Brewster’s Millions

By: George Barr McCutcheon

Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot

Length: 5 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's summary

Would you be able to spend a million dollars in cash and leave yourself penniless if it meant you would then be given many more millions? That’s poor Monty Brewster’s dilemma in this charming tale.

Just as poor Monty Brewster, twice heir to a fortune, is beginning to adjust to his cold and distant grandfather’s “paltry” million-dollar bequest, an even more mysterious benefactor emerges offering to leave him some “real” wealth. All he has to do is be penniless at nine o’clock on the morning of his 26th birthday. It seems like an easy task, but Monty discovers that it is no simple matter to divest oneself of a million dollars, especially as the bank insists on paying him $19,607.84 in interest per day. And what can you do when each ridiculous “sure-loss” suddenly skyrockets when you invest in it? Money seems to flow in faster than a person can throw it overboard. And then there are Peggy and Barbara; how are they going to react to each attempt to squander a fortune? Can Monty keep the girl while losing the money?

First published in 1902 under the pseudonym Richard P. Greaves, Brewster’s Millions was one of George Barr McCutcheon’s most successful titles. The prolific author was noted for his ability to write page-turners, full of vivid characters and with an attention to detail. There have, in fact, been six movie versions of this one book, most recently starring Richard Pryor and John Candy. That is vivid testament to a great story well told.

Public Domain (P)2010 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Absolutely Delightful!!

I could hardly wait to get home to enter my review. This book is delightful. I was entertained all the way through til the end. Imagining the challenge had been mine, during my free time, I found myself thinking how I might have dealt with the same dilemmas. It's no secret why this was made into a movie. I surely would like to see a remake, but next time, in the era of the book. I will read this again; it was so entertaining.

poor Narration

I thought having a known actor narrate would be great. but from the first chapter, even at 90% speed, the non dialogue reading was so quick that I barely kept up. Dialogue voices are good, but basic narration/prose is monotone and too fast.

Surprisingly Clever!

This book was such a surprise, I enjoyed Monty’s journey to dispose of a million bucks and find true love. Just great!

amazing book

This book is absolutely nothing like the movie it is a million times better it is without a doubt one of the best books I am listen to in a very long time the twist at the end is truly unexpected you will not regret listening to this tale

Good book, great narration

A bit dated (especially on race) but fascinating and enjoyable. Pinchot shines as narrator. Bravo!

Excellent

Excellent story!
Excellent reading!
Highly recommend!
I think the word requirement for a review is an unfortunate expectation.

A fun and exciting romp

A cute and fun story with more depth than the movie with the same name. It was enjoyable and couldn't stop listening.

The voice actor was spot on for the male voices, but it was very jarring when he did his falsetto voice for female characters.

Great story, but audio is ridiculously quick.

Been wanting to read this since seeing Brewster's Millions in the 80s. It is really good, even if it is dated. Such an original idea, albeit with echoes of Around the World in 80 Days. I live in St Augustine, so I really liked the reference to convalescing here. Amazing to think this was written back when the Ponce De Leon was still a thriving Gilded Age hotel.

As some have said, the performance is way too fast. I had to play this at 0.9, otherwise it was difficult to follow.

Great story, wonderful narration!

Bronson gives a wonderful performance and until I came across it here, I thought it was just a great comedy film staring Richard Pryor! 🤣
While this story is quite a bit different from the movie adaptation, it's a fantastic listen and keeps interestingthe whole way through!

Reading Speed Too Fast

While this story was good, I felt the ready of it was too fast for my liking.