Alligator Candy: A Memoir
Written by David Kushner
Narrated by Bronson Pinchot
4/5
()
About this audiobook
David Kushner grew up in the early 1970s in the Florida suburbs. It was when kids still ran free, riding bikes and disappearing into the nearby woods for hours at a time. One morning in 1973, however, everything changed. David’s older brother Jon biked through the forest to the convenience store for candy, and never returned.
Every life has a defining moment, a single act that charts the course we take and determines who we become. For Kushner, it was Jon’s disappearance—a tragedy that shocked his family and the community at large. Decades later, now a grown man with kids of his own, Kushner found himself unsatisfied with his own memories and decided to revisit the episode a different way: through the eyes of a reporter. His investigation brought him back to the places and people he once knew and slowly made him realize just how much his past had affected his present. After sifting through hundreds of documents and reports, conducting dozens of interviews, and poring over numerous firsthand accounts, he has produced a powerful and inspiring story of loss, perseverance, and memory. Alligator Candy is searing and unforgettable.
David Kushner
A contributing editor of Rolling Stone, David Kushner also writes for publications including The New Yorker, Vanity Fair, Wired, The New York Times Magazine, New York, GQ, and Esquire. Kushner served as the digital culture commentator for National Public Radio’s Weekend Edition Sunday, and has taught journalism at Princeton University and New York University. He has been featured in The Best Business Writing, The Best American Crime Reporting, and The Best Travel Writing, and his ebook The Bones of Marianna: A Reform School, a Terrible Secret, and a Hundred-Year Fight for Justice. His books include The Players Ball; Alligator Candy: A Memoir (an NPR Best Book of the Year); Jacked: The Outlaw Story of Grand Theft Auto; Levittown: Two Families, One Tycoon, and the Fight for Civil Rights in America’s Legendary Suburb; Jonny Magic and the Card Shark Kids: How a Gang of Geeks Beat the Odds and Stormed Las Vegas; and Masters of Doom: How Two Guys Created an Empire and Transformed Pop Culture.
More audiobooks from David Kushner
The Players Ball: A Genius, a Con Man, and the Secret History of the Internet's Rise Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The World's Most Dangerous Geek: And More True Hacking Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Jonny Magic and the Card Shark Kids: How a Gang of Geeks Beat the Odds and Stormed Las Vegas Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Today's Authors Series: A Q&A with David Kushner and Jon "Jonny Magic" Finkel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsPrepare to Meet Thy Doom: And More True Gaming Stories Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Related to Alligator Candy
Related audiobooks
Dark Days, Bright Nights: Surviving the Las Vegas Storm Drains Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsFear No Evil Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Adventurer's Son: A Memoir Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dirty John and Other True Stories of Outlaws and Outsiders Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Filthy Beasts Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Run, Brother, Run: A Memoir of a Murder in My Family Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Man Who Played with Fire: Stieg Larsson's Lost Files and the Hunt for an Assassin Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5To the Bridge: A True Story of Motherhood and Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The North Country Murder of Irene Izak: Stained by Her Blood Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Finders Keepers: The Story of a Man who found $1 Million Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Foundling: The True Story of a Kidnapping, a Family Secret, and My Search for the Real Me Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Golden Boy: A Murder Among the Manhattan Elite Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Playing Dead: A Journey Through the World of Death Fraud Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hell Motel: 8 Months at an Economy Hotel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blind Faith Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Vanished at Sea: The True Story of a Child TV Actor and Double Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blood and Money Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Alone: Orphaned on the Ocean Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Brother the Killer: A Family Story Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Hot One: A Memoir of Friendship, Sex, and Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Breaking Blue Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Little Shoes: The Sensational Depression-Era Murders That Became My Family's Secret Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5And the Sea Will Tell Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5My Brother Jason: The untold story of Jason Corbett's life and brutal murder by Tom and Molly Martens Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5True Story tie-in edtion: Murder, Memoir, Mea Culpa Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Missing, Presumed Dead: The double murder case that shocked Australia Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5So Brilliantly Clever: Parker, Hulme and the Murder that Shocked the World Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Love and Death in the Sunshine State: The Story of a Crime Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Reviews for Alligator Candy
17 ratings3 reviews
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5A well-written and obviously heartfelt memoir revolving around the dynamics of grief and the processing of childhood trauma, with entire sections, unfortunately, made near-insufferable by Bronson Pinchot's over-the-top emotive delivery. To me, Pinchot's overly dramatic approach does the material a disservice at crucial points in the narrative, which is lamentable, as he is quite pleasant to listen to in the parts where he doesn't overdo it.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This was the most emotionally difficult book I have ever read. So sad but something more than that. I hope you can or have found the strength to enjoy the joy of your children even as they find their own independence. Peace to you and your family.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Excellent read! As a parent of young kids in this overscheduled society this book reminded me that we still need to live!