The Executioner's Song

By: Norman Mailer

Narrated by: Maxwell Hamilton

In this Pulitzer Prize-winning classic, a convicted killer becomes the first prisoner to be executed in the United States.

The Executioner's Song follows the true story of cold-blooded murderer Gary Gilmore, who, after being tried and convicted, insisted on being executed for his crimes. To do so, he fought a system intent on keeping him alive long after it sentenced him to death.

Norman Mailer tells Gilmore's story with impressive authority and compassion. The Executioner's Song is a trip down the wrong side of the tracks, right into the heart of American loneliness and violence–it is impossible to put down and difficult to forget.

Mispronounced names drive me a bit crazy.

I read this one as part of my personal challenge to read all of the Pulitzer prize winners. Although it was good I cannot say that I loved it, and did not like it nearly as much as I liked Capote's [book:In Cold Blood|168642]. This one is obviously very well researched, and I appreciated that it has a very real and accurate feel. Unfortunately I thought it was much too long. If it were cut by 1/3 it would still be 600+ pages and in my opinion would be far stronger. At times I just wanted to hit fast forward.

When a person is hired to read an audiobook one of the first things they should do is learn to pronounce words and names in the book. Mr. Hamilton mispronounced both the name of the angel Moroni -- a very important name in the Mormon faith, and the name of Geraldo Rivera! Over and over and over again. Ugh!

Don't Shoot the Narrator!

I was a little concerned about committing to a 43-hour listen with a narrator who has been thoroughly disparaged by those who have taken time to review this title, but I don't read anymore if I can help it, only listen, and this was the only way to hear this title. I was surprised to find the narrator thoroughly engaging. More of an asset to the material than a liability. It is true that there's an occasional mispronunciation, but it didn't detract from the experience for me. I'm sure I couldn't read a 43-hour book out loud without fumbling occasionally. Unfortunately, a lot of mispronunciations seem to get by into the final audiobook release of many titles. It's not the narrator's fault that the editors were taking a nap. But, like it or not, this is probably the only audiobook we'll ever get for this title, which is an absolute, must-listen for true crime fans. It's right up there with In Cold Blood and Helter Skelter as a classic of the genre. This is how it's done, folks. You don't just list facts in an emotionless way, you get inside the heads and emotions of all the characters and really feel the immediacy of the crimes and their aftermaths as if you're in the moment. There's too little of that in modern tales of true crime, basically written by hacks instead of a Pulitzer Prize winner.

True crime story.... excellent!!!!

This is an excellent and well researched story about Gary Gilmore the last man to be excuted by firing squad in the USA. Well researched and great narration.

Haunting

It's going to be a while before I get this book out of my head

The odd narration

The pronunciation of some words is dreadful and distracting. Really simple, ordinary words and names are pronounced very oddly. It’s really perplexing.