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Become a member and shop our members-only, 10th anniversary buy-one-get-one sale in support of local bookstores.
Get startedBeautyland
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Narrator
Andi Arndt
This audiobook uses AI narration.
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Length
8 hours 56 minutes
Language
English
Bookseller recommendation
“Being a human and experiencing firsts (first skinned knee, first disappointment in a trusted adult) can be lonely and confusing. Bertino's Beautyland tells the story of Adina, an alien born in human form at the exact moment that the Voyager 1 is launched into space on September 5, 1977 carrying the famous golden record. Through Adina we experience a child trying to making sense of the messes humankind has made on planet Earth and her candid unbiased reports of life are delightful. As in her previous books, Bertino's lyrical prose and beautiful interpretations of what might be mundane are stunning. Whether explaining all the subtle indicators of class or exploring the institutions responsible for blaming Yoko for breaking up the Beatles, reading Adina's fax missives to her supervisors on her planet make you feel as though you are discovering earthling secrets. Human beings are messy and take themselves so seriously. Beautyland will remind you of what is important in life.”
— Rachel • Avid Bookshop
At the moment when Voyager 1 is launched into space carrying its famous golden record, a baby of unusual perception is born to a single mother in Philadelphia. Adina Giorno is tiny and jaundiced, but reaches for warmth and light. As a child, she recognizes that she's different: she possesses knowledge of a faraway planet. The arrival of a fax machine enables her to contact her extraterrestrial relatives, beings who have sent her to report on the oddities of earthlings. For years, as she moves through the world and makes a life for herself among humans, she dispatches transmissions on the terrors and surprising joys of their existence. But at a precarious moment, a beloved friend urges Adina to share her messages with the world. Is there a chance she's not alone? A blazing novel of startling originality about the fragility and resilience of life in our universe, Marie-Helene Bertino’s Beautyland is a remarkable evocation of feeling in exile at home and introduces a gentle, unforgettable alien for our times.
Marie-Helene Bertino is the author of Parakeet, 2 A.M. at The Cat’s Pajamas, and the story collection Safe as Houses. She was the 2017 Frank O’Connor International Short Story Fellow. Her work has received the O. Henry Prize, the Pushcart Prize, the Iowa Short Fiction Award, the Mississippi Review Story Prize, and fellowships from MacDowell, Sewanee, and New York City’s Center for Fiction and has been featured on NPR’s Selected Shorts. She teaches creative writing at NYU and Yale.
Andi Arndt is a professional actor who specializes in narration with an emphasis on audiobooks and e-Learning. She taught acting and voice for the James Madison University School of Theatre and Dance for over a decade, and she has worked full time for WMRA hosting classical music and NPR news programming. When not behind the mic, she can be found at live music venues or planning her next travel adventure.
