Andrew's Brain

A Novel

By: E. L. Doctorow

Narrated by: E. L. Doctorow

Length: 3 hrs and 52 mins

Publisher's summary

This brilliant new novel by an American master, the author of Ragtime, The Book of Daniel, Billy Bathgate, and The March, takes us on a radical trip into the mind of a man who, more than once in his life, has been the inadvertent agent of disaster.

Speaking from an unknown place and to an unknown interlocutor, Andrew is thinking, Andrew is talking, Andrew is telling the story of his life, his loves, and the tragedies that have led him to this place and point in time. And as he confesses, peeling back the layers of his strange story, we are led to question what we know about truth and memory, brain and mind, personality and fate, about one another and ourselves. Written with psychological depth and great lyrical precision, this suspenseful and groundbreaking novel delivers a voice for our times - funny, probing, skeptical, mischievous, profound. Andrew’s Brain is a surprising turn and a singular achievement in the canon of a writer whose prose has the power to create its own landscape, and whose great topic, in the words of Don DeLillo, is "the reach of American possibility, in which plain lives take on the cadences of history."

©2013 E. L. Doctorow (P)2013 Random House Audio

Critic reviews

"E. L. Doctorow is a national treasure, and I mean this in a very specific sense: He has rewarded us, these 45 years, with a vision of ourselves, as a people, a vision possessed of what I might call ‘aspirational verve’ - he sees us clearly and tenderly, just as we are, but also sees past that - to what we might, at our best, become." (George Saunders)

"[His great topic is] the reach of American possibility, in which plain lives take on the cadences of history.... Doctorow’s prose tends to create its own landscape, and to become a force that works in opposition to the power of social reality." (Don DeLillo)

"A writer of dazzling gifts and boundless imaginative energy." (Joyce Carol Oates, The New Yorker)

Very interesting but very strange

Where does Andrew's Brain rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Not very high

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

Where was Andrew when this took place? Not clear.

What three words best describe E. L. Doctorow’s performance?

monotone (which helped one see Andrew's mental state)
disparing
comotose

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

no

Any additional comments?

It held my attention because I was looking for something to happen or some explanation of how he got to his current situation (whatever that was--prison?) Did he kill or harm the child drawing at the table on the farm? Who was "coming?" Why was he in Norway or was he?

Excellent prose

Starts slow but gradually collects depth as the pages turn. Stick with it. It's worth every word. A terrific triumph of melancholy prose.

Interesting story - mediocre narration

Any additional comments?

The story started very slowly, but became interesting after the first hour or so. The book is a good exploration of memory and reality - including the natural ambiguity that arises from their interaction. E. L. Doctorow is an excellent author, but is not a very good narrator - his voice is a near monotone and he doesn't seem to be able to express the emotions necessary to bring the book alive. It was frequently difficult to tell the difference between the two speakers in the book given Doctorow's limited skill at narration. This became even more confusing because it was sometimes difficult to distinguish when the main character was talking "in the present" and when he was remembering the past. A professional narrator would have made these distinctions much clearer.

An utterly satifying novel

Wow! I love E.L. Doctorow--especially Ragtime, and couldn't wait to listen to Andrew's Brain. I was not disappointed. In less than 4 hours Doctorow told the story of Andrew's life--and made me care about him, brought in American culture and politics, and a discussion of conciousness and the question of how it arises from brain chemistry. And then there is the question of Andrew's existence. The writing is so compelling I finished this in an evening. Highly recommended.

Strange Place

Inside ones brain is a strange place. Strange enough when it's your own, but borderline bizarre when it's someone else's. I'm not sure why I even listened to the entire book as it made me uncomfortable from the start. Perhaps that's why. I think I'm glad I did although I probably won't look for anything similar in the future. I think all of us wonder what the internal motivations and thoughts are that hide in the minds of outwardly "different" people. However, I think it's most often safer not to know.
To take nothing away from the author; it was well written and thought provoking, I just prefer the more feel-good, take-me-away-from-this-world experience. This was a sad and futile mind that desperately needed things completely out of reach.
If you read this review and are intrigued, read the book. If not, keep looking.

Brilliant

Brilliant,intriguing, playing with consciousness itself . Bears witness to how our lives are an exchange of personal and cultural events.

As a reader you’d think you would fall asleep. NOT

This is such a good book it is surprising in the story telling: what is covered as far as joy, and sadness, and loss, and surprise. I found myself crying at one point and I was out walking the neighborhood when I was listening to it.