Harry Clarke

With Bonus Performance: Lillian

By: David Cale

Narrated by: Billy Crudup, David Cale

Tony Award-winning actor Billy Crudup shines as Harry Clarke, a shy Midwesterner leading an outrageous double life as a cocky Londoner.

Moving to New York City and presenting himself as an Englishman, Harry charms his way into a wealthy family's life, leading an outrageous double life. As the seductive and clever Harry, his increasingly reckless behavior threatens to undo more than his persona. David Cale’s nuanced storytelling and Crudup’s magnetic performance combine, making Harry Clarke a sexually charged and wickedly funny thriller. The New York Times hailed Crudup’s performance in “a sly role terrifically suited to his gifts” while praising Cale’s story as a delicious conceit.

This Audible Theater production also features a special performance of Cale’s Obie Award-winning, one-man show Lillian, starring the playwright himself in a typical tale of romance told through the eyes of a proper, middle-aged Englishwoman.

©2017 David Cale (P)2017 AO Media LLC

Short but brilliant

What did you love best about Harry Clarke?

The story was fantastic. It kept me interested and I haven't stopped thinking about it for days.

Any additional comments?

The story was actually only about an hour. I had this ready for a 3-hour car drive so I was disappointed it didn't las the full time. Hard to pay $15 for one hour...

Love Harry, dislike Lillian

The first story is Harry Clarke & it's wonderful. Lovely lively believable characters. Lillian not so much

Strong performance; weak story.

Harry Clarke is a completely unlikable character. He was a weird kid who was treated badly by his father so he treats everyone he meets badly. Billy Crudup wasted his formidable talents on this book. The "bonus" of Lillian was unlistenable. The performance, apparently by the author, is awful. I tried twice to listen to it and abandoned it.

Not what I expected

Turns out that this is a One Man Show. Very strange story and not in a good way. Lillian is slightly better than Harry Clark. Despite what the narrator says he does NOT have an "immaculate English accent". It sounds fake and forced. Had to force myself to finish it because I'm not a quitter, though this made me wish that I were.

Just not for me

Maybe this is work best enjoyed on the stage, but it missed the mark for me. I had no patience for Harry, and I found nothing to connect to in his personality and story. It was well performed though

Not my cup of tea

It's not for me. it wasn't bad just not my kind of story. I simply didn't like the book or the characters.

A Pair of Solo Plays

Two very odd and very interesting solo plays, one about a man who decides to be someone else, and the other about an older woman who falls in lover (or maybe it's just lust) with a younger man.
Definitely not your normal audio book but well worth a listen.

Billy Crudup's performance is saving grace

I'm not a fan of one man shows in general, but I like Billy Crudup as an actor. Big Fish was magical fantasy, and Crudup is probably the only reason I listened to this entire Audible Original. At least it was free and short. I started listening to the bonus play, Lillian, and couldn't get through it, regardless of the short run time.

The Harry Clarke synopsis is utterly misleading. While the play is filled with sexual content, which didn't bother me, I certainly didn't find it "wickedly funny" and would not call it a thriller. It didn't make me laugh. Honestly, I wouldn't even say I was amused. I didn't feel suspense or anticipation at any point. I wouldn't even say the main character is truly living a double life. Philip Brugglestein adopts an English accent as a young boy because the accent makes him feel more himself, more genuine. I can see how this play might make the audience question whether or not there's a limit to chosen identity and how different from our real selves our avatar we put out into the world can or should be. But I just don't understand identifying as being someone from a foreign country and one you've never even visited. The concept is very bizarre. I'm slightly sorry for the boy's wretched childhood that leads him to murder his abusive father, but Philip is not living a double life. He leaves his hometown and completely abandons that life to live fully as this imagined persona, Harry Clarke. After the death of his parents, there's literally nobody in the world who knows him as Philip Brugglestein. He becomes Harry.

I didn't find Harry Clarke charming or seductive. He's obviously an untrustworthy narrator. His behavior creeps me out. He chooses a random man, Mark Schmidt, and follows him around New York City, watching what he buys and eavesdropping on his side of a volatile phone call w/ a woman. Harry later uses the information he gleans to con his way into a friendship w/ Mark that becomes intimate. He ends up sleeping with Mark, who is uncomfortable w/ and hides his sexuality, Mark's mother, and Mark's sister. Harry literally has sex w/ the mother and then immediately goes home and has sex w/ Mark directly afterward. Same w/ the encounter w/ the sister. Mark even comments that Harry smells like his sister's perfume - and they still have sex. Couldn't be creepier. Very cringey.

I found Harry's English accent corny and absurd. He calls women "birds" and slips in and out of Cockney, and it's like he's talking that way because he heard it in Austin Powers. Don't get me wrong - Billy Crudup's ability to voice 19 characters in this one man show is beyond impressive. This review isn't a comment on Crudup's ability. Perhaps Harry Clarke is better live on stage.

Harry leaves Mark because he's a drug addict, and when Mark dies and leaves everything to Harry, I thought Mark committed suicide. That would have been a cliche, but what happens is even more of a cliche. Mark has a heart attack on the way to rehab.

And isn't it ironic?
Don't you think?
A little too ironic - and, yeah, I really do think.

Solid 2 stars only because it wasn't a DNF.

first story entertaining, couldn't finish 2nd one

the first story was great. fun concept of how this was delivered. the 2nd story was boring and different narrator. decided not to finish it

Read like a drag car race...

Listen. Now.

Billy Crudup is exudes a cool and believable antagonist who is likeable and repugnant.