9780062315595
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Rule of the Bone audiobook

  • By: Russell Banks
  • Narrator: Kirby Heyborne
  • Category: Fiction, Literary
  • Length: 11 hours 54 minutes
  • Publisher: HarperAudio
  • Publish date: November 12, 2013
  • Language: English
  • (8253 ratings)
(8253 ratings)
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Rule of the Bone Audiobook Summary

In the tradition Huckleberry Finn and The Catcher in the Rye, Russell Banks’s quintessential novel of a disaffected homeless youth living on the edge of society “redefines the young modern anti-hero. . . . Rule of the Bone has its own culture and language, and Bone is sure to become a beloved character for generations” (San Francisco Chronicle).

When we first meet him, Chappie is a punked-out teenager living with his mother and abusive stepfather in an upstate New York trailer park. During this time, he slips into drugs and petty crime. Rejected by his parents, out of school and in trouble with the police, he claims for himself a new identity as a permanent outsider; he gets a crossed-bones tattoo on his arm, and takes the name “Bone.”

He finds dangerous refuge with a group of biker-thieves, and then hides in the boarded-up summer house of a professor and his wife. He finally settles in an abandoned school bus with Rose, a child he rescues from a fast-talking pedophile. There Bone meets I-Man, an exiled Rastafarian, and together they begin a second adventure that takes the reader from Middle America to the ganja-growing mountains of Jamaica. It is an amazing journey of self-discovery through a world of magic, violence, betrayal and redemption.

With a compelling, off-beat protagonist evocative of Holden Caulfield and Quentin Coldwater, and a narrative voice that masterfully and naturally captures the nuances of a modern vernacular, Banks’s haunting and powerful novel is an indisputable–and unforgettable–modern classic.

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Rule of the Bone Audiobook Narrator

Kirby Heyborne is the narrator of Rule of the Bone audiobook that was written by Russell Banks

Russell Banks, twice a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, was one of America’s most prestigious fiction writers, a past president of the International Parliament of Writers, and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. His work has been translated into twenty languages and he received numerous prizes and awards, including the Common Wealth Award for Literature. He died in January 2023 at the age of eighty-two.

 

About the Author(s) of Rule of the Bone

Russell Banks is the author of Rule of the Bone

Rule of the Bone Full Details

Narrator Kirby Heyborne
Length 11 hours 54 minutes
Author Russell Banks
Category
Publisher HarperAudio
Release date November 12, 2013
ISBN 9780062315595

Subjects

The publisher of the Rule of the Bone is HarperAudio. includes the following subjects: The BISAC Subject Code is Fiction, Literary

Additional info

The publisher of the Rule of the Bone is HarperAudio. The imprint is HarperAudio. It is supplied by HarperAudio. The ISBN-13 is 9780062315595.

Global Availability

This book is only available in the United States.

Goodreads Reviews

Tiffany

April 23, 2007

Rule of the Bone is a book about a fourteen year old kid who fails out of school, is already hooked on drugs, and is being secretly abused my his stepfather. I know this sounds dark, but Bone, the main character, is, perhaps, one of the most "together" narrators. He knows his flaws and the world's flaws, but this does not stop him from living the existence he chooses--to be homeless and kind of a mallrat. Have you ever met a complete druggie loser and have realized that he is smarter and more intelligent than most people? Well that is Bone. I recommend this book for anyone who like Holden Caulfield's crass narrative, but thought that he was a privileged bitch. Bone is much more enjoyable and witty, and he stands up for himself, something Holden only thought he was capable of.

Anina

September 03, 2021

this book has a lower average rating than "skinny bitch"? what is wrong with you guys? chappie is one of my favorite narrators of all time.

Julia

August 19, 2014

The novel Rule of the Bone by Russel Banks was probably the best book I've read all summer. It's a decent sized book, about 400 pages, and yet I read it all in two sittings. The novel is truly gripping, and keeps the reader entertained as the main character Bone goes through different adventures. It smashes the typical idea that we have to have our lives figured out from the time we're children, or at all for that matter. Instead of being driven by a plan, or by a future, Bone is driven by the primal need of staying alive. I also feel connected with this book because most of it takes place in upstate New York (Plattsburgh area) which just makes it all the more relatable to me personally. The main idea that Banks shares with this novel is that the only thing that will every be permanent in life is you. Things change day by day, and in the end you can only come to rely on yourself for answers. Bone learns this through a series of different living conditions, friends, and disappointments. There wasn't a page in this novel that bored me, and even though it was written almost 20 years ago, it feels fresh and not outdated at all. I would recommend this to anyone looking for an entertaining read, that still has a good message.

John

May 16, 2008

(I'm reprinting this from my review of another edition, here w/in Goodreads) The finest accomplishment of a splendid contemporary's career. RULE OF THE BONE takes on the kind of lost child most of us would far prefer to ignore -- a mall rat with a fondness for weed, medicating the pain out of his own broken and abused home. The novel keens the tragedy of America's neglected young people like no other I know, lashing brilliantly into the commercial forces that turn a seven- or eleven-year-old into an item of barter, a piece of property to be used and discarded. And Banks pulls off his admonishings without sacrificing drama, with brio, humor, surprise, and above all great sensitivity to details of heart and nerve.

Brad

March 28, 2017

Excellent coming of age novel for modern readers. The Bone is Huck Finn in the 20th Century under different pressures but with same clear voice, lizard-brained logic, and internal desire to achieve moral correctness, however stilted.

Kelli

May 29, 2017

This book was recommended to me by a bookstagrammer I follow on my Instagram with not much but an insistence that it would be up my street to go on.I have to admit, he was right 😊Rule of the Bone was written right in the grunge phase of my youth and I wish so much I'd known about it then as I think I probably would've read it a hundred times by now.The protagonist of the story is a 14 year old named Chappie, who tells his tale at speed in its speach but slowly in its detail, almost as if the major events of his life were of no consequence or at least of no less importance than the little details he encountered every day.The narrative doesn't have much structure, and you read as if you're listening to a typical teenager speak in one long ramble with barely a pause for breath which I have to admit, wasn't what I'm used to and took a couple of pages to get used to, but was perfect for building the character and getting a picture of the kind of guy Chappie is.Russell Banks manges to brilliantly show the other side of life, the people that slide between the cracks and the way the world looks to those that live it in a very matter of fact way. It doesnt necessarily bring you out in sympathy for Chappie in particular, but just says 'this is the way it is' and merely asks you to come along for the ride cos really, this kid ain't all that bad. And you do, and you find yourself witnessing the journey of Chappie's self discovery through his tenacity and resilience that even he doesn't know he had. I wouldn't exactly say that the reader is rewarded with the full chrysalis-style transformation ending that you'd expect but that's not a bad thing, it wouldn't be in the style of the book to do that, but the fact that you know Chappie is gonna do just fine is enough. It's like feeling contentedly full rather than over stuffed.On the whole I'd recommend Rule of the Bone as one of those cult classics that should be read at least once. You don't have to love it but it will definitely make you think.

Theresa

August 24, 2019

Um… holy cow! Where to begin? A friend recommended this book to me, warning that it’s a bit edgy and there are some cringe-y moments—however, this gritty subject matter only made the character more lifelike. So. Damn. Good. Once I got hooked on the narrator’s voice, I couldn’t stop reading. I literally cancelled all my plans, stayed off social media, and didn’t watch any Netflix—don’t judge me. I had to know what happened to this kid. Russell captures the teenager personality, to an enviable degree—warts and all. There are times I wanted to strangle the narrator, and other times I cheered him on. We follow him through abuse, low self-esteem, self-medication, and violence, watching him learn from it all. It’s been awhile since I’ve read a character so messed up, yet so lovable at the same time. His innocence and self-reflection are endearing. And, the other characters in the book? So colorful and so distinct. By the end, I literally had tears in my eyes, thinking it’s over? Is this a perfect novel? No, you can pick things apart. It takes some getting used to that there is minimal punctuation, long sentences, and no quotation marks for dialogue. But there’s a rhythm to the language. It worked for me. There are also some plot points where I was like: What? Really? They seemed almost too coincidental at times. Here’s the thing: I didn’t care. The twists and turns are so strange it reminded me that sometimes life can really be that crazy. Events and people do seem to fall out of the sky. And we don’t always know how we’re going to react. I was willing to buy it all: hook, line, and sinker.I will definitely pick up more books from this author. His prose is hypnotic, and his characters captivating. And there is something literary about his observations, symbols, and metaphors. Russell doesn’t throw these in our face; instead, he lets us pick them out for ourselves as we tread through the pages. I highly recommend this read, especially if you enjoy a heart-felt coming of age story.

Max

October 12, 2011

Max KleinRichEnglish 1031 August 2011Book Review CBanks, Russel. Rule of the Bone; “A Novel”. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, Inc., 1995. Rule of the Bone by Russel Banks is a fantastic read because of the experiences, and memories of the main character, Chappie (or Bone later in the book). Russel Banks does a great job of incorporating the crazy experiences of a rebel teen into a book that sounds believable. The description that Banks puts into certain scenes really makes the book fun, and enjoyable to read start to finish. Some of the experiences that Chappie goes through at the young age of 15 are amazing. Even though it is a fiction book Russel Banks does a great job of making it sound believable. The situations that the 15 year old are in are crazy “it looked like the whole room was burning. It was a combination of beautiful and scary probably like war. The room went up like one of those smart bombs’d hit it and when me and Russ reached the ground we turned and stood there and looked up amazed at the sight” (Banks 80). The language that Russel Banks uses through out the novel makes it more believable. By writing the way a teenager thinks, Russel makes it feel as though you were Chappie in the scenarios. The amount of description that Banks adds to the book also makes it way more believable, and interesting. Rule of the Bone is my favorite book at the moment because of the description that is so vivid through out the book. “I was slumped over sitting on one of the pillows watching the candle flame when suddenly this spider came drifting down from the ceiling and hovered over the flame for a minute and then like it’d gotten too hot the spider started trying to climb back up on its web. It struggled and fought but it was too late, the web turned into a gold wire and the spider lost it and dropped onto the flame where it got instantly crisped and its tiny ashy body floated up on the heat a ways and then it disappeared into thin air” (Banks 260). Banks takes an entire paragraph describing an action as simple as a spider being burnt by a candle. These small, seemingly insignificant additions make all the difference in a book to me. This is what takes Rule of the Bone from being an OK book to being a great book. Banks does a fantastic job of portraying a rebellious teen’s journey through the United States and Jamaca. Through out the whole book Russel Banks keeps the novel interesting and fun to read. After my 3rd time reading Rule of the Bone I still enjoy every page and would recommend it to a friend.

Tiffany

March 19, 2014

This book was a serendipitous find. Having picked the book up off the counter of my parents house about 12 years ago (I believe my father was reading it) and reading a page or two, I made a mental note to read the book one day. All I could remember about it was a yellow cover and the word "bone" in the title, so I have been passively looking for the book for over a decade. Then one day while at work (I'm a librarian), it was returned by a patron. And so began my journey with Bone.Bone's story is that of a lost teenage boy of fourteen who leaves his broken and dysfunctional home after enduring years of abuse at the hands of his stepfather. He drifts and gets by as well as possible, selling weed to and living with a group of unruly and violent Bikers in a rundown apartment. As he drifts through his homelessness, spending his days in a mall the next town over, he begins to question what it means to live as a criminal, all the while trying to maintain a sense of right from wrong. As time passes, he finds himself in a position to rescue a young girl around six-years-old who was sold by her mother to a sceevy and dangerous pedophile. The two find refuge in an abondoned bus in the middle a field, inhabited by I-Man, a Jamaican Rastafarian and illegal immigrant homesick for his own country. And so begins the second stage in Bone's journey to himself, which takes him to Jamaica and onward.This book was incredibly hard to put down, and I found myself reading well past my bedtime. Bone's narrative is authentic and at times soars. His voice was well developed, as were the characters he described. It was an honor to watch Bone evolve from a scared fourteen-year-old boy unsure of himself and the future, into a young man who was ready to embrace his true self and the journey that lies ahead of him. Highly recommended.

Tyler

September 17, 2015

Any novel featuring a precocious and cynical young narrator is going to be compared to Catcher in the Rye, but in this case the comparison is valid. Like Holden, Bone has a strong, likeable personality, and even though you'd like to slap him upside the head, you also love him. There is such authenticity in Bone's voice that many young readers are completely sucked into this book - to the point where the narrator and the author are confused. I met Russell Banks in 1998 when he toured to promote Cloudsplitter, and after the reading he joined a group of us from the bookstore for sushi. Naturally, we got him to talk as much as we could about his books. About Rule of the Bone he said; "I get letters from fifteen-year old kids who write, Dude! Your book is awesome! They think I'm a kid too. They'd be disappointed to find out I'm a grey haired old man." Such is the power of a great book.Those kids, of course, are right. This book is totally awesome. However it lost me a bit when the action goes to Jamaica - things don't quite ring as true as they do in the gritty and real first half of the book. I'm so picky.

Valeria

February 27, 2021

Pros:- WILD story! Like. Wow we went everywhere.- 3D Narrator- Realistic personal plights for the angsty teen who just needs familial love- Well writtenCons:- The racism/xenophobia with our Jamaiacan Rasta character, I-Man, as well as everyone in Jamaica kind of lowkey being a charicature of what someone who isn't from Jamiaca thinks Jamiaca is like (I feel?). Culture appropriation. Mystical Jamaican guide trope through I-Man so the narrator can find himself? Cringe, all of that is really cringe

Ramayana

May 22, 2017

Rule of the Bone is a book about a 14-year-old who drops out of school, is homeless, addicted to drugs, and was abused by his step-father. Although Chappie is already witty at the beginning of the story, throughout the book there is no change or "growing up". It's basically a narration of the the life of a teenage drug dealer. Also, the whole book is written with horrible grammar (most likely to show that a kid is narrating the book). Overall, it was a good book.

Alexandre

March 13, 2021

Ça fait longtemps que j'ai pas lu un livre aussi bien construit. L'histoire bouge dans tous les sens et la narration est vraiment exemplaire. Une belle découverte/gros coup de coeur.

Brian

July 23, 2022

I recall liking The Catcher in the Rye when I read it as a teenager. If Rule of the Bone had been written then, I would likely have found it too out there. But coming to it now, totally hits the mark!

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