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High as the Horses' Bridles by Scott Cheshire audiobook

High as the Horses' Bridles

By Scott Cheshire
Read by Adam Grupper

Recorded Books, Recorded Books, Inc. 9780805098211
10.74 Hours • Unabridged
Format : CD (In Stock)
  • 2 Formats: CD
  • 2 Formats: MP3 CD

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    ISBN: 9781664426108

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Josiah is a child preacher, called to speak to an amphitheater of thousands in 1980s New York. In a style reminiscent of DeLillo, Cheshire takes us inside their apocalypse-obsessed world, setting the tone for events to come. Fast forward several years, and Josiah (or Josie) has broken with the community that bound him, only to have the new life he built collapse. When his ex-wife Sarah calls to say his father sounds strange--even unhinged--Josie must return home. Back in Queens, the old sights and sounds of the neighborhood and the memories-- of his childhood friend Issy, his first love, the mother he has yet to mourn-- overcome him. When he arrives at his father' s door, he' s completely unprepared for what he finds. How far back must one man journey to heal a sacred bond between father and son? In a surprising twist, we learn that it may be further than even Josie himself. In rhapsodic language steeped in the tradition of evangelism, Scott Cheshire has created a novel that is remarkable in scale and energized by the power and danger of belief. High as the Horses' Bridles is the debut of an extraordinary new talent.

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Summary

Summary

An Amazon Best Book of the Month for July 2014

Josiah is a child preacher, called to speak to an amphitheater of thousands in 1980s New York. In a style reminiscent of DeLillo, Cheshire takes us inside their apocalypse-obsessed world, setting the tone for events to come. Fast forward several years, and Josiah (or Josie) has broken with the community that bound him, only to have the new life he built collapse. When his ex-wife Sarah calls to say his father sounds strange--even unhinged--Josie must return home. Back in Queens, the old sights and sounds of the neighborhood and the memories-- of his childhood friend Issy, his first love, the mother he has yet to mourn-- overcome him. When he arrives at his father' s door, he' s completely unprepared for what he finds. How far back must one man journey to heal a sacred bond between father and son? In a surprising twist, we learn that it may be further than even Josie himself. In rhapsodic language steeped in the tradition of evangelism, Scott Cheshire has created a novel that is remarkable in scale and energized by the power and danger of belief. High as the Horses' Bridles is the debut of an extraordinary new talent.

Editorial Reviews

Editorial Reviews

“An unflinching exploration of American apocalyptic yearning…It also happens to be a deep look at one of the more unsettling aspects of our national character—religion as desire. This is a rare and beautiful debut that will have readers thinking of Aleksandar Hemon, of E. L. Doctorow, of Don DeLillo.” —Colum McCann, New York Times bestselling author of Transatlantic
“A great new American epic…Cheshire tackles the biggest questions of all, God, love, and death, and he does it with such style and raw psychological insight. Nothing less than Dostoyevskian.” —Philipp Meyer, New York Times bestselling author of The Son
“Adam Grupper does a good job of channeling Josiah Laudermilk…Grupper injects a weary cynicism into Josie’s voice as he returns east to make peace with his father, his past, and his history. Finally, the story shifts to 1801 Kentucky, where the family’s tradition of evangelical preaching began. Grupper gives personality to the young Laudermilk and to Cotton, the man who saves him.” —AudioFile
"[A] vivid, visceral tale about a son schooled in the holy fire of old-time religion who must seek bold new bonds with his evangelical father, his departed mother, his ex-wife, and his own richly transformed inner life.” —Elle
“It’s this complicated father-son relationship that Bridles is focused on, but the novel is very much a bigger story about overcoming failure—the failure of Josie’s business, the failure of his father to be a father, the failure of basic humankind. Elegant and careful, Cheshire has penned a novel that is rooted in specific times and places, but its themes and haunting mood will resonate universally.” —Amazon.com, editorial review
“Deeply imagined…Mr. Cheshire skillfully writes about the burdens and silver linings offered by faith and other inheritances.” —New York Times
“Daring and brilliant…Cheshire captures the anguish that has always driven people of faith—or no faith—toward the unbridled promise of a time when ‘there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain, for the former things are passed away.’ No matter what you believe, fiction writing that delivers us to a moment like that is something of a miracle.” —Washington Post
“A convincing ventriloquist with an ear for all variety of language, from biblical cadence to ethnic dialect and slang, Cheshire—himself a former child preacher—transports the reader from east to west and, in the final section, deep into the past, to the crazed tent revivals of nineteenth-century Kentucky that form the basis for the world that Josie has fled. The writing is fresh and propulsive throughout.” —San Francisco Chronicle
“Cheshire is a writer of undeniable talent and power. The images in his first novel, High as the Horses’ Bridles, are vivid, his language vigorous and bright, and his storytelling passionate…a fine debut novel.” —Seattle Times
“The prophets of High as the Horses’ Bridles live struggling in anticipation of the Apocalypse they think they want and struggling in denial of the one they already have. In a three-book bible, written to profound and devastating purpose, Scott Cheshire counts the cost in love of inviting the end of the world.” —Chris Adrian, author of The Children’s Hospital
“Scott Chesire has made the insane choice to write with nuance and intelligence about religion. High As The Horses' Bridles refuses to dismiss or lampoon the kind of people who are usually just fodder for comedy. Because of this, his debut novel is tender and enlightening, riveting and raw. The man can write but, just as importantly, he keeps his eye on the humane just as surely as the divine.” —Victor LaValle, author of The Devil in Silver

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Author

Author Bio: Scott Cheshire

Author Bio: Scott Cheshire

Scott Cheshire earned his MFA from Hunter College. He is the interview editor at the Tottenville Review and teaches writing at the Sackett Street Writers’ Workshop. His work has been published in Slice, AGNI, Guernica, and the Picador anthology The Book of Men. He lives in New York City.

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Details

Details

Available Formats : CD, MP3 CD
Category: Fiction/Literary
Runtime: 10.74
Audience: Adult
Language: English

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