, or stories, of the people that live in small town Nebraska. There's nothing bad that I can say about his performance.
Mr. Redman does a great job in painting a picture where a young woman takes a stand for what she believes in. If it weren't for her, I had to wonder what this town would be like if she hadn't taken that stand. I've never visited any states that are west of the Mississippi. Mr. Redman may just have given me the incentive to change that. But it's not the big cities that I want to visit but the smaller communities where things seem to go slower, people all know each other, and maybe even one that has some history to it.
I can't say that I'm prejudiced but Mr. Redman reminds me how little I read the work of male authors. I'm all for romance but I will once in a while jump out of my comfort zone to check out some of the other genres. If not for being a part of a book tour, I may never have discovered this book. But Mr. Murray spoiled me because after hearing him bring Mr. Redman's book to life I don't know that I would read the book because I don't think I would do as great a job.
If I had to say one bad thing it would be the parts where we're going along in the present but then it changes to the past is when I have an issue. It took me a while to realize that something has changed but when I hear Lark speak is when the light bulb goes on. I think to myself; "they don't speak like that now" is when you realize that you've gone back in time. And since I don't have the book it's hard to tell you if the experience would be different or not. To end on a happy note, I can see myself listening to this book more than once - and maybe even twice.
Mr. Redman does a great job in painting a picture where a young woman takes a stand for what she believes in. If it weren't for her, I had to wonder what this town would be like if she hadn't taken that stand. I've never visited any states that are west of the Mississippi. Mr. Redman may just have given me the incentive to change that. But it's not the big cities that I want to visit but the smaller communities where things seem to go slower, people all know each other, and maybe even one that has some history to it.
I can't say that I'm prejudiced but Mr. Redman reminds me how little I read the work of male authors. I'm all for romance but I will once in a while jump out of my comfort zone to check out some of the other genres. If not for being a part of a book tour, I may never have discovered this book. But Mr. Murray spoiled me because after hearing him bring Mr. Redman's book to life I don't know that I would read the book because I don't think I would do as great a job.
If I had to say one bad thing it would be the parts where we're going along in the present but then it changes to the past is when I have an issue. It took me a while to realize that something has changed but when I hear Lark speak is when the light bulb goes on. I think to myself; "they don't speak like that now" is when you realize that you've gone back in time. And since I don't have the book it's hard to tell you if the experience would be different or not. To end on a happy note, I can see myself listening to this book more than once - and maybe even twice.
Author Chuck Redman's Picks for A Cottonwood Stand
Narrator: Michael Butler Murray!Janet: Diane Lane
Steve: Russell Crowe
Lark: Jennifer Lopez
Red Moon: Lin-Manuel Miranda
Left Hand: Benicio Del Toro
Scout: Rando the Wonder Dog
May 5th:
May 6th:
May 7th:
May 8th:
May 9th:
May 10th:
May 11th:
➜Sign up as a host here
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please leave your comments below.