Our score
Excellent
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The White Boy Shuffle Audiobook by Paul Beatty— narrated by Prentice Onayemi
Paul Beatty's debut is a fast, furious satire about Gunnar Kaufman, a Black surfer kid transplanted from Santa Monica to West LA who accidentally becomes basketball star and reluctant messiah.
Why the audiobook wins
Beatty came out of the poetry slam scene before he wrote novels, and The White Boy Shuffle is built out of that: riffs, run-ons, jokes that land three clauses after you expected them. Prentice Onayemi reads it at the speed the prose demands, which is fast, and the satire finally has the timing it was written with.
That matters more here than in most novels. Beatty's comedy works by stacking absurdities until one of them turns out to be serious, and a reader's eye tends to slow down and pick the sentence apart. Onayemi does not let you, so Gunnar's slide from Santa Monica surfer kid to basketball star to reluctant messiah arrives as one uninterrupted argument.
Eight and a half hours from the author who later took the Booker for The Sellout. One Audible credit covers it.
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Audiobook questions
- Who narrates the The White Boy Shuffle audiobook?
- Prentice Onayemi narrates the audiobook edition of The White Boy Shuffle.
- How long is the The White Boy Shuffle audiobook?
- The audiobook runs 8 hr 30 min.
- Is the The White Boy Shuffle audiobook worth listening to?
- We scored The White Boy Shuffle 4.4 out of 5. Beatty came out of the poetry slam scene before he wrote novels, and The White Boy Shuffle is built out of that: riffs, run-ons, jokes that land three clauses after you expected them. Prentice Onayemi reads it at the speed the prose demands, which is fast, and the satire finally…
- Can I listen to The White Boy Shuffle free with an Audible trial?
- Eligible new Audible members can use a free-trial credit to listen in the Audible app. Eligibility and current offer terms are set by Audible.Listen to The White Boy Shuffle free with an Audible trial
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- Is The White Boy Shuffle on Kindle Unlimited?
- No. The White Boy Shuffle was not included with Kindle Unlimited when we last checked on July 20, 2026.
- How much does The White Boy Shuffle cost?
- On Amazon: Kindle $11.99, Paperback $10.99, Hardcover $19.01. Prices as of August 21, 2026 at 2:21 AM EDT and may change.
