Souls for Sale


Read by Deanna Bovee

(4.1 stars; 7 reviews)

Perhaps the most commercially successful Hollywood novel of the 1920s, Rupert Hughes' Souls for Sale is a direct response to contemporaneous charges of the film industry's moral laxities and predilections toward vice. Remember "Mem" Steddon, the pious and steadfast daughter of a religious firebrand who preaches about the sins of Hollywood, is forced to migrate to the west coast after discovering that she's become pregnant out of wedlock. On her journey, Mem runs into the inhabitants of a movie colony and soon befriends many of these delightful (if somewhat peculiar) "film folk." She finds temporary employment as a film extra and soon develops aspirations to become a star herself. But Mem soon discovers that Hollywood is a far different place than she had originally imagined and that the road to film stardom is not straightforward or easy to navigate. This novel was the basis for the popular 1923 film adaptation, which starred an up-and-coming Eleanor Boardman and was directed by Rupert Hughes himself. (Summary by ChuckW) (14 hr 13 min)

Chapters

Chapter I 18:39 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter II 7:51 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter III 19:31 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter IV 12:39 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter V 17:16 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter VI 23:08 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter VII 21:33 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter VIII 21:18 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter IX 6:02 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter X 11:44 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XI 13:05 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XII 5:44 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XIII 3:37 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XIV 18:08 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XV 14:42 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XVI 12:31 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XVII 28:54 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XVIII 7:22 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XIX 26:11 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XX 7:27 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XXI 11:15 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XXII 19:54 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XXIII 7:56 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XXIV 13:35 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XXV 22:52 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XXVI 9:02 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XXVII 13:36 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XXVIII 28:52 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XXIX 18:45 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XXX 26:02 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XXXI 10:25 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XXXII 12:22 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XXXIII 9:44 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XXXIV 18:37 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XXXV 9:37 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XXXVI 13:23 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XXXVII 13:20 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XXXVIII 21:01 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XXXIX 7:06 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XL 18:30 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XLI 2:59 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XLII 5:24 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XLIII 6:53 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XLIV 9:11 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XLV 10:02 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XLVI 15:40 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XLVII 16:24 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XLVIII 17:06 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter XLIX 9:58 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter L 10:08 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter LI 7:46 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter LII 19:18 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter LIII 5:38 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter LIV 5:17 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter LV 21:00 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter LVI 15:01 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter LVII 21:19 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter LVIII 14:52 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter LIX 13:29 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter LX 11:12 Read by Deanna Bovee
Chapter LXI 11:53 Read by Deanna Bovee

Reviews

Aimless Ramble Through 20s Hollywood


(3 stars)

Although the title promises scandal in Arbuckle-era Hollywood, this turns out to be a rather plotless tale of a girl who leaves home to have an inconvenient child, but instead becomes a Hollywood star after falling off a cliff to lose the inconvenient child. There are some good insider descriptions of how Hollywood worked back then, but the sheer aimlessness of the story makes this a dullish listen. It's no surprise that the author, who directed the movie based on the book, changed the plot significantly. A good reader helps elevate this to 3-stars. The book is only worth two.