Book description
On a White Night in 2019, prima ballerina Natalia Leonova returns to St. Petersburg two years after a devastating accident that stalled her career. Once the most celebrated dancer of her generation, she now turns to pills and alcohol to numb the pain of her past. She is unmoored in her old city as the ghosts of her former life begin to resurface: her loving but difficult mother, her absentee father, and the two gifted dancers who led to her downfall. One of those dancers, Alexander, is the love of her life, who transformed both Natalia and her art. The other is Dmitri, a dark and treacherous genius. When the latter offers her a chance to return to the stage in her signature role, Natalia must decide whether she can again face the people responsible for both her soaring highs and darkest hours. Painting a vivid portrait of the Russian ballet world, where cutthroat ambition, ever-shifting politics, and sublime artistry collide, City of Night Birds unveils the making of a dancer with both profound intimacy and breathtaking scope. Mysterious and alluring, passionate and virtuosic, Juhea Kim's second novel is an affecting meditation on love, forgiveness, and the making of an artist in a turbulent world.Review“Riveting. . . . Kim weaves in plot threads involving the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the tabloid press, and celebrity parties, as well as complications related to various expressions of sexual desire to show that no form of art can exist separately from the complexity of life. . . . Another brilliant page-turner from Kim . . . .Written in sumptuous prose, Kim’s novel is a feast for the senses.” -Kirkus Reviews ★ (starred review) "Shimmering, seductive characters dance across the pages of City of Night Birds, immersing you in the world of a prima ballerina fulfilling her most beautiful and terrible ambitions. In this absorbing and passionate novel, Juhea Kim writes with fierce emotional intelligence about the darkness and desire that drive art and love, asking, What does it take to live a life beyond your wildest dreams?" -Meng Jin, author of Self-Portrait with Ghost and Little Gods "An ecstatic künstlerroman—meticulously researched, brutally frank, and deliciously glamorous, City of Night Birds enraptures as thoroughly as the ballerina at its beating heart. The artistry possessed by this novel’s sublimely gifted heroine is rivaled only by that of her author. Brava, Juhea Kim!" -Rachel Lyon, author of Fruit of the Dead and Self-Portrait with Boy “A beautifully crafted must read. City of Night Birds is a book that lingers long after the final pages have come and gone.” -Jason Mott, National Book Award-winning author of Hell of a BookAbout the AuthorJuhea Kim is the author of the novel Beasts of a Little Land, which was a finalist for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize and winner of the Yasnaya Polyana Literary Award, Russia's largest annual prize in literature. Beasts of a Little Land has been published around the world and is being adapted into a TV series. Kim is a graduate of Princeton University. Her writing has been published in Granta, the Times Literary Supplement, the Independent, Zyzzyva, Guernica, and other outlets. Born in Korea and raised in Portland, Oregon, Kim now lives in London.
The China Wall
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Playing a wide variety of audio formats
Works on all devices with iOS 13 and newer
Huge amount of features for a small price
Frequent updates to add new features and improve existing ones
Advanced playback controls
Live sound processing
Changing the timbre of the reader's voice and noise reduction
Translated into more than 20 languages
If you love listening to fiction audiobooks, ListenBook has features to make the process easier.
Edit book data: title, author, cover
Use equalizer to make the sound comfortable for you
Adjust the playback speed
Enjoy dark and light app themes
Supported formats: MP3, M4B, AWB, FLAC, OGG audio files and many more (must be DRM free)
Auto-Bookmarks make it easy to find your place
AirPlay support allows redirection of audio output.
VoiceOver support
Dark mode for night owls
Convenient bookmarking system helps you mark the most important places.
Unlimited bookmarks for each audiobook
Put your own cover on the wager
Share your audiobook with friends
Lock-screen control
Customise app with extensive options
Sleep timer with shake to reset, set custom notification sounds, and a few unique options
Auto rewind depending on paused time, customize rewind times to your liking
Removing background noise from recordings made in classrooms and meetings
Changing the timbre of the reader's voice for a better listening experience