{"id":9564,"date":"2018-01-11T14:45:27","date_gmt":"2018-01-11T19:45:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=9564"},"modified":"2021-06-05T10:05:20","modified_gmt":"2021-06-05T14:05:20","slug":"sudden-mischief","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9564","title":{"rendered":"Sudden Mischief, Audio Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sudden Mischief<\/a><\/em> (1998) Robert B Parker<\/a> narration mangled by William Windom <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>In case the above didn’t clarify, that was terrible.<\/p>\n

The narration was so bad that if I wasn’t stubborn I’d have stopped listening after the first chapter. However, I was already reading a couple other books, and since I was walking when I started listening, I was already a couple chapters in before I could stop.<\/p>\n

It was so bad that I took an extra walk, just so I could finish listening to the stupid thing.<\/p>\n

Possibly should have stopped, even if the extra walk was nice.<\/p>\n

What was so terrible? The narrator frequently sounded like he was out of breath. He didn’t stumble over names the way David Dukes did, but I don’t think he read everything quite right either.<\/p>\n

But the worst part is what Spenser books are about 90% dialog. When you can’t tell which character is which, that dialog can rapidly become confusing. Consider this passage:<\/p>\n

\u201cOr maybe we can discuss this with him when he\u2019s not surrounded by the palace guard,\u201d I said. \u201cWhich would be when?\u201d \u201cAh, there\u2019s the rub,\u201d I said. \u201cHe must get laid,\u201d Hawk said. \u201cHaskell?\u201d I said. \u201cWho the hell would come across for Haskell.\u201d \u201cHe got a wife?\u201d Hawk said. \u201cSame answer as above,\u201d I said. \u201cYeah, you probably right. Probably buys it.\u201d \u201cA professional woman,\u201d I said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That’s kinda how he read the dialog, which meant that the I saids and he saids were muddy and didn’t help that much when it was run together like a single paragraph said by a single speaker.<\/p>\n

Of course, this is not one of my favorite Spenser books. It’s primarily about Susan and her ex-husband, and Susan’s issues. I like that Susan gets to work things out, but… she just irritates me.<\/p>\n

Despite that, there was a good deal of commentary on life etc.<\/p>\n

About halfway through the beer three black men came in together and sat in a booth near the door. None of them looked at us. <\/p>\n

\u201cTall skinny kid with slick hair? Came in with the other two brothers? Name is Ty-Bop Tatum. He\u2019s Tony\u2019s shooter.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cTy-Bop?\u201d I said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhat happens when you got thirteen-year-old girls naming babies,\u201d Hawk said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Interestingly, the other part of this story is about sexual harassment. It would have been more difficult to read, except that it quickly became clear that the story wasn’t really about Susan’s ex being sued for sexual harassment. So there was not too much of how women are generally treated by men–although we did get a quick visit with Rachel Wallace, which was nice.<\/p>\n

\u201cOkay,\u201d I said. \u201cYou happen to have a working definition of sexual harassment around?\u201d <\/p>\n

Rachel Wallace spoke without inflection like a kid saying the pledge to the flag. \u201cIn Massachusetts,\u201d she said, \u201csexual harassment means sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when: (a) submission to or rejection of such advances, requests, or conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of employment or as a basis for employment decisions.\u201d She took in a big stage breath, let it out, drank some martini, and went on. \u201cOr (b) such advances, requests, or conduct have the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual\u2019s work performance by creating an intimidating, hostile, humiliating, or sexually offensive work environment.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s the law?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s it in Massachusetts.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd you can recite it from memory.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not just another pretty face,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cWell,\u201d I said, \u201cthe legislators are clearly a bunch of pickle puss spoilsports.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cYes,\u201d she said. \u201cI understand the Iron Maiden is illegal here too.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Of course there is no reference to hold old Spenser is at this point. I mean, they’re just taunting you at this point.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow long have we been together?\u201d I said. <\/p>\n

\u201cRoughly since the beginning of time,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n

\u201cOr longer,\u201d I said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

So: narration was horrific. Story was about Susan and her ex. But, the mystery was good.<\/p>\n

Publisher: Phoenix Books<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sudden Mischief (1998) Robert B Parker narration mangled by William Windom In case the above didn’t clarify, that was terrible. The narration was so bad that if I wasn’t stubborn I’d have stopped listening after the first chapter. However, I was already reading a couple other books, and since I was walking when I started […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[37,8,43,41],"tags":[106,107],"class_list":["post-9564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-audio-book","category-mystery","category-private-eye","category-reread","tag-robert-b-parker","tag-spenser"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-2ug","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3909,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/3909","url_meta":{"origin":9564,"position":0},"title":"Small Vices (Audio)","author":"Michelle","date":"July 15, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Small Vices (2002) written Robert B. Parker narrated by Burt Reynolds This audio book was my first exposure to Robert B. Parker. I was doing mind-numbingly dull lab work, and audio books kept me from losing my mind, so I was willing to try almost anything. I fell in love\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Comfort Read"","block_context":{"text":"Comfort Read","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/reread\/comfort-read"},"img":{"alt_text":"Small Vices","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/small-vices-200x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9665,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9665","url_meta":{"origin":9564,"position":1},"title":"Hugger Mugger, Audio Edition","author":"Michelle","date":"February 2, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Hugger Mugger (2000) Robert B Parker narrated by Joe Mantegna Walter Clive has hired Spenser to come down to Georgia to see who has been shooting his horses. What Spenser finds makes no sense: there is no rhyme or reason to the shootings, and the in-house security has seen nothing.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio Book"","block_context":{"text":"Audio Book","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/audio-book"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/Spenser-Hugger-Mugger.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":4936,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/4936","url_meta":{"origin":9564,"position":2},"title":"Whispers Under Ground, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"November 21, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Whispers Under Ground Audible version (2012\/2012) Ben Aaronovitch narrated by Kobna Holdbrook-Smith I am enjoying listening to this series so much. I tore through all the available books when I first came across the series, and have been waiting impatiently for the next book in the series, but the narration\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "10\/10"","block_context":{"text":"10\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/10-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/11\/Whispers-Under-Ground.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":12695,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12695","url_meta":{"origin":9564,"position":3},"title":"Small Vices, Audio Edition","author":"Michelle","date":"April 2, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Small Vices, Audio Edition (1997) Robert B. Parker narrated by Burt Reynolds It's been more than two decades, so this review is going to be completely full of spoilers, because I want to talk about the many reasons why I love this book so very much. So if you haven't\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "10\/10"","block_context":{"text":"10\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/10-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Small Vices","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/07\/small-vices.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9042,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9042","url_meta":{"origin":9564,"position":4},"title":"The Judas Goat, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"April 18, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The Judas Goat, Audible Version (1978) Robert B. Parker narrated by Michael Prichard Spenser has been hired by Hugh Dixon, a millionaire whose family was killed in a bombing in London. Hugh Dixon wants the terrorists caught or killed, and he'll pay Spenser a bounty for each kill or capture.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio Book"","block_context":{"text":"Audio Book","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/audio-book"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/Spenser-Judas-Goat.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":9408,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/9408","url_meta":{"origin":9564,"position":5},"title":"Pastime, Audio Book","author":"Michelle","date":"November 7, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Pastime, Audio Version (1991\/1992) Robert B. Parker narrated by David Dukes I thought Michael Prichard was a weak narrator for this series. In contrast to David Dukes, he was marvelous. I had to listen to multiple words and names mispronounced (including acorn and Vinnie Morris) which was awful, but not\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio Book"","block_context":{"text":"Audio Book","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/audio-book"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Spenser-Pastime.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9564"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9564\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}