Audiobook Review: Heyday by Kurt Andersen

Heyday is a “rush” of a tale, written by Kurt Anderson, read by Charles Leggett, and reviewed by Star Lawrence

You think 1968 was a memorable year? How about 1848? Heyday is a sprawling epic of 1848-1849, starting with revolutionary riots in the streets of Paris and finally zeroing in on four unlikely friends as they crash through interesting times.

Ben Knowles is a refined Englishman on holiday with a friend in Paris. He encounters a wild-eyed girl dashing through the streets in a mob and in the melee (which involves a stab with the beak of a taxidermied penguin he is carrying) he gets separated from his friend and later sees the man under a pile of bodies shot by the French soldiers.

Bereft, Ben journeys to America to make a new start and on his first night sees a bewitching blond actress (and part-time prostitute) dining in his hotel. They meet later, naturally, and he also becomes friends with her brother Duff, a tortured soul who has basically tossed his moral compass at 22 and amidst babbling his rosary over and over, commits all sorts if poorly thought-out crimes. The fourth friend is Timothy Skaggs, who is older, a newspaper reporter, photographer, astronomer, wit and raconteur.

Spoilers will ensue if I explain more, but eventually, the four set off across the American continent, eventually ending up as gold panners in the hills around Sutter’s Mill (1848—Gold Rush—remember from school?).

Unfortunately, the French policeman whose brother was shot in the wake of the penguin beak stabbing, has a long memory and is a couple of thousand miles behind them, but coming up fast.

I will leave it there and you can fetch the 22 disks. The narrator Charles Leggett is very listenable, keeps the voices straight without weirding out, and makes Heyday as rousing an adventure as any TV show.

You just supply the pictures yourself. Simple.

Star Lawrence owns Health’s Ass, a health humor site, at http://healthsass.blogspot.com. Anyone out there want to print her audio reviews? She can be reached at jkellaw@aol.com