Mister Monkey audiobook

An addictive novel that may flat out amaze you. Splintered destinies all have their time in the spotlight; each story is more absorbing & complex than the last. With my tastes aligning all too neatly with musical theater--perhaps the most absorbing, mesmerizing of all the arts--the newest novel by Francine Prose could not have come to me at a better time. Behold! The power of the omnipotent monkeygod!

I abandon a lot of books. Here are the lines that made me know I was going to read this book all the way through, even though I wasn’t hooked from the start: She [a middle-aged actress] could have been a great Sonya [in Uncle Vanya] if she’d known what she knows now. That the thankless servitude Sonya describes, the life of lowered eyes and expectations, of unrelenting hard work, no love, no romance, no children, no reward, old age, then death—it is a real possibility! That life could happen to anyone! More likely it will. Sonya doesn’t believe it. She can’t. She’s too young. The irony is that you don’t believe it until you’re too old to play Sonya. (24)Mister Monkey careens like a brakeless locomotive from the off-off-off-off Broadway performance of a terrible children’s musical of the same title, through the lives of all of the people connected to it. And the most daring thing about this book is that it is written in “monkey mind”—the Buddhist term for all the chatter our human brains spout 24 hours a day; every stray thought, every association to a stray thought, every memory evoked fills the connecting narrative. This could get exhausting, and during the first chapter, I thought it might. But not in the hands of Francine Prose. It works! Boy, does it work and sometimes it’s laugh-out-loud funny.There is so much I can personally relate to—foremost that I’m a former actor who for a decade navigated the cesspool that is off-off-off-off Broadway—and I delighted in the exposure of its subtext. Also, I’m a fan of the Hindu monkey king Hanuman.And here is Krishna Das singing the Hanuman Chalisa (to the Heart as Wide as the World melody)You may enjoy this book more if you have some background in Eastern Wisdom Traditions, but I don't think it's critical. There is plenty of “outing” of the stuff behind our social performances, and what makes it so compelling is the final exposure of our quiet desperation and blundering attempts to live good lives. The book is both hilarious and poignant—my favorite combination.

If I had not been familiar with the author, I might have skipped this book, due to the descriptors such as “madcap,” screwball,” and “children’s musical.” However, I am a fan of Francine Prose’s offbeat, wily, and sardonic but penetrating novels, and I intuited that below the surface of the campy plot would be a scorching but serious look at our cultural customs and ruts, as well as a compassionate critique on isolation, loneliness, and artistic expression. And I was right. Only a fierce observer of humanity such as Prose could turn this preposterous plot of a motley theater group (and its audience members), struggling to breathe life into a stale children’s musical, into a poignant survey of urban life.There are so many ironies in this book—and Prose is masterful with using the sense of the absurd to reveal the sobering but distorted biases. For example, the character of Mister Monkey, who is played by a twelve-year-old boy in a confining monkey suit, is an orphan monkey from Africa (parents killed by poachers). He comes to stay with a human family in America who become beloved to him. Subsequently, he is wrongly accused of stealing a family friend’s wallet (by the jealous friend), and the play then centers on the legal difficulties of trying to prove his innocence. In the meantime, Adam, the actor, has raging hormones, and has started playing MM with aggression, so that he alienates the other actors onstage and puzzles the audience. The parodies like that serve to illuminate the incongruous perceptions that exist.The children’s play is also a vehicle that transports us from actor to actor, writer, director, and audience members. Many of the sacred cows of urban elitism are also revealed, such as Adam’s parents obsessed on which school he attends, but ignoring the fact that the dysfunction in the household has way more impact on his life. Moreover, some of the adult actors, who are getting a bit long in the tooth, express defeatism, discouraged by being stuck in a second-rate production, and dreaming of bigger things.The author covers everything from cognitive dissonance; thinking errors about our culture; romance problems; talent; technology; isolation; philosophy; extinction; religious beliefs; childhood; ageism; and elitism, among other things. And what about evolution? If a monkey can evolve, can human beings? No character escapes the adversity of their own lives and the perceptions of themselves. The author exposes the fundamental dissatisfactions that lurk in mankind, often made worse by a nagging sense that our hopes are imperfect or hollow. But, Prose surmounts a toneless cynicism, by demonstrating that desire makes us vital, if only we can locate the optimism and connection to humanity, if only we can access our superpowers. We, too, can evolve.

I love Francine Prose's work and I particularly savored MISTER MONKEY. On the surface, it's about the world's worst children's musical ever -- and that is a very high bar. And in that regard, the novel is a hoot. But on a deeper level, it's about the cast and the audience, the people who for different reasons are part of or witness to this disaster. And there the novel is insightful and wistful and deeply moving.

Most of us in our youth have been treated to some sort of Mister Monkey production – obvious and preachy, “full of improving lessons about race and class, honesty, justice, and some kind of…spirituality, for lack of a better word.”THIS Mister Monkey children’s play is no exception. It’s a lot of drivel about a “smart, friendly, playful, super-cute baby chimpanzee” who was orphaned and later adopted by a nice upper-class family living in New York. One day, the father’s evil girlfriend accuses Mister Monkey of stealing her wallet and it’s almost curtains for the monkey until a committed lawyer fights for truth, justice and the American way.But just as humans have evolved from monkeys, a cast of loosely connected characters evolve because of this monkey. Each successive chapter introduces a damaged character: the middle-aged Margot whose dream of acting on Broadway has been transformed into acting in this childish production…the pubescent Mister Monkey actor who is hostage to his raging hormones…the grieving widower and his young grandson, Edward, who interrupts the production by loudly asking, “Grandpa, are you interested?”…Ray Ortiz, the writer and veteran, who intended the play to be set in Vietnam…the pretentious director Roger…and so on.Francine Prose uses her trademark razor-sharp satire to nail today’s society: upper middle class parents who want their kids to get into the most prestigious pre-school, the furor over mentioning Darwin to the sweet babes, the brave and underpaid actors who must soldier on with each performance, the horror of mismatched first Internet dates, the existential fear that young people share in an uncertain world. Sounds like a lot, but Francine Prose weaves it in seamlessly. Maybe a little too seamlessly; at times this most enjoyable narrative ran the risk of being overplotted.As a result, I was going to give it 4 stars. But then, Francine Prose redeems her novel with an infusion of hope and grace that nearly brought tears to my eyes…because eventually, most of us come face-to-face with our own superpowers. 4.5, rounded up.

As far as I can tell (which means as far my creaky brain remembers), I haven't read Francine Prose before, so I had no preconceptions going into this book. My first thought (having just finished reading We Love You Charlie Freeman) was "another chimp book?" Although there are no actual chimp characters, the book is an interlocking set of short stories all centered around a rather terrible children's musical called Mr. Monkey, which follows the adventures of a chimp raised in a human family. That makes it the 3rd novel in a year I've read on that theme (Charlie Freeman and We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves being the others) and while all 3 books are very different, they do each in their own way explore the boundary between humans and other animals, as the chimps function as disruptive forces of physical energy/sexuality. Anyway, I'll leave it to someone else to decide why chimps, why now (oh yes, there was also Me Cheeta, a few years ago...), but it does seem to be a mini-genre.While this book was very slight in some ways, it was also very charming. Perhaps my very favorite chapters were the grandfather and Ray Ortiz, two sides of the aging card but both tenderly done. But overall, Prose creates a cast of imperfect but very human characters that you end up caring about, in all their fragility and diversity. The prose (urgh!) is for the most part lightly deft, but occasionally veers into surprisingly meaningful, and also on occasion, surprisingly comedic territory that hint at a greater talent at work. Worth a read - it doesn't take long, and the book becomes better and better the further it spins out from the (intentionally) terrible musical that anchors it.

Take a children's musical about a monkey, center the plot around a specific performance that goes awry, use the various actors and audience members as discrete points of view, add a dash of the Rashamon affect and you have, "Mister Monkey", the new novel by Francine Prose!Don’t be put off by the title, the cover art or the premise; trust me this is an absolute gem! I enjoyed every single page. Part of what I consider the huge success of this novel is its structure; each chapter is told from the point of view of either someone connected to that pivotal performance of “Mister Monkey”, or connected to the play in some way, and each chapter is a stand-alone story, which still manages to propel the plot. Prose is an amazingly skilled writer and each of these stories are beautifully written; there is pathos and humor, and even suspense. Additionally, Prose weaves through these character studies wonderful and weird coincidences; you'll recognize an exact meal served to two disparate characters, a seemingly coincidental seating arrangement in a restaurant, and somewhat arcane references to Chekov’s, “Uncle Vanya”. These narrative "tricks" delighted me, and also served to endear each and every character.The first character we are introduced to is sad Margot, an aging actress who is mourning her never-a-star career, and her lost youth. Her part in this rather ridiculous children’s musical is not the direction she hoped her career would take. She notes; "Nothing can disarm the angel with the fiery sword guarding the gate to the garden where the ingénues frolic, the pretty young girls unaware of the outer darkness." Margo’s ingénue days are long over. It is something unspeakable that the tween, Adam, in the monkey suit, does to Margot during a performance that sets of a chain reaction.No story about a monkey can be without reference to Darwin, Natural Selection, and Evolution vs Creationism. A lesser writer might have put too little or too much emphasis on these topics, but Prose is master and in her hands we are happily swept away. Threading through the stories is both gloom and hope for the future with just the right balance, to leave the reader better for having embarked on this journey.

I read Mister Monkey for an on-line discussion group. I have always meant to read Francine Prose but somehow never have. Now she has entranced me and I will read more.I was one of the few participants in the discussion who liked the book. I think because for me it was about people with unfulfilled dreams, one of my obsessions as I get older and look back at the dreams I had.Mister Monkey is a children's musical adapted from a novel written by a Vietnam vet with PTSD. Said novel was converted by an editor into what became a bestselling picture book for kids, along the lines of Curious George. Now the author is rich but he hates the musical because it makes a travesty of his original story.Mister Monkey, the novel by Francine Prose (quite erroneously described as "madcap" by whoever wrote the dust jacket copy) uses the musical as a framework to take readers into the lives and souls of various people connected to an off-off-off-off-Broadway production of a tired old show. Included are several of the actors, the director, the costume designer, a grandfather, and Ray, the original author of the children's book. Each chapter features one of them but in circling around begins to connect them all in interesting and surprising ways.I am not much of a theater goer but one of my sons spent a year of college being a set builder and one of his daughters acts in every play she can at high school. In fact, I have always liked novels set in the theater, so here I was again enmeshed in all the tacky backstage interpersonal trauma of actors, directors, playwrights, and support crew. Ms Prose must have some theater experience because she crafts those scenes so perfectly.Ultimately though, this is a story about people of all ages and different walks of life who are mildly unhappy but looking for joy wherever they can find it. I could not put it down.

This "Prose-light" novel, more of a daisy chain of linked stories, doesn't go as deeply into any one subject as her other, more incisive works. I enjoyed it, however, because it dealt with two of my favorite things -- New York and (to a lesser extent) theater. I love stories that deal with cross sections of the NY population, and this one goes deep into inner lives with each episode that follows Roshomon like on its predecessor. Centered around a moth-eaten production of an off-off-off-Broadway musical based on a dated children's beloved book, several of the actors and the lives they touch are examined with bits of monkey lore thrown in for color.

An enchanting little book about a subject which I thought had been exhausted - neurotic New Yorkers. The title refers to a ghastly children's musical to which all the characters are connected, and how even a the most saccharine art can have profound echoes of real tragedy. Too slight to win many prizes, but gorgeous nonetheless.

I like how the chapters connected.

Mister Monkey is the story of a group of actors in a off, off, off, way off broadway play of a children's play called Mister Monkey written by a Vietnam Vet. Filled with various people like Margot the the middle aged actress in a career going no where, Adam the adolescent actor/monkey who is abandoned by his father and terrified by his fears of the end of the world, Edward's grandfather who misses his deceased wife and loves his grandson and is alone in his old age, Edward the child who is mature for his age and just wants to go to school and feels bad for his teacher Sonya, Ray who wrote the play, Mario the waiter who goes to the theater every chance he gets, Lakshmi the Indian orphan costume designer wanna be playwright, Eleanor the full time register nurse and part time actress, and Roger the director. All great characters but I really loved the grandfather and Eleanor the nurse. "Failures and disappointments make time go by so fast that you fail to notice your real life, and the past when I was so free seems to belong to someone else, not myself." from letter to Maxim Gorkey, by Chekhov. This really sums up the book which is consists of interconnected stories about how individual lives in their isolation, mediocrity, age, failure and alienation touch each other without awareness giving them a chance at a real life. I really liked this book and glad that it made it through the first round of Tournament of Books. While interconnected stories are not new to literature I felt that Francine did something fresh with her use of the play as the center of all their lives. I liked the plot/theme and the characters. It was not overly filled with political correctness in an artificial way or pushing an agenda, it had some swearing but it was minimal, some sexual content but it fit the story and did not feel gratuitous or deplorable.Rating 4.125

It is really refreshing when, at times, you read books and know you are in the hands of a real master, a John Updike, Joyce Carol Oates, Philip Roth, Ian McKuen, Iris Murdoch--I could go on and on. Obviously, to me, Francine Prose in is this class. And this book was a good as it gets from her.Actually, I expected the book to be more of a farce than it was, more in line with a book like Moo by Jane Smiley. And although there were farcical moments throughout (it is about a ridiculous musical about a chimpanzee being falsely accused of stealing), there is an intricate and wonderfully conceived plot and much pathos and intelligent thinking throughout. Each chapter features a different main character with scenes intertwined from chapter to chapter, sort of a multiple viewpoint effect. However, the novel moves ahead in linear time, with events overlapping. The structure mirrors one of overlapping interconnected stories (Jennifer Egan meets David Mitchell), which the author uses extremely well. The reader gets the idea that the concept is very well thought out, and I found it very clever and fascinating. She weaves in some other topics, such as emerging adolescence, evolution, global warming, and human's overall destruction of the planet and their disregard for species other than their own.So a great plot, fascinating and varied characters, some political ruminating, and lots of clever humor, and there you have it.

What starts off as something slight and silly (Mister Monkey is a creaky children's musical about a domesticated monkey who goes on trial) reveals depths that the cover and its flap-copy could never have hinted at. As Prose hops through narrators, spinning out a daisy chain of connections across the untiring and tiresome city, she captures the universal in the individual and highlights the individual in what we might've otherwise considered universal. It is full of love, hope, philosophy, and the small emotions that color our day for the moments that we feel them but then otherwise float away into our history. An unexpected delight, one I might never've read were it not for the Tournament of Books.More at RB: http://ragingbiblioholism.com/2017/01...

I have a weakness for books that examine the lives of people who are connected in some tangential way. In this book, the connection is a low-budget production of a play based on a children's book called Mr. Monkey. By turns humorous and sad, I enjoyed the reminder that what you see in people is not all there is.