Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Thousands of incredible audiobooks and podcasts to take wherever you go.
Immerse yourself in a world of storytelling with the Plus Catalogue - unlimited listening to thousands of select audiobooks, podcasts and Audible Originals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
That Room cover art

That Room

By: Tobias Wolff
Narrated by: Anthony Heald
Try for £0.00

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

Buy Now for £1.39

Buy Now for £1.39

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Summary

In this short story by the masterful Tobias Wolff, a teenage boy learns the joys - and struggles - of adult life.

Eager for independence and adult-like freedom, a teenage boy takes a summer job baling hay on a rural farm. Savoring the farm wife’s attention and the extra change in his pocket, the boy feels like a grown man. The fellow hands give him a sense of camaraderie - Clemson, a fastidious boy who attends the same high school; Eduardo, a talkative Mexican seasonal worker; and Miguel, a quiet man and Eduardo’s brother.

One night, after working the fields from dawn until dusk, Clemson and the boy drop the two brothers off at the decrepit hotel they live at during the summers. Eduardo invites the men in for a drink and they all accept. But the room is filthy and reeking of mildew, and as angry words lead to dangerous actions, the boy must face the reality of his situation.

©2008 Tobias Wolff (P)2013 Blackstone Audio

What listeners say about That Room

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 3.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    0
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    3
  • 4 Stars
    1
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 3 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    0
  • 4 Stars
    2
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    1
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Becoming

II love the world of Tobias Wolff, his way of introducing characters and interaction between them with such a reality. But this story, enjoyable as it is and beginning with the same glimpses at that time of beginning to feel grown up, independent, a man, is just too short, leaving a feeling of a story started but incomplete.
Told in the first person, the narrator, Anthony Head, again becomes the young man relating his memories: a fine performance.

Available to download for free through the Audible Plus programme, this ten minute piece, though well done, left me feeling 'Is that it?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!