A Slipping-Down Life

By: Anne Tyler

Narrated by: Deborah McBride

Evie Decker is a shy, slightly plump teenager with a distant father and hours and hours of silence to fill. Then one night she hears local rock singer Drumstrings Casey on the radio - and becomes instantly attracted to his cool, motionless voice. Evie learns that Drumstrings frequently plays at a dingy roadhouse called The Unicorn. So she goes there and, with an uncharacteristically bold gesture, bursts out of her lonely shell - and into the attentive gaze of an intangible man who becomes all too real....

©1969, 1970, 1998 Anne Tyler Modarressi (P)2020 Recorded Books

Good writing

I enjoyed this off-beat account of a simple, yet determinedly focused young woman coming of age and beginning to make her way through life. Anne Tyler can really tell a story and make you feel for her characters.

Unlistenable Narrator—Avoid!

I am a big fan of Ann Tyler. This narrator unfortunately has an utterly unlistenable, creaky, childish voice. I couldn’t last more than about 20 minutes. Listening to her desecrate Tyler’s words was actually painful. This could not have been Tyler’s vision for such an intelligent novel. My advice is to avoid this narration.

Not a favorite

Always have liked Ann Tyler books and her writing but thought this was just too weird.