I Sold The Moon! (A True Story)
Barry McArdle’s new book will be posted live on Podiobooks.com on October 8th. Be sure to check it out!
Just because it happened, doesn’t mean you’ll believe it.
Take a rollicking ride through the 1970s with the original Moon Man, Barry McArdle, a silver-suited street performer and comic philosopher who spent ten years crisscrossing America selling lunar real estate (transportation not provided). As told by the author, I Sold the Moon! explores how a young man, fresh out of college, could get the idea that he could claim the moon, and then sell it. Exactly what drugs was he on? Well??..
Moon Man’s adventures are paralleled throughout by a more earthly concern his romance with a young woman as adventurous as he, in the turbulent days of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. The story of this “first love” is threaded from the opening chapter until the final page. I Sold The Moon! is for anyone who believes in following their dreams and searching for true love. It’s cosmic, perceptive, passionate and fun. Mostly fun. Hear it here from the one, the only, the original Moon Man.
October 16th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
Episode 4 (chapters 8-9) cuts out before the end.
November 5th, 2007 at 12:49 pm
Sorry for the problem the cut out (at the end of Chapter
has been fixed… thanks for letting me know.
December 13th, 2007 at 9:56 am
Can’t find episode 8. Episode 9 won’t download.
December 15th, 2007 at 6:07 pm
Barry B - The problem has been resolved. 8 and 9 should be fine now. Sorry for the delay.
December 17th, 2007 at 5:53 pm
I love the story so far, but Episode 9 is giving me a 404 error. Where do I send the Paypal payment for a moon acre?
Ken
December 18th, 2007 at 3:42 am
I’m still unable to download episode 9 - Itunes does not recognize it.
December 18th, 2007 at 2:47 pm
Sorry the issue on #9, folks. We’ve had a little trouble with that “!” in the title making it through to file names. Seems it happened here as well. It’s been fixed, and we hope it doesn’t make a repeat performance for the remaining episodes.
E.
January 22nd, 2008 at 11:25 am
Oh my god!
There was a woman here in ontario who ran this hustle in the mid 90’s and made millians of dollars selling moon acres out of the offices of her web design company. Then she left the country in a huge rush and there is probably still a warrant for her arrest here. Have fun with the book. I will probably check it out soon.
February 13th, 2008 at 7:46 am
Great story, the narration was entertaining and comical. I like that there was a love story entwined that wrapped everything up into a nice package.
March 13th, 2008 at 6:28 am
Wonderful book though. I Loved it!!!
March 20th, 2008 at 2:26 am
Oh, my! My grandmother gave me a gift of lunar land some 30 or 35 years ago. I wonder if she got it from you! She and I shared a love of the universe and science-fiction, so she no doubt thought gifting me a piece of the moon was fitting. I’m not sure what I did with the certificate, however. After listening to this podiobook, I’m even more sorry I can’t find it though I don’t think I quite appreciated the novelty of it when it was presented to me. I’m quite certain it would now fall into that coveted “collector” category.
While I completely enjoyed listening to the story of how the idea of the moon acres came into being and its progress, including the love story. HOWEVER, I found the blow by blow of the author’s romantic conquests tedious after a time. I think it was quite egotistical and the graphic details did NOTHING to add to the story. It would have been sufficient to have simply pointed out that the overnight train trip was “mutually satisfying.” Bill Clinton and the author clearly define sex in the same way (hint: sex is not just about coitus).
Other than that nit, I really enjoyed the story and loved the humor. It’s good to hear the moon acres are back, but I have to wonder what they cost today.
Overall, good job. The narration was great. Potential listeners need to be warned that some aspects of the story are for adults only (graphic sexual detail and vulgar language).
July 9th, 2008 at 11:54 pm
I am only halfway through this book, but I am enjoying it immensely. It does what all good memoir does: it approaches its subject with a personal sort of intimacy, but leavens what might easily become an egotistic excercise with some amount of distance. Here, we see the author probing his experience, trying to find form and meaning within it. He does it with humor and honesty and, every now and again, an appropriate dose of self-deprecation. Having just finished espisode six, that seems as true of his seeking to grow as a sexual entity as it does in learning how best to sell acres of property on the moon.
I particularly enjoy the author’s ability to describe the people in his life. I feel, after listening, that I know them. The reader gets a detailed sense of the people that surround him: his family, friends, and lovers. And, though the chapter regarding his stint as a waiter was relatively short, I know well the family that owns the restaurant. I want to meet that family, but suppose that seeking out the lobster house would be much akin to trying to locate Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon.
Certainly, the promise of the first half of the book excites me enough to listen to the second half.