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Title details for Ed King by David Guterson - Available

Ed King

by David Guterson
Arthur Morey
Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
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1 of 1 copy available
A sweeping, propulsive, darkly humorous new novel by the best-selling author of Snow Falling on Cedars: a story of destiny, desire, and destruction that reimagines Sophocles’s Oedipus Rex for our own era.
 
In Seattle in 1962, Walter Cousins, a mild-mannered actuary—“a guy who weighs risk for a living”—takes a risk of his own, and makes the biggest error of his life. He sleeps with Diane Burroughs, the sexy, not-quite-legal British au pair who’s taking care of his children for the summer. Diane gets pregnant and leaves their baby on a doorstep, but not before turning the tables on Walter and setting in motion a tragedy of epic proportions. Their orphaned child, adopted by an adoring family and named Edward Aaron King, grows up to become a billionaire Internet tycoon and an international celebrity—the “King of Search”—who unknowingly, but inexorably, hurtles through life toward a fate he may have no power to shape.
 
An instant classic—David Guterson’s most daring and dazzling novel yet—that brings a contemporary urgency to one of the greatest stories of all time.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    October 18, 2011

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9780307939432
      • File size: 426131 KB
      • Duration: 14:47:46

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      From foundling to king of search engine algorithms, Ed King is portrayed by Arthur Morey in a fairly straightforward manner--even when sex and humor (cosmic or mundane) take center stage. Ed, the accidental offspring of a scheming au pair and philandering father, is adopted by a nice Jewish couple. Only his minor relations--Jewish and working-class Brits--draw intriguing accents from Morey. King's childhood, rise to power, road-rage encounter with his natural father, and inevitable marriage to his biological mother are events Morey cruises through, consistently absorbing listeners in Guterson's engrossing vision of Greek drama in contemporary America. D.P.D. (c) AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      August 1, 2011
      Guterson (The Other) uses key elements of Oedipus the King as scaffolding for a snarky comedy skewering contemporary values. In 1962, a 34-year-old actuary seduces an underage au pair, producing a child who, abandoned, is adopted by the prosperous King family and named Edward. But Ed is not a king in name only; he grows into the "king of search," a man in the mold of Jobs or Gates running a company/kingdom akin to Google called Pythia. Guterson fans may be surprised at his lack of sympathy this time out; his characters are superficially realized and relentlessly ridiculed. The cure for the guilt Ed feels over causing a stranger's death? The right antidepressant. Ed has copious encounters with older girls, and then older women, a recurring theme Guterson employs partly for fun, but mostly to trumpet his point: Ed's not only Sophocles' Oedipus but also Freud's, thanks to an oversized (and oversimplified) Oedipus complex. But Guterson gives the myth neither new perspective nor fresh twist, and the ancient drama doesn't illuminate the present. The novel's worldview doesn't allow for heroes or gods, and treats fate as if it were mere coincidence. But the story is propelled by irony, much of it delightful, and if we're able to mock ourselves, we can't be all bad. Can we?

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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