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The People in the Trees

Written by: Hanya Yanagihara
Narrated by: Mark Bramhall, BD Wong
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Publisher's Summary

Listeners of exciting, challenging, and visionary literary fiction - including admirers of Norman Rush's Mating, Ann Patchett's State of Wonder, Barbara Kingsolver's The Poisonwood Bible, and Peter Matthiessen's At Play in the Fields of the Lord - will be drawn to this astonishingly gripping and accomplished first novel. A decade in the writing, this is an anthropological adventure story that combines the visceral allure of a thriller with a profound and tragic vision of what happens when cultures collide. It is a book that instantly catapults Hanya Yanagihara into the company of young novelists who really, really matter.

In 1950, a young doctor called Norton Perina signs on with the anthropologist Paul Tallent for an expedition to the remote Micronesian island of Ivu'ivu in search of a rumored lost tribe. They succeed, finding not only that tribe but also a group of forest dwellers they dub "The Dreamers", who turn out to be fantastically long-lived but progressively more senile. Perina suspects the source of their longevity is a hard-to-find turtle; unable to resist the possibility of eternal life, he kills one and smuggles some meat back to the States. He scientifically proves his thesis, earning worldwide fame and the Nobel Prize, but he soon discovers that its miraculous property comes at a terrible price. As things quickly spiral out of his control, his own demons take hold, with devastating personal consequences.

*This audiobook includes a downloadable PDF that contains a map and the Appendix from the book.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio. 

©2021 Hanya Yanagihara (P)2021 Random House Audio

What the critics say

"One of the year's best books.... Driven by Yanagihara's gorgeously complete imaginary ethnography on the one hand and, on the other, by her brilliantly detestable narrator, this debut novel is compelling on every level - morally, aesthetically, and narratively." (Publishers Weekly, starred review)

"[The People in the Trees] is exhaustingly inventive and almost defiant in its refusal to offer redemption or solace - but that is arguable one of its virtues. As for Yanagihara, she is a writer to marvel at." (The New York Times Book Review) 

"The People in the Trees is a haunting story of moral absolutes confounded by a seemingly empirical understanding of the merciless caprices of nature.... A standout novel, a debut as thrilling as it is disturbing." (The Wall Street Journal

What listeners say about The People in the Trees

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had to stop listening

it was impossible for me to become interested in the plot, or any of the characters, in this story. absolutely nothing is compelling me to continue listening to this dry and pointless story about uninteresting people.

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Incredible Performances of a Masterpiece

Hanya Yanagihara’s first novel is an amazing work. Right away she lets us know that we’re viewing this story through the clouded glasses of an unreliable narrator. This makes the book’s examination of ethically dubious situations even more interesting, as the reader has to read between the lines of the protagonist’s corrupt morals. The performers do an incredible job with this material, and I couldn’t stop listening to their engaging reading. I fully recommend this to people who loved “A Little Life.”

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