Seek: Amazon.ca: Paul Fleischman, Full Cast: Books

Product Description

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Late night. The boy listens to the radio and twirls the dial aimlessly to catch fragments of a talk show, a baseball game, jazz, rock, country & western, a Spanish soap opera, the curtain calls for a grand opera, a sermon, a newscast...

This is the raw material for the sound collage Paul Fleischman has put together to make an extraordinary novel that tells of a young boy's ongoing search through the airwaves for the DJ father he never knew. Added to the radio sound bites are other voices: love and wisdom from the boy's grandparents and mother, banter with his friends, hilarious bits from their alternative newspaper, scenes from his childhood--and his own voice reading from a school-assignment autobiography. Characteristically, the boy's father has left him only sound: a sound-effects record and a taping of his Golden Oldies call-in show. These become the recurring chorus for this cacophony that somehow takes on the shape of an engaging narrative, as the boy seeks and seeks, and finally outgrows his need and finds his own direction.

Paul Fleischman is the distinguished winner of a Newbery Medal (Joyful Noise), a Newbery Honor (Graven Images), two Golden Kites, and the Scott O'Dell Award (Bull Run). His interest in sound for its own sake has often taken him in new directions, none more audacious than this: a book which is entirely aural in a visual age, meant to be experienced through the mind's ear (instructions for performance are included) rather than the mind's eye. (Ages 12 and older) --Patty Campbell --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

Readers will strongly detect Fleischman's (Joyful Noise; Bull Run) ear for language and appreciation for family history in this story of a teen's life, which emerges as a lyrical symphony of voices. High-school senior Rob, inspired by his fascination with radios, chooses to write his autobiography (assigned for English class) in the form of a radio play. The narrator presents a series of monologues and dialogues that capture the essence of those who have influenced him most: his trilingual mother, his history-professor grandfather, his storytelling grandmother, the aunts who helped raise him, and his school friends. However, Rob is most conscious of the silence created by his absent father ("Somehow, that missing voice seemed to outweigh all those that were present," he reflects). In an attempt to fill the empty space left by the man he's never met, Rob tunes into radio stations across the country and beyond to listen to announcers, one of whom might just be his DJ father. The novel which combines elements of poetry, fiction, essay and drama will be best appreciated in a readers' theater kind of setting; otherwise, it can take some time to get one's bearings, as the narrative moves between flashbacks and contemporaneous conversations. But those who stick with this lively cast of characters, revealed solely through dialogue, will be rewarded. Ages 12-up.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Customer Reviews

10 Reviews

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Average Customer Review

4.8 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)

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3.0 out of 5 stars Seek By:Paul Fleischman, Dec 19 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Seek (Hardcover)

This story was quite interesting to me, but from what I understood of it, I'll explain to you. There is a boy named Rob, and he lives with his mother, but leaves her to go search for his father. Rob tries to discover his father through their mutual love, music, and the radio. The story is full of true love that Rob has for his his family. The book basically goes through a young boys mind, living with one parent and making peace with it.

My opinion of this book is that it was pretty good, out of the stars i would rate this book a three out of five. This is because the book was hard to understand. I would recommend this book to everyone who loves journeys, because this book is such a journey and it's kind of hard to put the book down.

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5.0 out of 5 stars A unique & enthusiastically recommended audiobook experience, Oct 9 2002

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Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Seek (Audio Cassette)

Featuring a full cast providing an authentic "theater of the mind" listening experience, Paul Fleischman's Seek is a complete and unabridged, 2 hour and 42 minute audiobook performance on two cassettes. Robert Radkovitz is a highschool senior assigned to write his autobiography. But what Rob creates is a kind of "sound portrait" of his life as he remembers it, including his mother's singing, his grandmother's mysteries, Mexican soap operas, Edgar Allan Poe, poetry, and the voice of his absent father from a single tape from one of his old radio shows. Told in a collage of voices, Seek describes Rob's search for his father through a labyrinth of airwaves and along the way encountering psychic readers, baseball announcers, pirate DJ.s. Seek is a unique and enthusiastically recommended audiobook experience, and would make a welcome and popular addition to any school or community library audiobook collection.

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5.0 out of 5 stars A unique & enthusiastically recommended audiobook experience, Oct 9 2002

By

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Seek (Audio Cassette)

Featuring a full cast providing an authentic "theater of the mind" listening experience, Paul Fleischman's Seek is a complete and unabridged, 2 hour and 42 minute audiobook performance on two cassettes. Robert Radkovitz is a highschool senior assigned to write his autobiography. But what Rob creates is a kind of "sound portrait" of his life as he remembers it, including his mother's singing, his grandmother's mysteries, Mexican soap operas, Edgar Allan Poe, poetry, and the voice of his absent father from a single tape from one of his old radio shows. Told in a collage of voices, Seek describes Rob's search for his father through a labyrinth of airwaves and along the way encountering psychic readers, baseball announcers, pirate DJ.s. Seek is a unique and enthusiastically recommended audiobook experience, and would make a welcome and popular addition to any school or community library audiobook collection.

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Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars An Orginal novel!
In Seek, High School teenager Rob is assigned to write an autobiography based on his life so far. Rob reflects back on his life not with writing descriptions and dialog but with... Read more

Published on July 15 2002 by Nancy E.

5.0 out of 5 stars An Orginal novel!
In Seek, High School teenager Rob is assigned to write an autobiography based on his life so far. Rob reflects back on his life not with writing descriptions and dialog but with... Read more

Published on July 15 2002 by Nancy E.