Listen free for 30 days

Listen with offer

Offer ends May 1st, 2024 11:59PM GMT. Terms and conditions apply.
£7.99/month after 3 months. Renews automatically.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Midnight Cowboy cover art

Midnight Cowboy

By: James Leo Herlihy
Narrated by: Michael Urie
Get this deal Try for £0.00

Pay £99p/month. After 3 months pay £7.99/month. Renews automatically. See terms for eligibility.

£7.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £22.00

Buy Now for £22.00

Pay using card ending in
By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. Please see our Privacy Notice, Cookies Notice and Interest-based Ads Notice.

Listeners also enjoyed...

Season of the Witch cover art
Deliverance cover art
The Untouchable cover art
You Will Be Safe Here cover art
The African Queen cover art
The Girl in the Attic cover art
Hollywood Tough cover art
The Holy cover art
Ash Wednesday cover art
Perchance to Dream cover art
Waiting for the Barbarians cover art
Maurice cover art
Night with a SEAL cover art
Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said cover art
Invitation to a Beheading cover art
Billy Bathgate cover art

Summary

Midnight Cowboy is considered by many to be one of the best American novels published since World War II. The main story centers around Joe Buck, a naive but eager and ambitious young Texan, who decides to leave his dead-end job in search of a grand and glamorous life he believes he will find in New York City. But the city turns out to be a much more difficult place to negotiate than Joe could ever have imagined. He soon finds himself and his dreams compromised. Buck's fall from innocence and his relationship with the crippled street hustler Ratso Rizzo form the novel's emotional nucleus. This unlikely pairing of Ratso and Joe Buck is perhaps one of the most complex portraits of friendship in contemporary literature. 

The focus on male friendship follows a strong path cut by Twain's Huck and Jim, Melville's Ishmael and Queequeg, Fitzgerald's Nick Carraway and Jay Gatsby, and Kerouac's Sal Paradise and Dean Moriarity. Midnight Cowboy takes a well-deserved place among a group of distinguished American novels that write - often with unnerving candor - about those who live on the fringe of society. 

©1965 James Leo Herlihy (P)2018 Audible, Inc.

What listeners say about Midnight Cowboy

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    61
  • 4 Stars
    24
  • 3 Stars
    4
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    0
Performance
  • 5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    68
  • 4 Stars
    15
  • 3 Stars
    1
  • 2 Stars
    0
  • 1 Stars
    0
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    58
  • 4 Stars
    21
  • 3 Stars
    2
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    0

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Utterly brilliant in every respect.

Having just finished listening to this brilliant reading I feel so flat I am starting it again. Everything about the writing is brilliant but the delivery is a piece of magic. The voices all so pitch perfect on accent you can visualise the characters. The nuances with which the narrative develops Joe Buck's being is masterful and compelling. Its years since I saw the film and I don't remember it being as gripping as this. Just mindblowing, funny and sad .

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    2 out of 5 stars

Not for me

Performance was good, I thought the narrator was good,
This book has not stood the test of time,
This is not no George Orwell, it’s slow boring, might have been good book when written but not now

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Great film, Book hmm

As most will know the film is legendary, so it was interesting to listen to a reading of the book it was based on. The film is a faithful rendition but abridges or skips some lengthy passages that occur in the book. And I can see why this was done. Problem is the rather disagreable even poisonous characters that feature in these passages. Made worse in the reading due to the skilful realisation of these characters by the excellent narrator. Still the book is worth a listen, even if like I did, you skip over a few of these troublesome chapters yourself.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful

Every now and then I find a book that stays with me, and this is one. It looks at the human condition from a funny, touching and beautiful way. It looks at some unglamorous, lost and more ‘real’ people, showing the depth of their character and experience. The narrator does a fantastic job of the characterisations. I loved it and wish I could experience it all over again for the first time.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Modern Classic

Absolutley brilliant. This is so well written I couldn't stop listening. It is touching, funny, gritty and real. I had a tear in my eye at the end of the book, I wish it didn't finish. I would have to agree that Hurlihy's book is one of the best written since WW2. MIchael Urie's reading and interpretation is one of the best out there, his voice alone is worth the listen alone, he definately is one of my favorite readers. This has been an absolute gem of a find for me - read it, you won't be disappointed.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Simply brillliant

||What can I say, most of us have watched the movie which does do the book justice... The audio version is superb, the narration is the best I' 've ever heard from an American novel. I have over 45 books in my audio library and this is in my top 5. Highly recommended.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good classic American novel

It's a good, well written story. For some reason it didn't make me emotional at all though, not sure why. There were times when I was a little confused, not sure if it was the story or the narration that did it. I think the narrator muddles the voices a bit at times, it felt like there were kind of hollow moments that felt a bit random and unnecessary. Also Joe sounded somewhat like he had special needs, but not always...From his thoughts I had an impression of some personality disorder.Maybe I'm missing something? Will have to go and do some research.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Not what I expected.

The film of the book deals with the final third. So I was treated to a story I thought I knew but didn't.
The narration is excellent and really brings the story alive.
Excellent :)

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Thoughtful…

Not quite what I like expected but a good listen. A perspective on how a mind works.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Excellent

The excellent narration brought the book to life. I must go and watch the film again now.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!