Bright Shiny Morning

By: James Frey

Narrated by: Ben Foster

One of the most celebrated and controversial authors in America delivers his first novel - a sweeping chronicle of contemporary Los Angeles that is bold, exhilarating, and utterly original.

Dozens of characters pass across the reader's sight lines - some never to be seen again - but James Frey lingers on a handful of L.A.'s lost souls and captures the dramatic narrative of their lives: a bright, ambitious young Mexican-American woman who allows her future to be undone by a moment of searing humiliation; a supremely narcissistic action-movie star whose passion for the unattainable object of his affection nearly destroys him; a couple, both 19 years old, who flee their suffocating hometown and struggle to survive on the fringes of the great city; and an aging Venice Beach alcoholic whose life is turned upside down when a meth-addled teenage girl shows up half-dead outside the restroom he calls home.

Throughout this strikingly powerful novel, there is the relentless drumbeat of the millions of other stories that, taken as a whole, describe a city, a culture, and an age. A dazzling tour de force, Bright Shiny Morning illuminates the joys, horrors, and unexpected fortunes of life and death in Los Angeles.

©2008 James Frey (P)2008 HarperCollins Publishers

Very, very good.

Another really good read by Frey! Not better then My Friend... but still interesting, funny, insightful and telling.

Sooo Good

This is such good writing. I love this author. I forgive him that he wasn't an addict. Oprah, you need to rethink your anger towards him. Maybe he just got caught up in the moment.....the NOW. He is becoming one of our primo authors. I was born in LA. I got out of there. Frey shows the butt end of that community and it is true and not pretty. If you ask me this is a piece of work, and by the way, this reader gets my 5 star applause.

Genial

Describe LA de manera cruda pero real. No te permite parar de escuchar muy bien

Book of the year

This was one of my best reads this year. I loved the format and subject matter. The characters were rich and the narrator was outstanding. I will read his other 2 books as as soon as possible.

Gets annoying.

Not a fan of the elevator music that seems to act as chapter breaks. Repeating phrases to elude importance or just for effect are annoying...are annoying. Narrator's voice doesn't fluctuate much so you need to follow character names to realize who is talking or which story you're immersed in. Most characters are painfully predictable and sad. There are several different characters and you'll probably find yourself more interested in one person's story over the others so it's irritating to have to listen to the ongoings of the other character's stories when you just want to hear yours. Hear yours.

love James Frey

He writes about characters to whom you get attached. I highly recommend all his books. great performance as well

Loved the book and performance - HATED the production

What’s with the muzak from one chapter to the other?! Ugh, low production value, I’d suggest remove it

Deep

Each character, each page, each life you live... California becomes you’re dream as well! Couldn’t have wrote a more complex story, while being so dang simple. Hands down my
Favorite book

Hate the music but love the story

Loved the story(ies?) but hated the music. Facts were weird... but I learned some things 😌

Page turner for nothing.

I struggled with this book. 4 main storylines punctuated with what seemed like hours of "fun facts" about the city of Los Angeles that did NOTHING to drive the plot line. The inclusion of "one-off" profiles felt as if his editor said "its not long enough - add more," to which he added blubber to his story rather than something of substance. Ben Foster's performance was the only thing that kept me going, though even he couldn't make the 10 paged lists interesting.