Blue Skies

By: T. C. Boyle

Narrated by: Alyssa Bresnahan

From best-selling novelist T. C. Boyle, a satirical yet ultimately moving take on contemporary American life in the glare of climate change.

Denied a dog, a baby, and even a faithful boyfriend, Cat decides that she needs a snake: a glistening, writhing creature that can be worn like “jewelry, living jewelry.” But when the budding social influencer finally gives in to impulse, buying a Burmese python from a local pet shop, she sets in motion a chain of increasingly dire events that culminates in one of the most memorable denouements in recent fiction, one that ensnares her entire family, from her eco-obsessed parents, Ottilie and Frank, to her frat-boy-turned-husband, Todd.

But there’s more than meets the eye in this compulsive family drama. Lurking beneath the banal façade of twenty-first-century California and Florida is a caricature of materialist American society that doubles as a prophetic warning about our planet’s future.

An eco-thriller with teeth, Boyle’s Blue Skies is at once a tragicomic satire and a prescient novel that captures the absurdity and “inexpressible sadness at the heart of everything.”

©2023 T. C. Boyle (P)2023 Recorded Books

Climate change up close and personal

A story of an American family and their relationship with each other with climate change always there shaping and changing their lives. Smart, often funny, always captivating.

Terrific characters & performance

The characters were vivid and flawed, and the story was engaging and laced with glimpses of a not-too-distant future when climate change has fully taken hold. Also, the performance was absolutely outstanding.

Ray Porter is a masterful voiceover artist

Loved this book. I hated that it had to end. Rocky, I want to meet you.

Boyle On Top Again

I maybe biased, but, I feel TC Boyle is one of our greatest living authors.
“Blue Skies”, is another wonderful example of his skill, wit, subtlety, creativity and command of the English language.

Climate Awareness

The science is what grabs you and the characters make this an amazing read! T.C. Boyle has a way with characters that very few writers do. The scenery becomes a character and the alarming climate dystopia becomes your friend.

Compelling story with compelling characters

Throughout the book, there is a subplot of climate change certainly timely. I thought that was important and relevant but what I really liked Were the interwoven stories of a contemporary family, sometimes doing things right and often doing things wrong. The python, the cricket tacos, the descriptions of Florida smelling basically like a swamp all the time all these details added so much dimension to what was going on in the story.

Interesting and exciting

I learned a few things about the natural world (snakes, ticks, climate change, termites) while also being thoroughly entertained.

good summary of the current environmental crisis.

Not many of the characters were very likable. Kind of whiny overprivleged middle class kids like much of America. Maybe that was the authors intent. Still it was a decent book that could of been better.

Classic T.C. Boyle Novel

I loved this book! This was classic T.C. Boyle. He's such a great storyteller, his characters flawed, sometimes even unlikeable, though still relatable. I disagree with the other reviewers who claimed this story to be "preachy." Boyle's characters often have extreme points of view -- extremely conservative, as in "The Harder They Come," extremely far-left. This is how he explores the issues his novels address. Climate change, immigration, authoritarianism, extremism. So I didn't find this novel preachy at all, but it is at times depressing as he graphically describes the changing climate and how it impacts ordinary people. Lauren Groff's "Arcadia" did the same thing, and it's important for people to read. This was a great book and definitely worth the credit.

Beautiful-what a writer!

Funny, horrifying, real. I’m still a little traumatized but it is ultimately hopeful. LOVED. Highly recommend. Voice actor terrific.