The Blazing World cover art

The Blazing World

Longlisted for the Booker Prize

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The Blazing World

By: Siri Hustvedt
Narrated by: Eric Myers, Patricia Rodriguez Rodriguez
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About this listen

 Artist Harriet Burden, consumed by fury at the lack of recognition she has received from the New York art establishment, embarks on an experiment: she hides her identity behind three male fronts who exhibit her work as their own. And yet, even after she has unmasked herself, there are those who refuse to believe she is the woman behind the men.

Presented as a collection of texts compiled by a scholar years after Burden's death, the story unfolds through extracts from her notebooks, reviews and articles, as well as testimonies from her children, her lover, a dear friend, and others more distantly connected to her. Each account is different, however, and the mysteries multiply. One thing is clear: Burden's involvement with the last of her 'masks' turned into a dangerous psychological game that ended with the man's bizarre death.

This is a polyphonic tour de force from the internationally acclaimed author of What I Loved, an intricately conceived, diabolical puzzle that explores the way prejudice, fame, money and desire influence our perceptions of one another. Emotionally intense, intellectually rigorous, ironic and playful, The Blazing World is as gripping as it is thought-provoking.

(P)2014 Hodder & Stoughton©2014 Siri Hustvedt Art Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Witty

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Critic reviews

Readers of Hustvedt's essay collections . . . will recognize the writer's long-standing interest in questions of perception, and her searching intellect is also evident here. But as the story of Harry's life coheres . . . it's the emotional content that seizes the reader . . . As in her previous masterpiece, What I Loved (2003), Hustvedt paints a scathing portrait of the art world, obsessed with money and the latest trend, but superb descriptions of Harry's work - installations expressing her turbulence and neediness - remind us that the beauty and power of art transcend such trivialities . . . Blazing indeed: not just with Harry's fury, but with agonizing compassion for all of wounded humanity.
Hustvedt dissects the art world with ironic insight. Footnotes and academic references, a large cast of characters, a wide range of narrative voices, intellectual digressions, and occasional one-liners enrich this novel of the New York art scene. This is a funny, sad, thought-provoking, and touching portrait of a woman who is blazing with postfeminist fury and propelled by artistic audacity.
As inventive in its telling as it is in its concept and subject matter.
Hustvedt's fascination with art and artists, a prime subject in her fiction and essays, propels her sixth novel through a labyrinth of masquerade and betrayal to profoundly unsettling truths . . . [she] subtly explores the intricate workings of the brain and the mysteries of the mind as she shrewdly investigates gender differences, parodies art criticism, and contrasts diabolical ambition and the soul-scouring inquiries of expressive art. A heady, suspenseful, funny, and wrenching novel of creativity, identity, and longing.
All stars
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What did you like best about The Blazing World? What did you like least?

The story was intersting and engaging. I did not like the reading at all, I'm sorry to say

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

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How did the narrator detract from the book?

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Do you think The Blazing World needs a follow-up book? Why or why not?

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Any additional comments?

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Where does The Blazing World rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

One of the most enjoyable

Who was your favorite character and why?

The heroine, Harriet Burden, a clever and intense character, beautifully portrayed by the reader

Have you listened to any of Eric Myers and Patricia Rodriguez ’s other performances? How does this one compare?

No

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No

Any additional comments?

This was a long but gripping, audiobook, intricately woven, a great performance

Engaging, complex and satisfying

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