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    Pal Joey
    Pal Joey
    Pal Joey
    Audiobook2 hours

    Pal Joey

    Written by John O'Hara

    Narrated by Jefferson Mays

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    For its 75th anniversary and Frank Sinatra's centennial: the Jazz Age masterpiece that inspired the iconic Sinatra film and the hit Broadway musical, and featuring the musical's libretto and lyrics On the seedy side of Chicago nightlife in the 1930s, Joey Evans is a poor man's Bing Crosby-a big-talking, small-time nightclub crooner down on his luck but always on the make. In slangy, error-littered letters signed "Pal Joey," he recounts his exploits with brash nightclub managers, shady business partners, and every pretty girl ("mouse") he meets. Charismatic yet conniving, Pal Joey is a smooth operator whose bravado and big ideas disguise a far less self-assured soul, caught up in the rags-to-riches dream of the Jazz Age. Originally serialized in The New Yorker and the inspiration for the 1940 Rodgers and Hart musical of the same name and the 1957 film starring Frank Sinatra, Kim Novak, and Rita Hayworth, Pal Joey is the story of a true "heel," as complex and memorable as any antihero in American literature. For more than sixty-five years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,500 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateJun 10, 2016
    ISBN9781501974502
    Pal Joey

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    Reviews for Pal Joey

    3.5/5

    19 ratings2 reviews

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    • 3/5
      I liked the novel part more than the musical part. It was cleaver he made the letters have intentional typos. They musical part was alright. I liked the music and didn't realized Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered came from this musical.
    • 3/5
      Odd little book, a-la 'Color Purple'......the entire book is a series of letters from a lower-tier crooner in the 1930's and 40's struggling to keep his head above water in night clubs to a very successful band leader telling of his escapades and constantly trying to convince that all is well and justify his existence, when in fact, he's just a bit of a schmuck with very little hope of success. Very cleverly done in that the letters are remarkably revealing as to Joey's character. I did find it a little tedious in the some of the story lines which were pointless....but i think that was the point. Poor Ted, the recipient of these letters, probably had to just roll his eyes and sigh like i did through some of them. Neat little exercise revealing quite clearly one of the more pathetic amongst us, but i was not wowed.