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Spoonbenders

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Spoonbenders

By: Daryl Gregory
Narrated by: John Chancer
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About this listen

Meet Matthias Telemachus, Teddy Telemachus, Maureen Telemachus, Irene Telemachus, Frankie Telemachus and Buddy Telemachus! They were the Amazing Telemachus Family, who in the mid-1970s achieved widespread fame for their magic and mind-reading act. That is until the magic decided to disappear one night, live on national television.

We encounter this long-forgotten family two decades on, when grandson Matty, born long after the public fall from grace, discovers powers in himself and realises his hugely deflated, heavily indebted family truly are amazing.

Spoonbenders is the legacy and legend of a dysfunctional, normal, entirely unique family across three generations of big personalities and socially inept recluses - each cursed with the potential of being something special.

©2017 Daryl Gregory (P)2017 Quercus Editions Ltd Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Fiction

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All stars
Most relevant
I really enjoyed this unexpected tale.. twists and turns to the end. Well narrated. Good book.

funny and engaging

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This is another quirky listen. A family with a difference, while managing to be just a little bit dysfunctional. Amusing and light-hearted in its tone, it was cleverly constructed with a decent twist in the tail. Worth a credit if you are looking for a comfortable holiday listen with a difference.

A little bit different

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Family story with a difference. Saga of three generations of an unusual clan, slow-moving but fascinating.

4.5 stars.

This is a little, in my mind, like The Royal Tenenbaums - a 'gifted' clan, who for one reason or another have problems in their lives, it feels meandering - there isn't much in the way of 'action' but with several characters to follow, it doesn't flag or feel overlong.

The Telemachus family have special skills - psychic abilities, seeing the future, moving telekinesis. They were even famous and featured on television... before the family is shattered. In the present, the family are floundering, the next generation still reeling from their history and 'gifts'.

A story where a family's powers are real? While it feels like it should be a fantasy, I soon simply accepted this anomaly and sat back to accept the various Telemachus special gifts and watch their journeys over the years.

It reminded me of some of Jonathan Franzen's fiction, the scope and family-wide scope. The novel worked on audiobook, with an engaging narrator covering both male and female voices with ease.

It feels quite long, but I did enjoy the length and seeing what would happen to each character, every storyline was engaging and it was an original and fresh idea, well presented and darkly humorous.

With thanks to Nudge Books for providing a sample Audible copy.

Family story with a difference.

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This is the best book I have listened to in years. A spankingly wonderful triupmh!

Best book ever

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I enjoyed the storyline and the characters were interesting and fairly unique. I also liked how the stories were gearing towards the finale. The narrator was bad and some of the characters' voices were inappropriate or Matty sounded like he had special needs. I would have enjoyed it much more with a better narrator

Great story, bad narrator

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