Magnificent Vibration

July 28, 2014
On the verge of committing suicide, Horatio Cotton finds God’s phone number in a self-help book entitled Magnificent Vibration and proceeds to call the “S.O.B.” (Supreme Omnipotent Being). The decision sends him on an adventure that involves him confronting his boss, getting over his extremely unfaithful ex-wife, meeting the Loch Ness monster, falling in love, and deciding whether or not to destroy mankind. Springfield does an excellent job with narrating in a distinct voice that isn’t perfectly clear, but that fits well with the book’s overall tone. He provides rich singular voices for his main characters and a great narrative voice that keeps listeners engaged throughout this comedic tale. On rare occasions, sound effects add color the story (a phone ringing and a contorted voice of God on the phone), but these scarce occasions seem out of place with the rest of the production. A Touchstone hardcover.

Starred review from March 15, 2014
Horatio Cotton has been questioning a lot of things lately. After finding out that his wife has been cheating on him with not one, not two, but a veritable Rolodex of strangers, Horatio steals a self-help book to figure out how to rebuild his life. He doesn't expect the 1-800 number scrawled on the inside front cover to be God's personal line, and he certainly doesn't expect to meet up with two other people who have purchased the same book, with the same phone number and the same results. This seemingly benign book was obviously meant to bring Horatio, Alice, and Lexington together, and they set out on a journey that just might answer all of their questions . . . and then some. Musician Springfield, no stranger to the literary world after penning his highly-touted memoir, Late, Late at Night (2010), branches into fiction with this novel. With shades of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (1979) and the clever, self-deprecating wit of Augusten Burroughs and Max Barry, Springfield's highly original work is the rare antidote to the celebrity ghostwritten books often found on today's best-seller lists. Captivating, poignant, and hilarious, Magnificent Vibration proves that some of the most interesting stories can come from pretty unlikely places.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)