De Niro's Game (Standard format, CD, Unabridged edition)

Winner of the IMPAC, one of the biggest library prizes in the world, this is a moving story about two young men coming of age in war-torn Beirut; one obsessed with leaving, the other who amasses power in the underworld and lives a life of violence. Their friendship is tested until finally their paths collide, explosively and tragically. Bassam and George are childhood best friends who have grown up on the Christian side of war-torn Beirut. Now on the verge of adulthood, they must choose their futures: to remain in the exhausted, corrupt city of their birth, or to go into exile abroad, cut off from the only existence they have known. Bassam chooses one path - obsessed with leaving Beirut, he embarks on a series of petty crimes to fund his escape to the West. Meanwhile, George amasses power in the underworld of the city, embracing a life of military service, organised crime, killing, and drugs. Their two paths inevitably collide, with explosive consequences. De Niro's Game is a devastating, timely portrait of two young men and an entire city formed and deformed by war. This recording is unabridged. Typically abridged audiobooks are not more than 60 per cent of the author's work and as low as 30 per cent with characters and plot lines removed.