Mr. McCaslin

by Peter S. Beagle, LeVar Burton (Narrator)

Neighborhood kids help a curmudgeonly old man with a family curse. This story appears in The Essential Peter S. Beagle: Volume 2.

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Audiobook, Fiction

1 pages, Audiobook

First published May 16, 2023

About the author

Peter Soyer Beagle (born April 20, 1939) is an American fantasist and author of novels, nonfiction, and screenplays. He is also a talented guitarist and folk singer. He wrote his first novel, A Fine and Private Place , when he was only 19 years old. Today he is best known as the author of The Last Unicorn, which routinely polls as one of the top ten fantasy novels of all time, and at least two of his other books (A Fine and Private Place and I See By My Outfit) are considered modern classics.

Reviews

[Chrysten McNiel · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐“But when we left that apartments, we knew it was a done deal.”
**mild content spoilers**

♡ LBR 2023 ♡

I am so, SO happy to plug in with these stories again on LeVar Burton Reads. I took a couple years to get my associate, and I can’t begin to express how difficult it was to find a free half hour in a day. I’m out of the woods, at least for a little while, and when I saw the new season update, my heart skipped a beat. Feels like a homecoming, and here I am, late to the party.

Last Unicorn changed my brain chemistry. Made me a better person and writer. I absolutely loved seeing Beagle attached to LBR, once again, we’re gifted with two legends in tandem. We’re so lucky to have this. It was so eerie, but weirdly believable? There are some people who tell you about seeing a ghost, and you believe they definitely saw something beyond their current understandings and explanations. Then there are others who tell a story like this, and you believe the story and can’t get it out of your head. And was this even meant to be autobiographical or just a cool story? The fact that I can’t remember speaks to the gravity of the prose.

Thanks for reading and if you wanna chat about the latest LBR episodes, come join us at the LeVar Burton Reads Official Community.

- 📚☕♥
Goodreads Official Star Representation
5 - It was amazing
4 - I really liked it
3 - I liked it
2 - It was okay
1 - Did not like it.

[Jodi Galland · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short story by Peter S Beagle (Last Unicorn). Xav needed a short story to listen to for class tomorrow and it had to be audio since we were out and about. Some Lit Life folks made a lot of great recommendations, but I went with the Lavar Burton Reads podcast. I was scrolling episodes and PSB caught my eye. I’m so glad to have listened to this because I wasn’t too hot on the last PSB I read. It is a beautiful story and well told. It almost seems autobiographical because it is told by PSB in the first person and includes his childhood friends in the story.

Awareness: supernatural, but not scary.

[Jess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr. McCaslin by Peter S. Beagle, heard on LeVar Burton Reads

[Jennifer Zeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

How three boys became unlikely heroes to keep death at bay for home to get his affairs in order.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sure, I'll take a terrier when my time comes. There's always something bittersweet about Beagle's tails ... er, I mean, tales. Narrated by LaVar Burton.

[Katherine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beagle is so good at creating a setting, in this case his childhood neighborhood, and populating it with the magical. Really great little story.

[Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

A trio of 11 year-old boys help an elderly neighbor by holding off a physical incarnation of death.