Agatha Christie: An Autobiography

By: Agatha Christie

Narrated by: Agatha Christie

Length: 1 hr and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

Back in print in an all-new edition is the engaging and illuminating chronicle of the life of the "Queen of Mystery". Fans of Hercule Poirot and Miss Marple and readers of John Curran’s fascinating biographies Agatha Christie’s Secret Notebooks and Murder in the Making will be spellbound by the compelling, authoritative account of one of the world’s most influential and fascinating novelists, told in her own words and inimitable style - and here in her own voice. These audio excerpts were dictated by Agatha Christie herself.

The New York Times Book Review called Christie’s autobiography a "joyful adventure," saying, "she brings the sense of wonder... to her extraordinary career."

Please note: This is a historical recording, and the audio quality is reflective of the time in which it was recorded.

©1977 Agatha Christie Limited (P)2010 Agatha Christie Archive Trust

wonderful

it was great to hear from the author herself as she walks us through the years of her life

A rare treat

I so very much enjoyed listening to my favorite authoress talk about her life, career and character/story inspirations in her own voice. What a treat!

Charming!

What made the experience of listening to Agatha Christie: An Autobiography the most enjoyable?

It was in her own voice, a little hard at the onset as the quality is current to the time it was (tape) recorded, but really charming once it started to flow. It really takes one back in time to what it was like to be her and get a peek into her perspective on life. (I'd recommend listening on headphones, the car might be difficult to hear well.)

Which character – as performed by Agatha Christie – was your favorite?

Herself!

Any additional comments?

It helps to have read her memoir of archaelogical digging with her husband, "Come, Tell me how you Lived", which is fantastic and only 1.99 on Amazon for Kindle. This reading is also an extract from her longer autobiograhpy.

Poor audio quality, but worth a listen

A great insight into Agatha Christie's career. It's so interesting hearing the story from her the author herself. The audio was recorded over 40 years ago, so it's not very good quality. This is the kind of book that you need to pay attention to. But it's only an hour long and free, so it's definitely worth a listen.

Enjoyable.

Where does Agatha Christie: An Autobiography rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Somewhere in the middle. I really enjoyed hearing her tell about her writing process and the characters she created. I was also interested in her reminiscences about her early career where she was paid 60 pounds per story and calculated her taxes and what it left to spend. She planned household projects around how many stories she would have to write to pay for them.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Agatha Christie: An Autobiography?

When she described her writer's block and how she got through it with the help of her husband.

What does Agatha Christie bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Hearing the voice of this marvelous woman talk about her life.

Listening to Agatha Christie telling her own stori

Even though this was not the most technically advance recording, listening to Agatha Christie telling her stories is priceless!

Spellbound

Listening to Agatha Christie's biography was such a great treat. She will forever be my favorite mystery writer.

Truth in Advertising. Please!!

This title would have been far better received if the description had explained clearly what it contains. That is to say that it contains audio snippets from the dictaphone recordings that Christie made in the process of writing her 1977 autobiography and is NOT a recording of the published book, which is 147 pages long and thus much longer than the 79 minutes of this recording. If you are expecting a recording of the published book, this is not it. Sadly, the published book is not available on audio.

As for the content of the recording, I will have to return to it on a day when I have the patience to sit for an hour or so, straining my my aging ears to listen to what I know will be a fascinating listen to an accomplished author discussing her craft and her process.

AG is by far the BEST mystery writer of all time.

I am grateful she was so prolific and such brilliant author. Considering her incredible talent, it is amazing that she remained rather modest throughout her life.

Fascinating!

It was difficult to listen to while trying to accomplish housework, due to the old recording, but it was forgivable as I could not imagine hearing this autobiography in anyone else's voice. What a fascinating, encouraging, interesting, and down-to-earth account. I enjoyed it immensely, and felt like I was sitting down in a conference or to tea listening to Agatha Christie share her life, experience, and journey to creating. I think I would have deeply enjoyed knowing her personally.