Bonita Avenue, Peter Buwalda
Bonita Avenue, Peter Buwalda
List: $24.95 | Sale: $17.47
Club: $12.47

Bonita Avenue
A Novel

Author: Peter Buwalda, Jonathan Reeder

Narrator: Gabrielle de Cuir, Jim Meskimen, Stefan Rudnicki

Unabridged: 19 hr 54 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 01/13/2015

Categories: Fiction, Family Life

Synopsis

Siem Sigerius is a beloved, brilliant professor of mathematics with a promising future in politics. His family—including a loving wife, two gorgeous, intelligent stepdaughters, and a successful future son-in-law—and carefully appointed home in the bucolic countryside complete the portrait of a comfortable, morally upright household. But there are elements of Siem's past that threaten to upend the peace and stability that he has achieved, and when he stumbles upon a deception that's painfully close to home, things begin to fall apart. A cataclysmic explosion in a fireworks factory, the advent of Internet pornography, and the reappearance of a discarded, dangerous son all play a terrible role in the spectacular fragmentation of the Sigerius clan.A riveting portrait of a family in crisis and the ways that even the smallest twists of fate can forever change our lives, Bonita Avenue is an incendiary, unpredictable debut of relationships torn asunder by lies and minds destroyed by madness.

About Peter Buwalda

Peter Buwalda worked as a journalist and editor before founding a music magazine and writing a weekly column for a major Dutch newspaper. He lives in the Netherlands with his family.

About Claire Bloom

Claire Bloom, CBE, is an English film and stage actress, known for leading roles in plays such as Streetcar Named Desire, A Doll’s House, and Long Day’s Journey into Night, along with nearly sixty films and countless television roles, during a career spanning over six decades. She was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2013 Queen’s birthday honors for services to drama.

About Gabrielle de Cuir

Gabrielle de Cuir, award-winning narrator, has narrated over three hundred titles and specializes in fantasy, humor, and titles requiring extensive foreign language and accent skills. She was a cowinner of the Audie Award for best narration in 2011 and a three-time finalist for the Audie and has garnered six AudioFile Earphones Awards. Her “velvet touch” as an actor’s director has earned her a special place in the audiobook world as the foremost producer for bestselling authors and celebrities.

About Jim Meskimen

Jim Meskimen is a stage, film, and television actor who has appeared in many well-known movies and television shows. He acted in Apollo 13 and Frost/Nixon for director Ron Howard, both of which were nominated for Best Picture Oscars. His television appearances include The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, Friends, Lie to Me, Criminal Minds, and Parks and Recreation. He is also a painter, award-winning audiobook narrator, and audiobook director for Galaxy Audio.

About Stefan Rudnicki

Stefan Rudnicki first became involved with audiobooks in 1994. Now a Grammy-winning audiobook producer, he has worked on more than five thousand audiobooks as a narrator, writer, producer, or director. He has narrated more than nine hundred audiobooks. A recipient of multiple AudioFile Earphones Awards, he was presented the coveted Audie Award for solo narration in 2005, 2007, and 2014, and was named one of AudioFile’s Golden Voices in 2012.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Pvw on March 08, 2013

What is this Dutch obsession with problematic parental relationships and long kept family secrets? "Bonita Avenue" is about the fourth Dutch book in a row that I've read, and it's more of the same. We have a main character, Siem Sigerius (silly and unlikely name, even in Dutch) who has a distorted re......more

Goodreads review by Mary on December 08, 2014

Readers who prefer straightforward plots and timelines, and who are bothered by having to read a while before the exposition becomes clear, and who need at least one "likable" character, may have a hard time with Peter Buwalda's novel, "Bonita Avenue", which has been translated from Dutch. The narra......more

Goodreads review by Kuszma on April 19, 2022

Formailag franzeniánus nagyregényeket idéző családi horror. Horror abban az értelemben, hogy a félelmeinkből táplálkozik - mégpedig abból a félelemből, hogy nem ismerjük egymást. Hogy hiába élünk együtt, hiába hisszük, hogy összetart a szeretet habarcsa, ha a másiknak van valami piszkos kis titka, a......more

Goodreads review by Bibliofilos on September 13, 2015

LET OP, SPOILERS! Had erg genoten van Peter Buwalda in Zomergasten en toen besloten om Bonita Avenue te lezen. En hoe zeer ik het ook wilde, het pakte me niet. Toch uitgelezen, maar moeite voor moeten doen. Afgelopen vrijdag een discussie gehad met een vriend die het boek fantástisch vond. Waarom gr......more

Goodreads review by Els on March 22, 2021

Zeer goed geschreven, spannend, goede karaktertekeningen. De hele tijd dacht ik: "dit is een 5-sterrenboek". Maar uiteindelijk viel het slot mij tegen. Bovendien betekent een 5-sterrenboek voor mij: een boek dat je ooit wil herlezen. Bonita Avenue ga ik nooit herlezen.......more

Quotes

“No way that this is a debut novel, is your first impression when you start reading Bonita Avenue––but it is! An instant literary classic, loaded with suspense, by a brilliant and truly original writer.” Herman Koch, New York Times bestselling author of The Dinner

“A robust dark farce in the manner of Iris Murdoch at her most manic. Other reviewers have compared Buwalda to Jonathan Franzen. Whatever literary benchmark you use, the book’s hyperbolic excess and willingness to plunge recklessly to the depths are what make it work…the plot orchestration and lively character renderings of Bonita Avenue are dazzling…the brash destructive energy of Buwalda’s convoluted tale comes through loud and clear.” New York Times Book Review

“Fluent and complex, uncompromising and shocking.” Daily Mail (London)

“One wild ride: a swirling helix of a family saga that swerves from gross-out sex comedy to pitch-black revenge tragedy as twist after twist reframes what we know about its dysfunctional cast…manic…as toe-curling as early Roth, as roomy as Franzen, and as caustic as Houellebecq.” Sunday Telegraph (London)

“Dazzling…Critics hailed Buwalda as ‘the Dutch answer to Jonathan Franzen,’ but his brilliance is entirely unique.” Times (London)

“A literary sensation…[A] crazy-paving, jigsaw puzzle…Addictive…A considerable achievement…Bonita Avenue is an entertaining end in itself and evidence that Buwalda is just getting started.” Independent (London)

“Magnificent…Three uniquely unreliable voices narrate this darkly humorous familial drama…Their interweaving narratives, which hop between the Netherlands, Shanghai, Belgium, and California, chart the years between the rise and fall of their outwardly successful but privately dysfunctional family.” Publishers Weekly (starred review)

“This award-winning debut novel is flat-out extraordinary. The rich layer of detail would be impressive if applied to one topic, but Buwalda creates multiple complex worlds around vastly different subjects…An outstanding literary suspense story that will appeal to a wide range of readers.” Library Journal (starred review)

“This tumultuous saga of a family breaking down…is an international bestseller and award winner. A significant literary achievement.” Booklist (starred review)

Awards

  • Publishers Weekly Pick of the Week
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