Fat City

Leonard Gardner

May 2016 · Tantor Media Inc · Narrated by R. C. Bray

About this audiobook

Fat City is a vivid novel of defiance and struggle, of the potent promise of the good life and the desperation and drink that waylay those whom it eludes. Stockton, California, is the novel's setting: the Lido Gym, the Hotel Coma, Main Street's lunchrooms and dark bars offer a temporary respite to the men and women whose backbreaking work in the fields barely allows them to make a living. When two men meet in the gym-the ex-boxer Billy Tully and the novice Ernie Munger-their brief sparring session sets into motion their hidden fates, initiating young Munger into the "company of men" and luring Tully back into training. Fat City tells of their anxieties and hopes, their loves and losses, and the stubborn determination of their manager, Ruben Luna, who knows that even the most promising kid is likely to fall prey to some weakness. Then again, "There was always someone who wanted to fight."

About the author

Leonard Gardner was born in Stockton, California. His short stories and articles have appeared in the Paris Review, Esquire, and Brick, among other magazines. An award-winning screenwriter for film and television, he twice received a Humanitas Prize as well as a Peabody Award for his work on the series NYPD Blue.

R. C. Bray is an Audie and AudioFile Earphones Award-winning narrator. An accomplished producer and voice-over artist, his voice can be heard in countless TV and radio commercials. He lives in New England with his wife and three children.