Thy Neighbor, Norah Vincent
Thy Neighbor, Norah Vincent
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Thy Neighbor

Author: Norah Vincent

Narrator: Edoardo Ballerini

Unabridged: 12 hr 29 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Published: 08/02/2012


Synopsis

From the New York Times bestselling author, a first novel as spellbinding as her acclaimed nonfictionAt thirty-four, Nick Walsh is a broken, deeply cynical man. Since the violent deaths of his parents thirteen years earlier, he has been living alone in his childhood home in the suburban Midwest, drinking, drugging, and debauching himself into oblivion. A measure of solace is provided by his newly found relationship with Monica, a mysterious woman who seems to harbor as many secrets as he does.Obsessed with understanding the circumstances surrounding his parents’ deaths and deranged by his relentless sorrow, Nick begins a campaign of spying on his neighbors via hidden cameras and microphones he has covertly installed in their houses. As he observes with amusement and disbelief all the strange, sad, and terrifying things that his neighbors do to themselves and to one another, and as he, in turn, learns that he is being stalked, he begins to slowly unravel the shocking truth about how and why his parents died.At once unsettling and moving, humorous and horrifying, Thy Neighbor explores the nature of grief, the potential isolation of suburban life, and who we really are when we think no one is watching. What readers and critics have admired in Norah Vincent’s nonfiction is completely unleashed in this vivid and provocative novel.

About The Author

Norah Vincent is the author of the New York Times bestseller Self-Made Man. Previously, she wrote a nationally syndicated op-ed column for the Los Angeles Times. Her work has also appeared in the New York Times, the New Republic, the Village Voice, and the Washington Post. She lives in New York City.Edoardo Ballerini has been nominated for several Audie awards and is the recipient of multiple Earphones awards from AudioFile magazine. His screen credits include the feature films Dinner Rush and Romeo Must Die, as well as the television series The SopranosBoardwalk Empire, and 24. To learn more, visit edoardoballerini.com.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Sheila

4 stars for the first half of the book (I really liked it), and 2 stars for the second half (meh). Rounded to 3. This is a dark book with pretty graphic descriptions of child abuse. Vincent is very clever and I quite like her writing. This book is one of those darkly comic takes on suburbia, where eve......more

Goodreads review by Kirsten

I couldn't finish this book. I've given it two stars purely for the way the main character and his buddy have been described. Truly awful characters. So kudos to the author for portraying them so imaginatively. I got to page 40, the start of chapter 5, and decided that life was too short to carry on......more

This is a difficult book to review, mainly because I’m not completely sure how I feel about it yet. It’s one of those books which sinks its teeth in and makes more sense the longer it marinates in the reader. There are some really good moments, many fascinating sentences, the kind that make you go “......more

Goodreads review by Camille

This was a great book I throughly enjoyed the build up of the suspense. This book was complex and detailed with a lot a information to ponder and chew over.......more


Quotes

 
Praise for Thy Neighbor

"Norah Vincent  will make you laugh while she is breaking your heart, and make you feel pity as you recoil in disgust. At once a misanthropic rant, a voyeuristic free for all, and a philosophic thriller, Thy Neighbor is a book that you will tear through in a few days and chew on for a long time thereafter. It's a heady and wonderful read."  —Gary Shteyngart, author of Super Sad True Love Story

“One of our smartest and most original journalists has changed hats, and the new one fits her perfectly. A raging, jolting, arrestingly hard-edged novel of paranoia and revenge in the suburbs, Thy Neighbor crackles with ferocious energy and virtuosic phrasemaking. If you go for noir, prepare to be plunged into the desperate darkness of a world full of lost souls and lost hope—but keep one eye peeled for the glimmer of light at the far end of the tunnel.”  —Terry Teachout