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  • Piranha to Scurfy and Other Stories

  • By: Ruth Rendell
  • Narrated by: Lindsay Duncan
  • Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
  • 4.4 out of 5 stars (123 ratings)
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Piranha to Scurfy and Other Stories cover art

Piranha to Scurfy and Other Stories

By: Ruth Rendell
Narrated by: Lindsay Duncan
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Summary

A collection of nine beautifully crafted, terrifying and intriguing tales of spine-tingling psychological terror and suspense from Ruth Rendell.The title story, is about a man whose life, in a sense, is a book. Life for Ambrose Ribbon is lonely, paranoid and obsessive without his mother, yet there is one book that he associates particularly with her: Volume VIII of the Encyclopedia Britannica, Piranha to Scurfy'. It marked a very significant moment in their relationship. But now that she is gone, Ambrose is left to spend his days reading and critiquing novels and writing vicious letters to their authors, pointing out these errors of fact and usage. No one can blame him, this is after all what his mother taught him. Then, one day he comes upon a book that attacks him.

©2000 Kingsmarkham Enterprises Ltd (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Multiple Edgar and Gold Dagger award winner Rendell displays her mastery of spine-tingling suspense in her first short story collection since Blood Lines." (Publishers Weekly)
"These short fictions showcase Ruth Rendell's many gifts, among them the ability to evoke a mood and trap a reader in the deepest recesses of a character's psyche." (Amazon.com review)

What listeners say about Piranha to Scurfy and Other Stories

Average customer ratings
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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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Time stamps for each story

See below for time stamps for each story - something I'm sure we all agree Audible should be doing for us. In the meantime, I hope the below assists other listeners.
Good anthology, definitely recommend. Some stories are better than others, and some don't have "endings" - the story is just a description of a series of events. If you go into this expecting just that, then you won't be disappointed.

CHAPTER 1 - CHAPTER 3 - 2:19:03 (of full title)
Piranha to Scurfy (novella)

CHAPTER 3 - 2:19:03
Computer Seance

CHAPTER 3 - 2:32:21
Fair Exchange

CHAPTER 3 - 2:44:45
The Wink (TW sexual assault)

CHAPTER 3 - 3:02:02
Catamount

CHAPTER 4 - 3:22:33
Walter's Leg

CHAPTER 4 - 3:43:02
The Professional

CHAPTER 4 - 4:04:30
The Beach Butler

CHAPTER 5 - 4:30:36
The Astronomical Scarf

CHAPTER 5 - 4:52:14
High Mysterious Union (novella)

CHAPTER 8 - 8:17:56
Myth

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9 people found this helpful

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

Loved it

Wonderful narration for a superb listen. If you enjoy short stories, then these will be for you. Rendell is a superb writer although I do not rave about all of them. 2 longer stories and 7 short listens and I loved them all. Well done audible for affording me the opportunity to listen to so many of this authors books for free. What a bargain and may you see fit to do this for your loyal members again.

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4 people found this helpful

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

Great narration - two excellent stories

The two longer stories are really good, though some of the others are a bit slight. Lindsay Duncan is a terrific reader.

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2 people found this helpful

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

Excellent

I read this collection of short stories many years ago and it was a delight to revisit them. Lindsay Duncan’s narration is superb, If only other narrators on the Audible list were up to her standard.

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1 person found this helpful

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

Disappointing

I like Ruth Rendell, but these are dreadful. Most of them just ramble on with no point. Even more frustrating is Audible not listing the chapters correctly. They have just divided them up into even lengths of time, rather than the actual stories. So if you're not enjoying one it is impossible to skip to the next one. Gave up after chapter 3.

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

An enjoyable collection, but . . .

I am disappointed the audio book was not divided into “tracks” encompassing each individual story. Enticing fiction marred by careless use of technology

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

Scary stuff

Superb writer. Beautifully read. Not a snuggled up at bedtime listen!! Winning combination of womein

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

Boring.

Recently I have been reading a lot of Ruth Rendell books on Audible and have they have been enjoyable, in the main. However, this collection of short stories just did not compare. With wierd subject matter, they trundled on - I kept thinking they would get somewhere and then they would end very abruptly. All rather boring and I can't say I enjoyed this book at all. The narration was good.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars
  • AZ
  • 23-05-23

Fascinating

Clever working of a number of themes to do with utopian ideas of life. A pleasure to read.

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

Wonderful stories brilliantly read

The stories are all sufficiently long that the characters have time to develop, and the plot twists therefore feel fully earned. Lindsay Duncan’s reading is nuanced and compelling- she captures the underlying humour and irony, as well as credibly slipping into the characters’s minds. Unlike some readers, she does not strain to put on accents or idiosyncratic voices but nonetheless conveys each character distinctly and convincingly. Perfect pairing with the excellent writing.

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