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Reproduction
- A Novel
- Narrated by: Andrew Shaw, David Woodward, Michelle Winters
- Length: 16 hrs and 52 mins
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Reproduction
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Publisher's Summary
A hilarious, surprising, and poignant love story about the way families are invented, told with the savvy of a Zadie Smith and with an inventiveness all Ian Williams' own, Reproduction bangs lives together in a polyglot suburb of Toronto.
Felicia and Edgar meet as their mothers are dying. Felicia, a teen from an island nation, and Edgar, the lazy heir of a wealthy German family, come together only because their mothers share a hospital room. When Felicia's mother dies and Edgar's "Mutter" does not, Felicia drops out of high school and takes a job as Mutter's caregiver. While Felicia and Edgar don't quite understand each other, and Felicia recognizes that Edgar is selfish, arrogant, and often unkind, they form a bond built on grief (and proximity) that results in the birth of a son Felicia calls Armistice. Or Army, for short.
Some years later, Felicia and Army (now 14) are living in the basement of a home owned by Oliver, a divorced man of Portuguese descent who has two kids - the teenaged Heather and the odd little Hendrix. Along with Felicia and Army, they form an unconventional family, except that Army wants to sleep with Heather, and Oliver wants to kill Army. Then Army's fascination with his absent father - and his absent father's money - begins to grow as odd gifts from Edgar begin to show up. And Felicia feels Edgar's unwelcome shadow looming over them. A brutal assault, a mortal disease, a death, and a birth reshuffle this group of people again to form another version of the family.
Reproduction is a profoundly insightful exploration of the bizarre ways people become bonded that insists that family isn't a matter of blood.
This production contains audio effects intended to mimic the author’s intention in writing the novel. These effects are intentional but may be unexpected when you first hear them.
Cover image from GRANGER/granger.com
Featured Article: 19 Award-Winning Canadian Fiction Audiobooks to Add to Your Listening List
Canada knows how to write a story, and it has the awards to prove it. These 19 incredible audiobooks are Canadian fiction at its award-winning best.
What listeners say about Reproduction
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Madelaine Wong
- 2020-08-23
Started off good then deteriorated
I liked the first half. The audio deteriorated until I couldn't listen anymore. The book is overly long, skips decades for no reason. Characters don't grow. Gave up before I finished.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- Annah
- 2020-04-19
Unfortunately Not Enjoyable
Struggled to finish. Was really looking forward to this as a Caribbean person raised in Toronto. It was slow at times, hard to follow at times, jumped decades quickly, stream of consciousness at times. It may not be terrible but I couldn't enjoy it.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2020-01-16
Unusual Format
I found that the format was odd. Chapter titles of X and XY were strange in my mind. Some of the chapters were only one line. However, I did like the story. I was interested in the relationships within an unconventional family; some relationships by blood and some by choice of housing arrangement. The writer gave us a realistic look into the character flaws of the people in this story and yet there is an abundance of love, spoken sometimes but mostly unspoken.
I would encourage anyone to read this book because although I was frustrated with the format mostly, the book still merits consideration for its substance.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- EShim
- 2023-10-24
Interesting start, gets boring, characters stulted
the format is, if not unique, certainly unusual. The initial two characters never grew out of their extreme narcissism or passivity. Additional characters added along the way were also extreme examples of their type. After a while the story became boring because in spite of added events, nothing fruitful came of the story. It became a repetition, same old same old. Perhaps just a sad commentary on many stagnant lives.
I also found the narration frustrating at times because of the inflection, or lack thereof, of the narrators. Perhaps that is by design? but it doesn't work. Sometimes the emphasis was on a completely wrong word in the sentence, which interrupted the flow. There could have been some effort made to capture the island lilt of Felicia and sometimes Armie.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- La Maestra
- 2020-05-18
Best read in print
I suspect there are many non-word messages throughout the book (whether symbols or images were used, I don't know) and this was difficult to convey in an audio book. I didn't become close to the characters -- they were always at arm's length. Good story arc and a general sense of closure.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- L.
- 2020-01-27
Great story that was frustrating to listen to for terrible audio in last 8 hours
The audio of this book deteriorated so badly in the second half. There is inconsistent volume levels electronic feedback and distortion of words throughout. You can still hear most of the story but you will be frustrated by how terrible the voices sound and by annoying changes in Edgars name over and over and over again.
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2 people found this helpful
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
- Tanya Pie
- 2020-02-12
Script or Book?
The format was difficult to follow at times. The overall story was good and read like a screenplay.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- CAMI
- 2020-01-20
audio distortion
From approximately Chapter 323 onward the recording is frequently distorted and difficult to hear what is being said.
The recording was good until that point.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story4 out of 5 stars
- Braden
- 2019-12-24
terrible production quality
book was great but after chapter 300 the audio is unbearable and incomprehensible. honestly felt like it was rushed to get out.
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Overall3 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 2019-12-13
recording issues
Amazing read but audiobook comes with recording issues especially after you cross 10 hrs mark.
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5 people found this helpful