The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Other Stories

F. Scott Fitzgerald

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Summary

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Other Stories

By: F. Scott Fitzgerald

Narrarated by: Scott Brick, Jeff Cummings, Grover Gardner, Ray Porter, Paul Michael Garcia

F. Scott Fitzgerald makes anti-bellum Baltimore his setting for “The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,” a fantastical tale with some Poe-like overtones about a baby born at age seventy who then lives life in reverse, his hair turning “in the dozen years of his life from white to iron-gray, the network of wrinkles on his face becoming less pronounced.” What ramifications that creates for Benjamin's relationship with his father first and then later with his wife and his own son makes for some fantastical situations.

“The Curious Case of Benjamin Button” is read by Scott Brick. This collection also includes “The Lost Decade,” read by Paul Michael Garcia; “Three Hours between Planes,” read by Jeff Cummings; “The Bridal Party,” read by Grover Gardner; and “Babylon Revisited,” read by Ray Porter.

Sample Audiobook
Audiobook Information
  • Edition: Unabridged
  • Author: F. Scott Fitzgerald (See All Books)
  • Date Released: Oct 5, 2007
  • Publisher: Blackstone Audiobooks
  • Genre: Short Stories, 20th Century Classics, Fiction & Literature

Total File Size: 80 MB (3 files) Total Length: 2 Hours, 56 Minutes

eMusic Review 0

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Karrie Higgins

eMusic Contributor

10.05.07
F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Other Stories
2007 | Label: Blackstone Audiobooks

The poet of the booming Jazz Age resonates with eerie prescience today
There is no time like the present to rediscover the works of F. Scott Fitzgerald — and not just because the motion picture "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" — adapted from Fitzgerald's story of the same name — has generated Oscar buzz. The five stories collected in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and Other Stories" wield potent emotional punch, particularly in this era of worldwide recession.

Fitzgerald is the voice of the Jazz Age, and now that our boom has once again gone bust, his stories evoke our current predicament with eerie prescience. Listeners will empathize with Charlie as he confronts his drunken, irresponsible history in "Babylon Revisited." A reunion with a childhood crush reveals that the past is irretrievable in "Three Hours Between Planes." Meanwhile, "The Lost Decade" braces listeners for the aftermath of loss; "The Bridal Party" braces them for accepting it. And because we need it, "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" provides an antidote to childhood regression fantasies — no doubt endemic since the Dow plummeted.

All five narrators — one for each story — evoke heartbreak and hope, even humor. Ray Porter stands out on "Babylon Revisited," perhaps because the regret in his voice (spiked with a shot of hope) so perfectly captures our modern mood.

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