Butcher’s Crossing (by John Williams)

BUTCHER’S CROSSING by John Williams (unabridged) is presented by Blackstone Audio and comes with what is perhaps the best audiobook app available (see FEATURES, below).

One of the finest books about the elusive nature of the West ever written...Its a graceful and brutal story of isolated men gone haywire. (Time Out New York)

n his National Book Award-winning novel Augustus, John Williams uncovered the secrets of ancient Rome. With Butchers Crossing, his fiercely intelligent, beautifully written western, Williams dismantles the myths of modern America.

Self-contained, this audiobook app is perfect for your commute, on a trip, or while relaxing. Based on a library-quality recording, this app was built especially for your iPhone and iPod Touch. No unreadable text, no endless scrolling on a tiny screen. The audio is of higher-than-normal quality, making for a great listening experience that will not tire your ears or grate on your nerves.

NOTICE: This app includes the exact same 5-star recording offered elsewhere at much higher prices. It was professionally recorded by Blackstone Audio’s celebrated narrator, Anthony Heald. You are not buying yet another amateur or volunteer narration. No clicks, background noises, throat clearing, mispronunciations, tinny voices or monotones will be found here.

Harsh and relentless yet muted in tone, Butcher’s Crossing paved the way for Cormac McCarthy. It was perhaps the first and best revisionist western. (New York Times Book Review)


•EXPERIENCE. About 10.5 hours of narration. Created as a Folium enhancedAudio™ edition, this book includes extra functions and features not found on lesser players.

•PLAYER CONTROLS. Includes listen (play), pause, multi-speed fast forward/reverse, jump ahead/back, chapter skip, volume control, one-touch chapter- and bookmark browser. There is also a “scrub” bar that finds any point inside the chapter with just a tap.

•SLEEP TIMER. Have you ever fallen asleep watching TV or listening to a book? If so, youll love this feature. Once set, the book will stop, place a bookmark, and allow you to jump back to where you probably began dozing.

•CLEAR & ELEGANT DESIGN. Simple, clean, intuitive, and smarter than average.

•CHAPTER TIMINGS. Always know how much time it will take to finish a chapter. Plus, the progress bar at the top of the screen shows how far into the book you’ve come.

•OFFLINE LISTENING. You are airplane-ready! Once downloaded, listen uninterrupted without threat from a lost network connection. Downloads are usually just 5-10 minutes, but depend upon your network speed.

•AUTO-BOOKMARKING. The player remembers where you stopped listening and returns to that exact spot when you open the book again.

•TELL-A-FRIEND. An easy way to recommend the book to your friends or Twitter feed.

•FEEDBACK. Share your ideas for books, functions, and features. We are very responsive to our listeners and appreciate all feedback and ideas.


RATING: Suitable for adults interested in visceral western fiction.

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Will Andrews drops out of Harvard and heads west. He lands in Butchers Crossing, a town full of restless men looking for ways to make, and waste, money. Will befriends one, a man who tells him of buffalo hidden in the Colorado Rockies, and joins in tracking them down. The journey is grueling, but the end is paradisiacal. Once there, the men get so caught up in killing buffalo that they lose all sense of time. Winter overtakes them: they are snowed in. Next spring, half-insane with cabin fever, cold, and hunger, they stagger back to Butchers Crossing to find a world as irremediably changed as they have been.