• The Slave Dancer

  • By: Paula Fox
  • Narrated by: Peter MacNicol
  • Length: 3 hrs and 56 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (68 ratings)

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The Slave Dancer  By  cover art

The Slave Dancer

By: Paula Fox
Narrated by: Peter MacNicol
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Publisher's summary

Jessie Bollier often played his fife to earn a few pennies down by the New Orleans docks. One afternoon a sailor asked him to pipe a tune, and that evening Jessie was kidnapped and dumped aboard The Moonlight, a slave ship, where a hateful duty awaited him. He was to play music so the slaves could "dance" to keep their muscles strong, their bodies profitable. Jessie was sickened by the thought of taking part in the business of trading rum and tobacco for blacks and then selling the ones who survived the frightful sea voyage from Africa. But to the men of the ship a "slave dancer" was necessary to ensure their share of the profit. They did not heed the horrors that every day grew more vivid, more inescapable to Jessie. Yet , even after four months of fear, calculated torture, and hazardous sailing with a degraded crew, Jessie was to face a final horror that would stay with him for the rest of his life.

©2008 Paula Fox (P)2008 Listening Library

What listeners say about The Slave Dancer

Average customer ratings
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  • 4 out of 5 stars
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Beautiful

The story was amazing and I loved the person speaking it. I really felt the connection❤️

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Entertaining tale

Well written and well read but the music was distracting and annoying. Good story overall.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Read this story as a child.

Listening to it now has been a true pleasure and I am glad I was able to reconnect with this book in a whole new way.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Just amazing evokes raw emotions

I’ve loved this book since childhood. It puts a narrative on how poorly slaves were treated. It shows the worst and best in humanity. Worth a listen at any age!

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A black time in history

A great story of growing up in a perilous time and culture and trying to deal with inhuman situations. At times horrid, but over all a soaring triumph of human spirit. Very poetically told.

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1 person found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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Excellent

Excellent reading that provided family entertainment with important history lesson. Engaging performance with only two minor issues. The background music was great for affect but it was too loud, overpowering and drowning out the narrator, making it difficult to hear. The only other issue was it skipped 2 pages (117-118)..

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

Ripoff

Only got 4 chapters.Story wasn't over but it ended.Cussing made it worse.Please help me.Btw I like turtles.

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