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    BUtterfield 8
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    BUtterfield 8
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    BUtterfield 8
    Audiobook8 hours

    BUtterfield 8

    Written by John O'Hara

    Narrated by Gretchen Mol

    3/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    The bestselling novel that became an Oscar-winning film starring Elizabeth Taylor about New York's speakeasy generation

    A masterpiece of American fiction and a bestseller upon its publication in 1935, BUtterfield 8 lays bare with brash honesty the unspoken and often shocking truths that lurked beneath the surface of a society still reeling from the effects of the Great Depression. One Sunday morning, Gloria wakes up in a stranger's apartment with nothing but a torn evening dress, stockings, and panties. When she steals a fur coat from the wardrobe to wear home, she unleashes a series of events that can only end in tragedy. Inspired by true events, this novel caused a sensation on its publication for its frank depiction of the relationship between a wild and beautiful young woman and a respectable, married man.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateApr 29, 2014
    ISBN9780698154179
    Unavailable
    BUtterfield 8

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    Reviews for BUtterfield 8

    3/5

    11 ratings7 reviews

    What did you think?

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    • 3/5
      "On this Sunday morning in May, this girl who later was to be the cause of a sensation in New York, awoke much too early for her night before...."Set in the early 1930's in New York City, this is the story of the downfall of "party girl" Gloria Wondrous. After a night in his apartment with her married lover Weston Liggett, Gloria awakens alone and finds her evening dress torn. She takes off in her slip with Liggett's wife's mink coat covering her.We learn Gloria's history, from a childhood in which she was sexually abused. She's promiscuous and conniving, using her sexuality to gain power, but she is not unsympathetic. The novel is permeated with the atmosphere of New York City during the Depression, and during prohibition--there are speakeasies, and unspoken class distinctions, and prejudice against Jews. You know it can't end well.I enjoyed this book, and would like to read more by O'Hara, who Fran Liebowitz describes as "the real F. Scott Fitzgerald."Recommended.3 stars
    • 1/5
      Wow, is this book ever tedious. The back cover blurb claims that the first scene unleashes a chain of events that can only result in tragedy, so I kept reading to the end in the hope that this meant something would actually happen, but it never really did. I mean, sure, I suppose the death of a character could be considered tragic, but only if the reader had any emotional investment in the life of that character. Which I did not.
    • 3/5
      An interesting book that tells the tale of Gloria Wandrous and her life. The time is 1930, post stock market crash, the depression is looming and speakeasies are the place to be. Gloria is a young woman who the narrator describes would have been a flapper had she been born a mere ten years earlier.

      This is a sad tale, no one seems particularly happy or successful. There are people with money, but there are also men cheating on their wives, getting beaten up in bars, a high probability of alcoholism...Ahh, New York City in the 1930s.

      Definitely an interesting read!
    • 4/5
      BUtterfield 8 is based on a true story. In this novel O’Hara tries to imagine what that young girl’s life might have been like. Gloria Wandrous is a party girl, familiar with the speakeasies and clubs of 1920s New York City. She falls in with a married man and spends one night at his apartment—after which she steals his wife’s fur coat. The theft leads to tragedy.I liked the idea of the novel, but I thought it was confusing and illogical in several places; I agree with a previous reviewer who said that the relationship between Gloria and Weston Liggett didn’t seem believable. The relationship started too quickly and seemed less like a relationship and more like lust/physical attraction; I didn’t buy for a second that he was in love with her.The tone of the novel feels very frenetic and sex-charged, probably due to the intensity of Gloria’s personality and the suddenness of her friendship with Liggett. I found that I really didn’t care for her too much; she was too self-absorbed and too attached to physical pleasure to be truly likeable. O’Hara also introduced some characters who seem to be completely superfluous to the whole point of the book. I also thought that the ending of the book was a let-down; the author builds his reader up for something much more interesting and all we get is… disappointment. The premise is good, though.
    • 3/5
      I liked the book but struggled in the early parts trying to keep track of who was who and what the connections between them were.....fascinating depiction of the culture of this social set in NY in the period.......the dialogue made it seem quite real. The story line however, left a little to be desired, especially with respect to seemingly casual acquaintances morphing immediately into major life-altering emotional situations with drastic life-changes occurring as a result....it was very hard to wrap my head around this notion of 'true love' between Gloria and Weston, (passion or infatuation, yes, true-love - no!) not because of their age difference necessarily (although that did not help) but because their brief initial interaction would never have led to such intense responses....maybe over time it could have been believable but not in this short time span.....I've got a ton more O'hara on the shelf, so we'll see how this stacks up to the others. Oh, and as is always the case, titles intrigue me.....any ideas as to why this one was chosen???
    • 4/5
      There are a number of "classics" sitting on my shelves to be read. This summer I picked up BUtterfield 8 and dove right in. I had almost no idea what to expect. I'd never seen the movie and hadn't really ever heard anything about the story. Reading the back cover gave a slight insight, but still left me wondering what to expect.The book started out a little slow, but still very vivid. O'Hara writes with great description and passion and was able to make the scenes very alive and full. However, for the first few chapters, the book felt rather disjointed to me and I felt a little disoriented and confused. There were a ton of characters dropped in and I wasn't yet sure who was important and who was peripheral.Looking back, I think the disorientation could be a deliberate stylistic choice. Our central characters are all caught up in a whirlwind of life's adventures filled with big hopes and dreams, but still just whipped around dizzyingly by real life interactions. Pushing through the first few chapters, I found myself getting really attached to the characters. This is really a character driven novel and the characters are deep and engaging. It was a while before I even knew the name of the girl I was following around for the first few pages and I wasn't sure yet if I was supposed to be sympathetic to or disgusted by her situation, but I still felt compelled by her and wanted to know more. As Gloria Wandrous grew more and more alive and as I learned more of her back story and current situation, she began to feel truly real and I found myself sympathizing for her.Many of the themes of the book dealt with Gloria's sexuality both in the present world and with the encounters of her youth. O'Hara isn't explicit/graphic with his sexual content, but I can see where even the allusions he presents could be controversial both then and now. Sexuality is often a taboo subject anyway. Add to that the molestation/rape of a young girl and the subject becomes all the more disputable. O'Hara doesn't wholly portray Gloria as a victim, which would be a natural response. He does explore her psychology and reactions, but he also gives her an inner strength and drive. I really enjoyed the description of her conflicted moral judgments. She has a real desire to love and be loved, but she has a low sense of self worth because of her past that she feels she has to live up to.In addition to the depth in Gloria's character, the book also expounds on the sexuality and behaviors of all the other characters. Weston Ligget, the male love interest for Gloria, is a character with a lot of depth though it's harder to feel sympathetic towards him. I feel almost sorry for him in that he does seem like he genuinely wants to care for Gloria, but at the same time, I read his love as more of an infatuation based on the thrill of the chase and the excitement of the affair. He just sends off the creepy vibe through his pedophiliac/incestual behavior not to mention his infidelity and reckless abandon.I really liked Eddie as Gloria's best friend. Part of me hoped that they would somehow get a romance going, but I knew early on that any chance of love between them was totally ill-fated.I've spoken mostly about the characters and this really is a character driven novel. The characters are the life of the book. The plot itself felt a little thin. It was compelling only in the fact that I was attached to Gloria. The environment of New York and the speakeasies was meticulously created and felt very real and compelling. The dialog was fresh and real.The themes and content, while somewhat controversial and dated to the ~20s/30s, were still strikingly relevant in our modern society. The 21st century club scene is obviously a little different than that of the speakeasies. The stresses and concerns of modern day 20-somethings and white-collar-30+s have become more technologically advanced, but the general worries are still very similar.People want to be loved. They want to be accepted. They want to figure out who they are and how they fit into the world. They want to overcome the problems of their past and be able to take control of their future.This novel has a lot of great themes to think on and wonderful characters to help open up the realities hiding under the pasted on smiles of society. I would have liked to have seen some better resolution or morale at the end of the story, but it still left something to think about. Probably my biggest complaint was the "200 pound gorilla in the room" that's alluded to on the back cover by telling us that O'Hara was inspired to write this book when he read a news article about an unknown girl found dead in the East River. With that in mind, I knew what was coming and new the book couldn't end well.Still, I hoped for a little more enlightenment or for something more to come from the impending death. In that regard, the book left me somewhat disappointed...a bit of metafiction, placing me inside Gloria's own disappointment with the world.Overall, it was a book worth reading. I enjoyed the reality of it, the depth of the characters and the interesting themes. The pacing was a bit slow and disjointed, especially early on, and the plot itself felt a bit contrived at moments. Still, I am glad I read it and will likely seek out more O'Hara to put on my shelf.****3.5 stars (out of 5)
    • 1/5
      Reviewed Oct 2004 Found a stack of Dad’s cheap paperbacks and I seemed to remember this title. I made it though the book even though the pages were falling all over the place. The writing style was very detailed with way too many descriptions. O’Hara begins talking about a group of people without telling you that he is doing so, just starts a new paragraph. The story line is about the conversations and interactions between people living in N.Y. in the 1930’s. O’Hara has taken a section of conversation and peoples lives as they were, honest and ugly. The book does not flow well, but it is very intimate and honest. 16-2004