Listen to a sample
Matador
- Author
- Barnaby Conrad
- Narrator
- Barnaby Conrad
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Publish Date
- 25 June 2005
- Run Time
- 5 hours 15 minutes
- Format
- Audiobook
What to expect
It is the morning of Pacote’s last fight, the finale of one of the greatest careers in Spain. The posters are up, the great black bulls are waiting, and a heavy air of expectancy hangs over the city. Pacote, alone in his dressing room, feels the heavy ball of fear pressing against his heart. For he knows that he has been falling off, that he will be unable to face the bulls this day, that he will disgrace himself before the young upstart who is fighting with him and before the crowd that has immortalized him too soon. And there is a woman … the woman.
From the moment the gate is opened and the first bull enters the ring, you are there in the stands with the screaming crowd, at the ringside with the sweating sword handlers and the banderilleros, and in the lonely emptiness at the center of the arena with only a red cape and a slender sword.
Critics Review
-
“My favorite novel of the year.”
John Steinbeck
-
“An authentic and enormously exciting novel.”
New York Times
-
“[A] short, taut novel…It is a story composed almost entirely of peaks and highlights. It is from this concentration that the novel derives its drive and energy.”
Los Angeles Times
-
“[Conrad] knows the bullring inside out, as well as if not better than…Ernest Hemingway….[Matador] is a tale of high courage, throbbing with excitement. A book that no one can possibly put down until he has turned the last page.”
Book-of-the-Month Club News
See more reviews See fewer reviews
-
“Hemingway has given us, supremely, the drama and poetry of the bullfight from the observer’s viewpoint…in Conrad’s extraordinary study of the psychology of fear…the bullfighter is seen as the human behind the public idol…persuasive and contagious…A tour de force, successfully carried through.”
Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
User Reviews
No reviews yet.
Details
- Author
- Barnaby Conrad
- Narrator
- Barnaby Conrad
- Duration
- 5 hours 15 minutes
- Release Date
- 25 June 2005
- ISBN
- 9781481549110
- Format
- Audiobook
- Publisher
- Blackstone Publishing
- Genre
- Fiction: general and literary, Classic fiction, Historical fiction
Synopsis
It is the morning of Pacote’s last fight, the finale of one of the greatest careers in Spain. The posters are up, the great black bulls are waiting, and a heavy air of expectancy hangs over the city. Pacote, alone in his dressing room, feels the heavy ball of fear pressing against his heart. For he knows that he has been falling off, that he will be unable to face the bulls this day, that he will disgrace himself before the young upstart who is fighting with him and before the crowd that has immortalized him too soon. And there is a woman … the woman.From the moment the gate is opened and the first bull enters the ring, you are there in the stands with the screaming crowd, at the ringside with the sweating sword handlers and the banderilleros, and in the lonely emptiness at the center of the arena with only a red cape and a slender sword.
About xigxag
xigxag is an independent, UK-based audiobook platform and the UK's only B Corp certified audiobook company. We offer nearly 150,000 audiobooks, all with professional human narration. No AI-generated voices. xigxag is rated an Ethical Consumer Best Buy for audiobooks and a top-rated ethical bookshop.
There is no subscription. You buy the audiobooks you want, you own them permanently, and prices start at $13.95. The more you listen over the year, the less you pay per book, and there is always a selection in Listen for Less from $7.95. You can also send audiobooks as gifts using our audiobook gift cards or in-app gifting.
Every audiobook on xigxag has honest reviews covering both the book and the narration, and our community features make it easy to share what you are listening to, discover what others recommend, and find your next listen.
Download or stream on iOS, Android, or in your browser. Browse the full catalogue at xigxag.co.uk.