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Mouth to Mouth
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 4 hrs and 52 mins
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Mouth to Mouth
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Summary
In the great tradition of morally murky narrators such as those in Gone Girl, The White Tiger or The Talented Mr Ripley comes a compelling, one-sitting literary thriller of imposters and Faustian bargains, in which a man pulls another man from the rough surf...and then wishes he'd just let him drown.
A struggling author is stuck at the airport, his flight endlessly delayed. As he kills time at the gate, he bumps into a former classmate of his, Jeff, who is waiting for the same flight. The charismatic Jeff invites the author to drinks in the first-class lounge, and there, swearing him to secrecy, begins telling him the fascinating and disturbing story of his gilded life, starting with a pivotal incident from his youth....
Alone on the beach one morning, Jeff notices a swimmer drowning in the rough surf - and so he rescues and resuscitates the unconscious man, before leaving him to the emergency services. But Jeff can't let go of the events of that traumatic day, and he begins to feel compelled to learn more about the man whose life he has saved, convinced that their destinies are now somehow entwined.
Upon discovering that the man is the renowned art dealer Francis Arsenault, Jeff begins to surreptitiously visit his Beverly Hills gallery, eventually applying there for a job. Although Francis doesn't seem to recognise him, he nevertheless casts his legendary eye over Jeff and sees something of worth - and so he initiates him into his world of unimaginable power and wealth, where knowledge, taste and access are currency and the value of things is constantly shifting, constantly calling into question what is real and what matters. As Jeff finds himself seduced by the lifestyle, he pursues a deeper connection with Francis, until morals become expendable and their relationship becomes ever darker, leaving him to wonder...should he have just let Francis drown?
Critic reviews
"A supremely gripping tale of serendipity and deception." (Vogue, Best Books of 2022)
"Sleek, swift and graceful...with unexpectedly sharp teeth." (Lauren Groff, author of Matrix)
"Sinewy and mesmerizing." (Marisa Silver, author of Little Nothing and The Mysteries)
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What listeners say about Mouth to Mouth
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance3 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Zebra Karma
- 19-04-22
Underwhelming
The premise of the book was great. Down on his luck writer bumps into old college friend who has clearly gone up in the world. Friend invites him to wait in the first class lounge for their delayed flight.
While the men help themselves to all the delicious free food on offer, old friend narrates a peculiar tale which begins with him saving a man from drowning and then walking away. Later, he becomes obsessed with the man, stalking him and taking a job at his art gallery. Even dates his daughter.
Trouble is, the narration device cannot sustain a whole novel, even one this slender. You are constantly trapped on planet exposition “And then I said to him and then he said to me.” There is good reason he’s done it this way but he should have found another way. It might make a good movie though.
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1 person found this helpful
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Overall2 out of 5 stars
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Performance2 out of 5 stars
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Story2 out of 5 stars
- Bella A
- 11-04-23
Promised much delivered little
Interesting idea brought down by a very clunky narrative, leaving you wondering what the point of all of it was.
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 17-02-23
The shaping of testimony
Two men meet by chance at an airport when their flight is delayed. The first man listens to a long story told by the second man about a series of events that changed his life completely. The story is engaging, almost compelling, but concludes in a way that suggests it might have been cleverly self serving. The first man, a struggling novelist, expresses his firm private decision to never write about the story he has heard. But he has written about it and the listener has now also just heard it.
So we have a story in the form of a short novel. It contains a long anecdote, purportedly written for us by a character in the story, after having heard it from the other character in the story.
Engaging? Yes. Thus it is a largely successful play on post modernism’s view of fiction, alleged fact and the malleable nature of both. Discuss.
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Overall1 out of 5 stars
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Performance1 out of 5 stars
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Story1 out of 5 stars
- kj
- 13-02-24
Boring! Nothing interesting happens -goes nowhere
Listened to the bitter end hoping something interesting happens - but no - it's a boring story, no twists, no reveal at the end. And the narration is so, so irritating. Every single sentence ends on the downbeat! Don't waste your time on this .
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