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  • Peace Like a River

  • Written by: Leif Enger
  • Narrated by: Chad Lowe
  • Length: 11 hrs and 35 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (17 ratings)

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Peace Like a River

Written by: Leif Enger
Narrated by: Chad Lowe
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Publisher's Summary

Born with no air in his lungs, it was only when Reuben Land's father, Jeremiah, picked him up and commanded him to breathe that Reuben's lungs filled. Reuben struggles with debilitating asthma from then on, making him a boy who knows firsthand that life is a gift, and also one who suspects that his father is touched by God and can overturn the laws of nature.

The quiet 1960s midwestern life of the Lands is upended when Reuben's brother, Davy, kills two marauders who have come to harm the family. The morning of his sentencing, Davy (a hero to some, a cold-blooded murderer to others) escapes from his cell, and the Lands set out in search of him. Their journey is touched by serendipity and the kindness of strangers, and they cover territory even more extraordinary than the Badlands, where they search for Davy from their Airstream trailer.

Sprinkled with playful nods to Biblical tales, beloved classics such as Huckleberry Finn,, the adventure stories of Robert Louis Stevenson, and the westerns of Zane Grey, Peace Like A River is at once a heroic quest, a tragedy, a love story, and a haunting meditation on the possibility of magic in the everyday world.
©2001 Leif Enger (P)2001 HarperCollins Publishers
Genre Fiction Coming of Age Literary Fiction
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What the critics say

"Actor Chad Lowe reads with a warm, deliberative voice perfectly suited to Leif Enger's meditative and melodic story of a family's search throughout the West for its outlaw son. Lowe doesn't attempt any verbal flourishes, nor does he try to give specific voices to different characters. Instead, he simply and beautifully reads aloud - slowly enough for Enger's evocative prose to shine and with just enough emotion to magnify this tale of the redemptive power of love." (AudioFile)

What listeners say about Peace Like a River

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Profile Image for Kraig

Enjoyable but sad

I had a hard time getting into this one initially. But by the end I was really enjoying it. As others have said, the music interludes are annoying and unnecessary. The reader is great. The plot is sad, but I enjoyed seeing it through the boy's eyes. I wish they made it a little more clear about the apparent miracles the boy saw - helped you to see it through the boy's eyes, and told you if it really was unexplainable or not. I wish there had been a better outcome for Davey. His sister's poetry is great, a neat thread throughout. Overall I recommend it as an enjoyable listen :)

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