Same Same audiobook by Peter Mendelsund
Narrated by Euan Morton (2019)
In the shifting sands of the desert, near an unnamed metropolis, there is an institute where various fellows come to undertake projects of great significance. But when our sort-of hero, Percy Frobisher, arrives, his mind goes completely blank. When he spills something on his uniform — a major faux pas — he discovers a mysterious shop where you can take something, utter the command "same same," and receive a replica even better than the original. Peter Mendelsund has crafted a deeply unsettling novel about what it means to exist and to create — and a future that may not be far off.
Critical acclaim for the narration
Kirkus Reviews praised Euan Morton's performance:
"Percy Frobisher is a stranger in a high-tech land, and listeners are learning the new rules with him. [Euan Morton] is a precise narrator who delivers all the intensity of Percy's surprise at each revelation. Morton gives us Percy's thoughts and descriptive sci-fi details in equal measure. Will Percy make it in his new home or be kicked out of this place where everything can be replaced? Morton keeps listeners eager to hear what happens next."
Critical Praise for the Novel
Kirkus Reviews (starred review): "Mendelsund's novel of ideas makes a neat bookend to Richard Powers's Galatea 2.2 as a study of creation in the age of the smart machine."
Publishers Weekly: "Rewarding… Absurdist, uncanny metafiction about the nature of identity, individuality, and authorship in an era of rapid technological advancement… Comically disturbing."
Hernán Diaz, author of In the Distance: "Most books aspire to imitate life; this one succeeds in imitating literature. A fractal abyss of copies copying copies, this brilliant and hilarious full-size replica of a novel exposes the limits of conventional narratives by miraculously transmuting repetition into difference and, ultimately, something unique."
Kirkus Reviews: "Like an ever-shifting Rubik's Cube, Mendelsund's narrative blends influences and genres at will: it begins as an sf dystopia, unfurls like a mystery, and includes some deeply insular sections reminiscent of the late David Markson."
About Peter Mendelsund
Peter Mendelsund is the author of seven books, including the novels Same Same (Vintage), The Delivery (Farrar, Straus & Giroux), and Weepers (Farrar, Straus & Giroux), as well as the widely acclaimed nonfiction works What We See When We Read and The Look of the Book. He is also a painter and a former graphic designer, best known for his iconic book cover work.
Same Same was published in print by Vintage (Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group). The audiobook, narrated by Euan Morton, was produced by Random House Audio.
Publication Details
Same Same
Links
Purchase & Listen: Audible | Amazon
Visit Penguin Random House for more information about the book and author.