Biloxi

A Novel

By: Mary Miller

Narrated by: Danny Campbell

Mary Miller seizes the mantle of Southern literature with this wry tale of middle age and the unexpected turns a life can take.

Like her predecessors Ann Beattie and Raymond Carver, Mary Miller brings an essential voice to her generation. Building on her critically acclaimed novel The Last Days of California and her biting collection Always Happy Hour, Miller slyly transports listeners to her unapologetic corner of the South - this time, Biloxi, Mississippi, home to 63-year-old Louis McDonald, Jr. His wife of 37 years left him, his father has passed - and he has impulsively retired from his job in anticipation of an inheritance check that may not come. In the meantime, he watches reality television, sips beer, and avoids his ex-wife and daughter.

One day, he stops at a house advertising free dogs and meets overweight mixed-breed Layla. Unexpectedly, Louis takes her, and, newly invigorated, begins investigating local dog parks and buying extra bologna. Mining the absurdities of life with her signature "droll minimalist's-eye view of America" (Joyce Carol Oates), Biloxi affirms Miller's place in contemporary literature.

©2019 Mary Miller (P)2019 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Excellent book. Keeps your interest.

The ending was disappointing to me. It just seem to end abruptly. Need a better ending. The book does keep your interest going. I still enjoyed the book.

Awesome!

Hooray for this triumphant and convincing first-person narrative! Loved every second of this novel. The narration is spot on! I have never laughed out loud so many times listening or reading a book, well maybe not since A Confederacy of Dunces...Mary has made the everyday into the spiritual...She shows us how the human heart can change and evolve subtly. Her approach hovers somewhere between Larry Brown and Richard Ford...with the wit of John Kennedy O’tool. Delicious!

Real and not very likable character

When all is said and done, I admire the author’s deep dive into the psyche of a 65-year-old man. It is as if he wrote it himself. The man is not just flawed. For me, his flaws were too numerous to make him enjoyable. His love for his dog was laudable. It just wasn’t enough.

loved the book Mary Miller is a genius storyteller

The story, while on the surface some could say was routine, wasn't at all. the only criticism I have for the book was the loose end of Harry Davidson and his wife.
the narrator is my all-time favorite.
I immensely enjoyed this book and will be pondering it for quite some time.

From Mississippi-Read this book!

Thank you for not doing what everyone always does when they write about the South-make us look dumb and sweating all the time. I LOVED Louis. Laughed out loud at his character and the characters he meets..human and canine! I miss him.

Really great read!

I got this book for my boyfriend he told me it was a great book so I read it unenthusiastically that is until after the first or second chapter. The book is great the reader really brought something to the book and it was quite funny in parts. The main character is a strange man --kind of weird but it's really worth the read it's very entertaining I recommend it.

The story of a miserable old man

This is a small slice of the life of an unhappy 63 year-old man. We listen to his creepy, misogynistic musings. I only listened to the whole book to find out if anything of interest would happen. Spoiler alert: nothing happens.
The only interesting aspect of the book is that a woman is writing about the interior life of a man. Miller does a reasonable job of it, but it doesn’t redeem the book for me.