The Death of Bunny Munro: A Novel [Audiobook, CD, Unabridged] [Audio CD]

Nick Cave (Author, Reader)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1, 2009

Twenty years after the publication of his first novel, And the Ass Saw the Angel, Nick Cave brings us the final days of Bunny Munro, a salesman in search of a soul.

Set adrift by his wife’s suicide and struggling to keep some sort of grasp on reality, Bunny Munro drives off in his yellow Fiat Punto, Bunny Jr. in tow. To his son, waiting patiently in the car while he peddles beauty wares and quickies to lonely housewives in the south of England, Bunny is a hero, larger than life. But Bunny himself seems to have only a dim awareness of his son’s existence, viewing his needs as a distraction from the relentless pursuit of sex, alcohol, and drugs.

When his bizarre road trip shades into a final reckoning, Bunny realizes that the revenants of his world—decrepit fathers, vengeful ghosts, jealous husbands, and horned psycho-killers—lurk in the shadows, waiting to exact their toll.

At turns dark and humane—and with all the mystery and enigma fans will recognize as Cave’s singular vision—The Death of Bunny Munro questions the nature of sin and redemption, and lays bare the imprints that fathers leave on their sons.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The protagonist of Cave's pleasantly demented second novel, set in England, is living out a porno: door-to-door lotion salesman Bunny Munro spends his days seducing invariably attractive women, servicing both their sexual and moisturizing needs. His wife's suicide, though, threatens to derail Bunny's amorous adventures, as he can't shake the feeling that he might somehow be responsible. Another new obstacle is the need to look after his nine-year-old son, Bunny Jr. In an effort to escape the creepiness of the apartment he shared with his wife, Bunny takes his son on the road, teaching him the ropes of salesmanship. Meanwhile, a man in red face paint and plastic devil horns accosts women in northern England before a murderous turn sends him journeying south. Bunny's deterioration from swaggering Lothario to sputtering pity case suggests he is carrying around more guilt than he cares to admit, and his obsessive behavior, while a bit of a stretch, allows for an interesting portrait of modern family dynamics. Cave's bawdy humor, along with a gallows whimsy that will be familiar to fans of his music, elevate the novel from what might otherwise be a one-note adventure. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Review

“Put Cormac McCarthy, Franz Kafka and Benny Hill together in a Brighton seaside guesthouse and they might just come up with Bunny Munro. As it stands, though, this novel emerges emphatically as the work of one of the great cross-genre storytellers of our age: a compulsive read possessing all of Nick Cave’s trademark horror and humanity, often thinly disguised in a galloping, playful romp.” —Irvine Welsh, author of Trainspotting

“[Nick Cave] stands as one of the great writers on love of our era.” —Will Self, author of The Book of Dave

“Nick Cave will obviously live forever, just because the devil’s scared of him. Ever since he stomped out of the junkyard with the Birthday Party, Cave has walked tall in the role of Lucifer’s rock-and-roll boyfriend.” —Rob Sheffield, Rolling Stone

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Audio CD
• Publisher: Macmillan Audio; Unabridged edition (September 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1427208034
• ISBN-13: 978-1427208033
• Product Dimensions: 5.9 x 5.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,214,775 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The squeamishly prude need not apply, December 10, 2009

By 

K. Madison "Partygrapher" (Indianapolis, Indiana) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Death of Bunny Munro: A Novel (Audio CD)

This is the first time for me listening to a Nick Cave novel. Crude, nasty, immoral character Bunny Munro is a hoot. And I thought I was bad. This man will screw anything with two legs and a slit that will look at him. Thank goodness this is a fictitious novel. Anyway, If you have time to waste to listen for a few hours how a door to door salesmans life goes to pot because of bad habits and a lack of respect for women then this is the one for you. I bought this because of the review that the music was good. Well, if you are doing it for the music as I did, buy a CD instead.

1 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Yes!!!, September 8, 2009

By 

Allison L. Rich "Alysoun" (Rhode Island, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Death of Bunny Munro: A Novel (Audio CD)

I am hoping that the audio book read by Nick Cave with music by him and Warren Ellis will convince him to record the whole of
his first book And the Ass Saw the Angel in audio format. That novel begs to be read out loud by THE MAN himself.
I have seen excerpts on the Bunny Munro site and I can't wait to hear it in full.
It's going to be glorious.

Thank you, Mr. Cave.
Now please don't let 27 years elapse between your second and your third books!!

3 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A very boring and bad bukowski ripp off The End Of Bunny cave, November 7, 2009

By 

cannibalhippy "happy hap hap" (happy hap hap) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Death of Bunny Munro: A Novel (Audio CD)

I m very dissapointed.;I know and seen Nick cave from his first Birthday Party concerts.;Right up to..(The overrated Grinderman)Even live..Put any Birhday party show next to any later Nick cave Show..same movements on stage.;same voice..Pretty fun for a few spins..But any of you still play Grinderman? Me no.;Birthday party yes.;old Bad seeds yes..Now.;Its justfun to hear his clever use of The english language.
Now the Book..It starts of promising.;Nick is reading.;And.. after 30 minutes his terrible aussie accent + his reading..wat seems especially for his son.
Is just boring...He writes lots of arty farty details that aint necessary..Oh and all the time he talks about snatch and foking every women he meets cause of course they are always up for it.
The only interesting and sinister feature is the devilmask killer..who appears.. in a few sentences.
For me it fel like Nick cave wrote this book for his son..For when he is older..
He should not have published this..rubbish.
Ok I didnt finish it.;even listening for free its just too..Bad Bukowsky..pretending to be intelligent
Buy the book..then you can at least do something usefull with the pages..(Make paper airplanes?Toilet?)
+This is a rip off
If nick cave the young one would see himself now.;He would Have selfdestructed with the Birthday Party..
Bad book.. And I was very much looking forward too it!
The End of BUNNY CAVE?