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Crossing to Safety

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Crossing to Safety

By: Wallace Stegner
Narrated by: Richard Poe
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One of the finest American authors of the 20th century, Wallace Stegner compiled an impressive collection of accolades during his lifetime, including a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, a National Book Award, and three O. Henry Awards. His final novel, Crossing to Safety is the quiet yet stirring tale of two couples that meet during the Great Depression and form a lifelong bond.©2002 Wallace Earle Stegner (P)2009 Recorded Books, LLC Fiction Genre Fiction Historical Fiction Literary Fiction Classics
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Critic reviews

"This is a wonderfully rich, warm, and affecting book." ( Library Journal)
"It's deceptively simple: two bright young couples meet during the Depression and form an instant and lifelong friendship. "How do you make a book that anyone will read out of lives as quiet as these?" Larry Morgan, a successful novelist and the narrator of the story, poses that question many years after he and his wife, Sally, have befriended the vibrant, wealthy, and often troubled Sid and Charity Lang. "Where is the high life, the conspicuous waste, the violence, the kinky sex, the death wish?" It's not here. What is here is just as fascinating, just as compelling, as touching, and as tragic." (Amazon.com review)
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Find it hard to describe why I liked this so much, quiet and subtle. The reading is extraordinary.

Making the ordinary special

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I bought this after hearing it recommended by all three participants in a recent edition of "A Good Read" and am very glad that I did. It's a simple enough story of two couples played out against the background of mid twentieth century America but cheering in its account of the pleasures and occasional difficulties of friendship and feels emotionally very true. Credit too to the narrator Richard Poe for adding significantly to the pleasures of the book.

A Gem to be Savoured

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My first experience with Stegner, definitely not my last. Stunningly well written and superbly narrated.

Astoundingly good

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Four entwined lives masterfully laid out from youth to late middle age with clear-sighted honesty and transcendent lyricism

Complex, wise and honest

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I have read the book in recent years and turned to audible to enjoy this complex, nuanced story of two intertwined couples over many decades. My experience was detracted by the evident sneer in the narrator’s voice which took sides as to which characters were worthy or less worthy.

Why the sneer?

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