The Man of My Dreams - Curtis Sittenfeld Audiobook

Written by Curtis Sittenfeld
Read by Susan Denaker
Format: MP3

Publisher: Books on Tape
Release date: May 16, 2006
Duration: 09:40:17

The Man of My Dreams, a disarmingly candid and sympathetic novel about the collision of a young woman’s fantasies of family and love with the challenges and realities of adult life.

Hannah Gavener is fourteen in the summer of 1991. In the magazines she reads, celebrities plan elaborate weddings; in Hannah’s own life, her parents’ marriage is crumbling. And somewhere in between these two extremes—just maybe—lie the answers to love’s most bewildering questions. But over the next decade and a half, as she moves from Philadelphia to Boston to Albuquerque, Hannah finds that the questions become more rather than less complicated: At what point can you no longer blame your adult failures on your messed-up childhood? Is settling for someone who’s not your soul mate an act of maturity or an admission of defeat? And if you move to another state for a guy who might not love you back, are you being plucky—or just pathetic?

None of the relationships in Hannah’s life are without complications. … By the time she’s in her late twenties, Hannah has finally figured out what she wants most—but she doesn’t yet know whether she’ll find the courage to go after it.

Full of honesty and humor, The Man of My Dreams is an unnervingly insightful and beautifully written examination of the outside forces and personal choices that make us who we are.

“Much as she did in her acclaimed first novel Sittenfeld places a troubled, not always likable young woman at the heart of her story, and the results are fascinating. Hannah’s search for the elusive title character leads her through an assortment of relationships over the course of her youth, and Susan Denaker’s unassuming performance captures this journey perfectly. Denaker’s skill as a performer is evident, but even more appropriate for this work is the neutrality of her approach. As a listener, one is able to decide for oneself if Hannah will be a sympathetic character. This audiobook is the total package: finely written, beautifully performed, and ultimately satisfying.”—AudioFile