Sample

Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.

The Road

By: Cormac McCarthy
Narrated by: Tom Stechschulte
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $17.19

Buy for $17.19

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Pulitzer Prize, Fiction, 2007

America is a barren landscape of smoldering ashes, devoid of life except for those people still struggling to scratch out some type of existence. Amidst this destruction, a father and his young son walk, always toward the coast, but with no real understanding that circumstances will improve once they arrive. Still, they persevere, and their relationship comes to represent goodness in a world of utter devastation.

Bleak but brilliant, with glimmers of hope and humor, The Road is a stunning allegory and perhaps Cormac McCarthy's finest novel to date. This remarkable departure from his previous works has been hailed by Kirkus Reviews as a "novel of horrific beauty, where death is the only truth".

McCarthy, a New York Times best-selling author, is a past recipient of the National Book Award and National Book Critics Circle Award. He is widely considered one of America's greatest writers.

©2006 M-71, Ltd. (P)2006 Recorded Books LLC

Critic reviews

"McCarthy's prose retains its ability to seduce...and there are nods to the gentler aspects of the human spirit." (The New Yorker)
"One of McCarthy's best novels, probably his most moving and perhaps his most personal...Every moment of The Road is rich with dilemmas that are as shattering as they are unspoken...McCarthy is so accomplished that the reader senses the mysterious and intuitive changes between father and son that can't be articulated, let alone dramatized...Both lyric and savage, both desperate and transcendent, although transcendence is singed around the edges...Tag McCarthy one of the four or five great American novelists of his generation." (Los Angeles Times Book Review)

Editorial Review

I hadn't cried in years before I heard this book. Cormac McCarthy's vocabulary is truly unparalleled, but you can tell he spends even more time crafting his characters and their stories than he does with words—which is really saying something.Michael D., Audible Editor

What listeners say about The Road

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    13,122
  • 4 Stars
    5,669
  • 3 Stars
    2,306
  • 2 Stars
    819
  • 1 Stars
    500
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    12,208
  • 4 Stars
    3,588
  • 3 Stars
    1,189
  • 2 Stars
    276
  • 1 Stars
    181
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    10,724
  • 4 Stars
    3,927
  • 3 Stars
    1,750
  • 2 Stars
    619
  • 1 Stars
    435

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Dark and beautifully intense!

Every father must discipline himself to give this kind of total loving commitment to his son(s). Every son deserves it... no matter what.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The Road Is Deep and oh so Heartfelt

This story will always have a special place in my heart... absolutely recommend read. the audio is also phenomenal.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Haunting

This book really got to me. I finished it very quickly and was left wanting more. That being said, it is an emotional read. I would recommend it, and I plan to read it again someday.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Painful and moving

Dystopian is the right label for this disturbing story and yet it is a beautiful story of a fathers love and sacrifice.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Mha heart. Mah sole.

Story isn’t one for too much dialogue since it’s mostly between a very young boy and his dad trying to survive a post apocalyptic hells cape, but it hits very hard.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

So beautiful. Tom Stetschulte is incredible!

What a beautiful book. And a masterful narration, so nuanced and dynamic, without ever going over the top, totally in service to the tone and poetry of the novel. An essential audiobook!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful!

I like apocalyptic stories, and this one did not disappoint. Everything was outstanding from the actual story to the narration.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Loved this so much

The poetry of life: struggles, relief, heartbreak, joy, fear, truth. I loved this so very much.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

A great read!

I loved this book! The story was riveting. The narrator was great and had a wonderful voice for each character. Definitely a new favorite for me.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Bleak but utterly engrossing

Nothing much really happens. This isnt an action story, more a snapshot of aworld.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!