The Bottoms

By: Joe R. Lansdale

Narrated by: Brad Sanders

Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

This Edgar Award winner is "equal parts morality tale and page-turning thriller" (Denver Post)—classic American storytelling in its truest, darkest, and most affecting form, with echoes of William Faulkner and Harper Lee.

It's 1933 in East Texas and the Depression lingers in the air like a slow-moving storm. When a young Harry Collins and his little sister stumble across the body of a black woman who has been savagely mutilated and left to die in the bottoms of the Sabine River, their small town is instantly charged with tension. When a second body turns up, this time of a white woman, there is little Harry can do from stopping his Klan neighbors from lynching an innocent black man. Together with his younger sister, Harry sets out to discover who the real killer is, and to do so they will search for a truth that resides far deeper than any river or skin color.

Contains mature themes.

©2000 Joe R. Lansdale (P)2023 Tantor

Among the Very Best by Lansdale

THE BOTTOMS is one of the very best books by one of the very best authors of our generation, Joe Lansdale. Joe Lansdale is a legendary story teller and THE BOTTOMS is a great example of Lansdale at his best. Brad Sanders once again does a brilliant narration of a Lansdale classic such as he did with PARADISE SKY.

Love this author and this narrator fabulous

Great story especially if you grew up in a rural small town and in the woods and streams you will love the characters and dialogue

Authentic and horrific

Great story. Maybe not a typical “horror” story, but definitely horrific. Aside from the mysterious and gruesome murders at the story’s center, anyone that grew up in Texas during the 20th century and perhaps many from the 21st can recognize a lot of the the personalities found in this story particularly among their elders and maybe even family. This book was published not long after the 1998 lynching in Jasper TX.

Disappointing narration

I loved this book when it was originally published, and have been hoping for an audible version. So disappointed by the choice of narrator. The voice didn’t fit the first person character IMHO.

FANTASTIC!

This story was terrific in every aspect! I actually listened to it twice. Storyline great. Intriguing and very well delivered! Highly recommend it

Fantastic performance! great dialog

the narrator is amazing, brought the characters to life. nuanced discussions on race and family

Loved it!

I’m so thankful The Bottoms was finally added to Audible! I really enjoyed the story. Yes there are some hard issues brought up but those of us who lived such things know that those things do happen so it helps focus the stories time era by the realism. It’s also good to see how much we as a society have grown and learned through such horrible historical times.

Gritty and Intense

Whew, this story cuts close to the bone. Life in a small East Texas town during the 1930’s was tough stuff. Racism, serial killers, sexual deviance, and more. Go for it, you won’t be disappointed.

unique story as true to the times

Lansdale is amazing.
He doesn't seem to pretty up his stories in order to sell them.So they come across as real.
The storyteller doesn't change the story to please the reader but offers His stories of good bad and in between

Another 5 Star masterpiece from Joe R. Lansdale!

Another 5 Star masterpiece from Joe R. Lansdale. Dude is one of the best in the business.

Do you ever read the first few paragraphs of a novel and immediately know it is going to click for you on all levels? That was The Bottoms for me. I loved everything about this one. Storyline, characters, humor, pacing. Damn this was good.

What the hell took me so long to get to this one?

Narrator kills this one too. Lansdale & Sanders. Peas and f'n carrots with this one. Perfect together.