-
How to Write an Autobiographical Novel
- Essays
- Narrated by: Daniel K. Isaac
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
How to Write an Autobiographical Novel
Buy for $15.56
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Edinburgh
- By: Alexander Chee
- Narrated by: Daniel K. Isaac, Josh Hurley
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 218
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 193
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 193
Twelve-year-old Fee is a shy Korean American boy and a newly named section leader of the first sopranos in his local boys' choir. But when Fee learns how the director treats his section leaders, he is so ashamed he says nothing of the abuse, not even when Peter, his best friend, is in line to be next. When the director is arrested, Fee tries to forgive himself for his silence. But when Peter takes his own life, Fee blames only himself.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Oof, right in the feels
- By Snoz the Cat on 07-14-21
By: Alexander Chee
-
Body Work
- The Radical Power of Personal Narrative
- By: Melissa Febos
- Narrated by: Melissa Febos
- Length: 3 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 102
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 87
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 86
In this bold and exhilarating mix of memoir and master class, Melissa Febos tackles the emotional, psychological, and physical work of writing intimately while offering an utterly fresh examination of the storyteller's life and the questions which run through it.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A must!!!
- By Karen S. on 02-13-23
By: Melissa Febos
-
The Best American Essays 2022
- By: Alexander Chee
- Narrated by: Robert Atwan, Iva-Marie Palmer, Ewan Chung, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 17
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 15
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 15
Alexander Chee, an essayist of “virtuosity and power” (Washington Post), selects twenty essays out of thousands that represent the best examples of the form published the previous year.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent writing and essays; disappointing narration
- By M.S. on 09-28-23
By: Alexander Chee
-
Stay True
- A Memoir
- By: Hua Hsu
- Narrated by: Hua Hsu
- Length: 5 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 442
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 378
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 377
In the eyes of eighteen-year-old Hua Hsu, the problem with Ken—with his passion for Dave Matthews, Abercrombie & Fitch, and his fraternity—is that he is exactly like everyone else. Ken, whose Japanese American family has been in the United States for generations, is mainstream; for Hua, the son of Taiwanese immigrants, who makes ’zines and haunts Bay Area record shops, Ken represents all that he defines himself in opposition to. The only thing Hua and Ken have in common is that, however they engage with it, American culture doesn’t seem to have a place for either of them.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
At the end, this book is about friendships
- By rosalinda lam on 10-31-22
By: Hua Hsu
-
On Writing
- A Memoir of the Craft
- By: Stephen King
- Narrated by: Stephen King, Joe Hill, Owen King
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 14,980
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 12,325
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 12,221
“Long live the King” hailed Entertainment Weekly upon publication of Stephen King’s On Writing. Part memoir, part master class by one of the bestselling authors of all time, this superb volume is a revealing and practical view of the writer’s craft, comprising the basic tools of the trade every writer must have. King’s advice is grounded in his vivid memories from childhood through his emergence as a writer, from his struggling early career to his widely reported, near-fatal accident in 1999—and how the inextricable link between writing and living spurred his recovery.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Who needs a print edition when King reads King?
- By Cather on 11-18-05
By: Stephen King
-
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
- A Novel
- By: Ocean Vuong
- Narrated by: Ocean Vuong
- Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,325
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,854
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,834
Poet Ocean Vuong’s debut novel is a shattering portrait of a family, a first love, and the redemptive power of storytelling. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late 20s, the letter unearths a family’s history that began before he was born - a history whose epicenter is rooted in Vietnam - and serves as a doorway into parts of his life his mother has never known, all of it leading to an unforgettable revelation.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Beautifully written, but painful.
- By NB on 06-10-19
By: Ocean Vuong
-
Edinburgh
- By: Alexander Chee
- Narrated by: Daniel K. Isaac, Josh Hurley
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 218
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 193
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 193
Twelve-year-old Fee is a shy Korean American boy and a newly named section leader of the first sopranos in his local boys' choir. But when Fee learns how the director treats his section leaders, he is so ashamed he says nothing of the abuse, not even when Peter, his best friend, is in line to be next. When the director is arrested, Fee tries to forgive himself for his silence. But when Peter takes his own life, Fee blames only himself.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Oof, right in the feels
- By Snoz the Cat on 07-14-21
By: Alexander Chee
-
Body Work
- The Radical Power of Personal Narrative
- By: Melissa Febos
- Narrated by: Melissa Febos
- Length: 3 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 102
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 87
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 86
In this bold and exhilarating mix of memoir and master class, Melissa Febos tackles the emotional, psychological, and physical work of writing intimately while offering an utterly fresh examination of the storyteller's life and the questions which run through it.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A must!!!
- By Karen S. on 02-13-23
By: Melissa Febos
-
The Best American Essays 2022
- By: Alexander Chee
- Narrated by: Robert Atwan, Iva-Marie Palmer, Ewan Chung, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 17
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 15
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 15
Alexander Chee, an essayist of “virtuosity and power” (Washington Post), selects twenty essays out of thousands that represent the best examples of the form published the previous year.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Excellent writing and essays; disappointing narration
- By M.S. on 09-28-23
By: Alexander Chee
-
Stay True
- A Memoir
- By: Hua Hsu
- Narrated by: Hua Hsu
- Length: 5 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 442
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 378
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 377
In the eyes of eighteen-year-old Hua Hsu, the problem with Ken—with his passion for Dave Matthews, Abercrombie & Fitch, and his fraternity—is that he is exactly like everyone else. Ken, whose Japanese American family has been in the United States for generations, is mainstream; for Hua, the son of Taiwanese immigrants, who makes ’zines and haunts Bay Area record shops, Ken represents all that he defines himself in opposition to. The only thing Hua and Ken have in common is that, however they engage with it, American culture doesn’t seem to have a place for either of them.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
At the end, this book is about friendships
- By rosalinda lam on 10-31-22
By: Hua Hsu
-
On Writing
- A Memoir of the Craft
- By: Stephen King
- Narrated by: Stephen King, Joe Hill, Owen King
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 14,980
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 12,325
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 12,221
“Long live the King” hailed Entertainment Weekly upon publication of Stephen King’s On Writing. Part memoir, part master class by one of the bestselling authors of all time, this superb volume is a revealing and practical view of the writer’s craft, comprising the basic tools of the trade every writer must have. King’s advice is grounded in his vivid memories from childhood through his emergence as a writer, from his struggling early career to his widely reported, near-fatal accident in 1999—and how the inextricable link between writing and living spurred his recovery.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Who needs a print edition when King reads King?
- By Cather on 11-18-05
By: Stephen King
-
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
- A Novel
- By: Ocean Vuong
- Narrated by: Ocean Vuong
- Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,325
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,854
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,834
Poet Ocean Vuong’s debut novel is a shattering portrait of a family, a first love, and the redemptive power of storytelling. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late 20s, the letter unearths a family’s history that began before he was born - a history whose epicenter is rooted in Vietnam - and serves as a doorway into parts of his life his mother has never known, all of it leading to an unforgettable revelation.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Beautifully written, but painful.
- By NB on 06-10-19
By: Ocean Vuong
-
Homer Box Set: Iliad & Odyssey
- By: Homer, W. H. D. Rouse - translator
- Narrated by: Anthony Heald
- Length: 25 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,951
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,668
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,661
Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey are unquestionably two of the greatest epic masterpieces in Western literature. Though more than 2,700 years old, their stories of brave heroics, capricious gods, and towering human emotions are vividly timeless. The Iliad can justly be called the world’s greatest war epic. The terrible and long-drawn-out siege of Troy remains one of the classic campaigns. The Odyssey chronicles the many trials and adventures Odysseus must pass through on his long journey home from the Trojan wars to his beloved wife.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Oddball Translation
- By Joel Jenkins on 05-11-17
By: Homer, and others
-
Black Friend
- Essays
- By: Ziwe
- Narrated by: Ziwe
- Length: 4 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 209
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 192
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 192
Ziwe made a name for herself by asking guests like Alyssa Milano, Fran Lebowitz, and Chet Hanks direct questions. In Black Friend, she turns her incisive perspective on both herself and the culture at large. Throughout the book, Ziwe combines pop-culture commentary and personal stories that grapple with her own (mis)understanding of identity. From a hilarious case of mistaken identity via a jumbotron to a terrifying fight-or-flight encounter in the woods, Ziwe raises difficult questions for comedic relief.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Something for everyone
- By Happy on 10-21-23
By: Ziwe
-
Cleanness
- By: Garth Greenwell
- Narrated by: Garth Greenwell
- Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 220
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 180
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 178
Sofia, Bulgaria, a landlocked city in southern Europe, stirs with hope and impending upheaval. Soviet buildings crumble, wind scatters sand from the far south, and political protesters flood the streets with song. In this atmosphere of disquiet, an American teacher navigates a life transformed by the discovery and loss of love. As he prepares to leave the place he's come to call home, he grapples with the intimate encounters that have marked his years abroad, each bearing uncanny reminders of his past.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Great narrator.
- By Michael Payne on 03-08-20
By: Garth Greenwell
-
The Art of Memoir
- By: Mary Karr
- Narrated by: Mary Karr
- Length: 7 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 703
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 600
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 584
Anchored by excerpts from her favorite memoirs and anecdotes from fellow writers' experience, The Art of Memoir lays bare Karr's own process. (Plus all those inside stories about how she dealt with family and friends get told - and the dark spaces in her own skull probed in depth.)
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Brilliant!
- By A. Potter on 01-18-16
By: Mary Karr
-
Opinions
- A Decade of Arguments, Criticism, and Minding Other People’s Business
- By: Roxane Gay
- Narrated by: Roxane Gay
- Length: 9 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 29
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 26
Since the publication of the groundbreaking Bad Feminist and Hunger, Roxane Gay has continued to tackle big issues embroiling society—state-sponsored violence and mass shootings, women’s rights post-Dobbs, online disinformation, and the limits of empathy—alongside more individually personalized matters: can I tell my co-worker her perfume makes me sneeze? Is it acceptable to schedule a daily 8 am meeting? In her role as a New York Times opinion section contributor and the publication’s “Work Friend” columnist, she reaches millions of readers with her wise voice and sharp insights.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
High expectations were surpassed, as expected
- By SageHolla on 03-16-24
By: Roxane Gay
-
Craft in the Real World
- Rethinking Fiction Writing and Workshopping
- By: Matthew Salesses
- Narrated by: Matthew Salesses
- Length: 5 hrs and 56 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 35
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 34
The traditional writing workshop was established with white male writers in mind; what we call craft is informed by their cultural values. In this bold and original examination of elements of writing - including plot, character, conflict, structure, and believability - and aspects of workshop - including the silenced writer and the imagined reader - Matthew Salesses asks questions to invigorate these familiar concepts. He upends Western notions of how a story must progress.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Very informative read for writers!
- By J on 11-25-22
By: Matthew Salesses
-
Intimations
- Six Essays
- By: Zadie Smith
- Narrated by: Zadie Smith
- Length: 1 hr and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 386
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 325
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 324
Written during the early months of lockdown, Intimations explores ideas and questions prompted by an unprecedented situation. What does it mean to submit to a new reality - or to resist it? How do we compare relative sufferings? What is the relationship between time and work? In our isolation, what do other people mean to us? How do we think about them? What is the ratio of contempt to compassion in a crisis? When an unfamiliar world arrives, what does it reveal about the world that came before it?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An eye-opener for me into our inequitable systems
- By Rashida L on 07-29-20
By: Zadie Smith
-
Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant
- A Memoir
- By: Curtis Chin
- Narrated by: Curtis Chin
- Length: 8 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 29
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 29
Nineteen eighties Detroit was a volatile place to live, but above the fray stood a safe haven: Chung’s Cantonese Cuisine, where anyone—from the city’s first Black mayor to the local drag queens, from a big-time Hollywood star to elderly Jewish couples—could sit down for a warm, home-cooked meal. Here was where, beneath a bright-red awning and surrounded by his multigenerational family, filmmaker and activist Curtis Chin came of age; where he learned to embrace his identity as a gay ABC, or American-born Chinese.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fun and enlightening read.
- By Amazon Customer on 11-13-23
By: Curtis Chin
-
This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage
- By: Ann Patchett
- Narrated by: Ann Patchett
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,683
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,504
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,487
Blending literature and memoir, Ann Patchett, author of State of Wonder and Bel Canto examines her deepest commitments: to writing, family, friends, dogs, books, and her husband in This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage. Together, these essays, previously published in The Atlantic, Harper, Vogue, and The Washington Post, form a resonant portrait of a life lived with loyalty and with love.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Entertaining, engrossing, and elucidative essays
- By Bonny on 01-07-14
By: Ann Patchett
-
Shantaram
- A Novel
- By: Gregory David Roberts
- Narrated by: Humphrey Bower
- Length: 42 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 10,792
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 9,838
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 9,809
An escaped convict with a false passport, Lin flees maximum security prison in Australia for the teeming streets of Bombay, where he can disappear. Accompanied by his guide and faithful friend, Prabaker, the two enter the city’s hidden society of beggars and gangsters, prostitutes and holy men, soldiers and actors, and Indians and exiles from other countries, who seek in this remarkable place what they cannot find elsewhere.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Probably the best performance I've listened to.
- By Mickey on 04-15-14
-
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
- By: V. E. Schwab
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 17 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 37,040
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 32,987
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 32,872
France, 1714: In a moment of desperation, a young woman makes a Faustian bargain to live forever - and is cursed to be forgotten by everyone she meets. Thus begins the extraordinary life of Addie LaRue, and a dazzling adventure that will play out across centuries and continents, across history and art, as a young woman learns how far she will go to leave her mark on the world. But everything changes when, after nearly 300 years, Addie stumbles across a young man in a hidden bookstore and he remembers her name.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Prose style not to my liking
- By C.V. Cox on 10-18-20
By: V. E. Schwab
-
Love in the Big City
- A Novel
- By: Sang Young Park, Anton Hur - translator
- Narrated by: Daniel K. Isaac
- Length: 5 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 73
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 54
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 54
Young is a cynical yet fun-loving Korean student who pinballs from home to class to the beds of recent Tinder matches. He and Jaehee, his female best friend and roommate, frequent nearby bars where they push away their anxieties about their love lives, families, and money with rounds of soju and ice-cold Marlboro Reds that they keep in their freezer. Yet over time, even Jaehee leaves Young to settle down, leaving him alone to care for his ailing mother and to find companionship in his relationships with a series of men.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Must listen.
- By Barbie Wu on 09-12-22
By: Sang Young Park, and others
Publisher's summary
An essay collection exploring his education as a man, writer, and activist - and how we form our identities in life and in art.
As a novelist, Alexander Chee has been described as "masterful" by Roxane Gay, "incendiary" by the New York Times, and "brilliant" by the Washington Post. With How to Write an Autobiographical Novel, his first collection of nonfiction, he is sure to secure his place as one of the finest essayists of his generation as well.
How to Write an Autobiographical Novel is the author's manifesto on the entangling of life, literature, and politics, and how the lessons learned from a life spent reading and writing fiction have changed him. In these essays, he grows from student to teacher, reader to writer, and reckons with his identities as a son, a gay man, a Korean American, an artist, an activist, a lover, and a friend. He examines some of the most formative experiences of his life and the nation's history, including his father's death, the AIDS crisis, 9/11, the jobs that supported his writing - Tarot-reading, bookselling, cater-waiting for William F. Buckley - the writing of his first novel, Edinburgh, and the election of Donald Trump.
By turns commanding, heartbreaking, and wry, How to Write an Autobiographical Novel asks questions about how we create ourselves in life and in art and how to fight when our dearest truths are under attack.
A BookRiot Pick of Books to Read If You Love "Pose".
An Entertainment Weekly Best Book of the Year (So Far).
A Chicago Review of Books Pick of Best of the Year (So Far).
A Buzzfeed Best Books of the Year (So Far).
A Wired Magazine Pick of Must-Read Summer Titles.
An Esquire Magazine Pick of Best Books of 2018 (So Far).
A Christian Science Monitor selection of 2018's Most Anticipated Books.
A Bustle Pick of Most Anticipated Books of 2018.
A Bitch magazine pick of Most Anticipated Nonfiction for 2018.
A Pop Sugar Pick of Most Anticipated Upcoming Books.
A Paste Magazine Pick of Most Anticipated Books of 2018.
A Publishers Weekly Best Book of 2018.
Featured Article: The Best LGBTQIA+ Listens by Queer Authors
We scoured the big and beautiful LGBTQIA+ canon to present some of our favorite queer-focused listens of all time. Truly great literature can foster a sense of belonging and the feeling of truly being seen. However, listeners on the hunt for the best LGBTQIA+ books out there know that finding stories about gay characters isn’t always easy. So, we’ve put together a series of lists detailing some of the best LGBTQIA+ listens available.
More from the same
Narrator
Related to this topic
-
The Night Ocean
- By: Paul La Farge
- Narrated by: Elisabeth Rodgers
- Length: 13 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 126
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 118
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 117
Marina Willett, MD, has a problem. Her husband, Charlie, has become obsessed with H. P. Lovecraft, in particular with one episode in the legendary horror writer's life: In the summer of 1934, the "old gent" lived for two months with a gay teenage fan named Robert Barlow, at Barlow's family home in central Florida. What were the two of them up to? Were they friends - or something more? Just when Charlie thinks he's solved the puzzle, a new scandal erupts, and he disappears.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Frustratingly Uneven Due to Clumsy Plot Structure
- By Adam on 06-15-17
By: Paul La Farge
-
This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage
- By: Ann Patchett
- Narrated by: Ann Patchett
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,683
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,504
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,487
Blending literature and memoir, Ann Patchett, author of State of Wonder and Bel Canto examines her deepest commitments: to writing, family, friends, dogs, books, and her husband in This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage. Together, these essays, previously published in The Atlantic, Harper, Vogue, and The Washington Post, form a resonant portrait of a life lived with loyalty and with love.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Entertaining, engrossing, and elucidative essays
- By Bonny on 01-07-14
By: Ann Patchett
-
The Last Love Song
- A Biography of Joan Didion
- By: Tracy Daugherty
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 26 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 77
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 65
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 65
Joan Didion lived a life in the public and private eye with her late husband, writer John Gregory Dunne, whom she met while the two were working in New York City, when Didion was at Vogue and Dunne was writing for Time. They became wildly successful writing partners when they moved to Los Angeles and cowrote screenplays and adaptations together. Didion is well known for her literary journalistic style in both fiction and nonfiction.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Riveted for 1591 miles
- By Kaysi12 on 04-11-16
By: Tracy Daugherty
-
City Boy
- My Life in New York During the 1960s and '70s
- By: Edmund White
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 72
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 66
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 67
In the New York of the 1970s, in the wake of Stonewall and in the midst of economic collapse, you might find the likes of Jasper Johns and William Burroughs at the next cocktail party, and you were as likely to be caught arguing Marx at the New York City Ballet as cruising for sex in the warehouses and parked trucks along the Hudson. This is the New York that Edmund White portrays in City Boy: a place of enormous intrigue and artistic tumult.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Pretense upon pretense.
- By Shalin Desai on 06-01-15
By: Edmund White
-
Where the Past Begins
- A Writer's Memoir
- By: Amy Tan
- Narrated by: Amy Tan
- Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 175
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 155
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 151
Moving from her childhood in Oakland and growing up with her Chinese parents through her success as a novelist, Amy Tan delves into her creative interests in music, the paralysis of beginning a new project, journal writing, and travelling. Where the Past Begins chronicles the making of a writer. With characteristic humor and poignant observation, Tan weaves a nontraditional introspective narrative that is as complex and vibrant as this beloved American novelist's fiction.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Narration Issues
- By Sara on 12-14-17
By: Amy Tan
-
The Voice is All
- The Lonely Victory of Jack Kerouac
- By: Joyce Johnson
- Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie
- Length: 16 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 23
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 22
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 22
In The Voice Is All, Joyce Johnson - coauthor of the classic memoir Door Wide Open, about her relationship with Jack Kerouac - brilliantly peels away layers of the Kerouac legend to show how, caught between two cultures and two languages, he forged a voice to contain his dualities. Looking more deeply than previous biographers into how Kerouac's French Canadian background enriched his prose and gave him a unique outsider's vision of America, she tracks his development from boyhood through the phenomenal breakthroughs of 1951 that resulted in the composition of On the Road.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Kerouac's Voice
- By Robert L. Stofel on 09-26-12
By: Joyce Johnson
-
The Night Ocean
- By: Paul La Farge
- Narrated by: Elisabeth Rodgers
- Length: 13 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 126
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 118
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 117
Marina Willett, MD, has a problem. Her husband, Charlie, has become obsessed with H. P. Lovecraft, in particular with one episode in the legendary horror writer's life: In the summer of 1934, the "old gent" lived for two months with a gay teenage fan named Robert Barlow, at Barlow's family home in central Florida. What were the two of them up to? Were they friends - or something more? Just when Charlie thinks he's solved the puzzle, a new scandal erupts, and he disappears.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Frustratingly Uneven Due to Clumsy Plot Structure
- By Adam on 06-15-17
By: Paul La Farge
-
This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage
- By: Ann Patchett
- Narrated by: Ann Patchett
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,683
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,504
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,487
Blending literature and memoir, Ann Patchett, author of State of Wonder and Bel Canto examines her deepest commitments: to writing, family, friends, dogs, books, and her husband in This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage. Together, these essays, previously published in The Atlantic, Harper, Vogue, and The Washington Post, form a resonant portrait of a life lived with loyalty and with love.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Entertaining, engrossing, and elucidative essays
- By Bonny on 01-07-14
By: Ann Patchett
-
The Last Love Song
- A Biography of Joan Didion
- By: Tracy Daugherty
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 26 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 77
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 65
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 65
Joan Didion lived a life in the public and private eye with her late husband, writer John Gregory Dunne, whom she met while the two were working in New York City, when Didion was at Vogue and Dunne was writing for Time. They became wildly successful writing partners when they moved to Los Angeles and cowrote screenplays and adaptations together. Didion is well known for her literary journalistic style in both fiction and nonfiction.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Riveted for 1591 miles
- By Kaysi12 on 04-11-16
By: Tracy Daugherty
-
City Boy
- My Life in New York During the 1960s and '70s
- By: Edmund White
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 9 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 72
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 66
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 67
In the New York of the 1970s, in the wake of Stonewall and in the midst of economic collapse, you might find the likes of Jasper Johns and William Burroughs at the next cocktail party, and you were as likely to be caught arguing Marx at the New York City Ballet as cruising for sex in the warehouses and parked trucks along the Hudson. This is the New York that Edmund White portrays in City Boy: a place of enormous intrigue and artistic tumult.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Pretense upon pretense.
- By Shalin Desai on 06-01-15
By: Edmund White
-
Where the Past Begins
- A Writer's Memoir
- By: Amy Tan
- Narrated by: Amy Tan
- Length: 14 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 175
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 155
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 151
Moving from her childhood in Oakland and growing up with her Chinese parents through her success as a novelist, Amy Tan delves into her creative interests in music, the paralysis of beginning a new project, journal writing, and travelling. Where the Past Begins chronicles the making of a writer. With characteristic humor and poignant observation, Tan weaves a nontraditional introspective narrative that is as complex and vibrant as this beloved American novelist's fiction.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Narration Issues
- By Sara on 12-14-17
By: Amy Tan
-
The Voice is All
- The Lonely Victory of Jack Kerouac
- By: Joyce Johnson
- Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie
- Length: 16 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 23
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 22
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 22
In The Voice Is All, Joyce Johnson - coauthor of the classic memoir Door Wide Open, about her relationship with Jack Kerouac - brilliantly peels away layers of the Kerouac legend to show how, caught between two cultures and two languages, he forged a voice to contain his dualities. Looking more deeply than previous biographers into how Kerouac's French Canadian background enriched his prose and gave him a unique outsider's vision of America, she tracks his development from boyhood through the phenomenal breakthroughs of 1951 that resulted in the composition of On the Road.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Kerouac's Voice
- By Robert L. Stofel on 09-26-12
By: Joyce Johnson
-
The Possessed
- Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them
- By: Elif Batuman
- Narrated by: Elif Batuman
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 69
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 55
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 56
In The Possessed we watch Elif Batuman investigate a possible murder at Tolstoy's ancestral estate. We go with her to Stanford, Switzerland, and St. Petersburg; retrace Pushkin's wanderings in the Caucasus; learn why Old Uzbek has 100 different words for crying; and see an 18th-century ice palace reconstructed on the Neva. Love and the novel, the individual in history, the existential plight of the graduate student: all find their places in The Possessed.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Dear Russian Literary Diary...
- By Darwin8u on 08-29-17
By: Elif Batuman
-
Last Evenings on Earth
- By: Roberto Bolano, Chris Andrews - translator
- Narrated by: David Crommett
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 37
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 30
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 30
The first short-story collection in English by the acclaimed Chilean author Roberto Bolano. Winner of a 2005 PEN Translation Fund Award. "The melancholy folklore of exile", as Roberto Bolano once put it, pervades these 14 haunting stories. Bolano's narrators are usually writers grappling with private (and generally unlucky) quests, who typically speak in the first person, as if giving a deposition, like witnesses to a crime.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Doesn't capture the creepiness of the text
- By andrew ross on 01-07-18
By: Roberto Bolano, and others
-
And So It Goes
- Kurt Vonnegut: A Life
- By: Charles J. Shields
- Narrated by: Fred Berman
- Length: 17 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 79
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 73
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 75
New York Times best-selling author and biographer Charles J. Shields crafts this fascinating portrait of literary icon Kurt Vonnegut. The first authorized biography of the influential American writer, And So It Goes examines Vonnegut’s life, from his childhood to his death in 2007, and explores how the author changed the conversation of American literature.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Probably only for die hard Vonnegut fans
- By Watery M on 12-22-12
-
Reading My Father
- A Memoir
- By: Alexandra Styron
- Narrated by: Alexandra Styron
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 64
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 40
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 38
Alexandra Styron's parents—the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Sophie’s Choice and his political activist wife, Rose—were, for half a century, leading players on the world’s cultural stage. Alexandra was raised under both the halo of her father’s brilliance and the long shadow of his troubled mind. Reading My Father portrays the epic sweep of an American artist’s life. It is also a tale of filial love, beautifully written with humor, compassion, and grace.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
William Styron Ranks...
- By Douglas on 12-22-13
By: Alexandra Styron
-
Gathering Blossoms Under Fire
- The Journals of Alice Walker
- By: Alice Walker, Valerie Boyd - editor
- Narrated by: Aunjanue Ellis, Alice Walker, Janina Edwards
- Length: 22 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 97
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 89
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 87
From National Book Award- and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Alice Walker, and edited by critic and writer Valerie Boyd, comes an unprecedented compilation of Walker’s 50 years of journals drawing an intimate portrait of her development over five decades as an artist, human rights and women’s activist, and intellectual.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A must-read for any creative artist!!
- By amazonluver on 04-30-22
By: Alice Walker, and others
-
The Red-Haired Woman
- A Novel
- By: Orhan Pamuk
- Narrated by: John Lee, Katharine Lee McEwan
- Length: 7 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 86
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 76
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 75
On the outskirts of a town 30 miles from Istanbul, a master well digger and his young apprentice are hired to find water on a barren plain. As they struggle in the summer heat, excavating without luck meter by meter, the two will develop a filial bond neither has known before - not the poor middle-aged bachelor nor the middle-class boy whose father disappeared after being arrested for politically subversive activities. The pair will come to depend on each other and exchange stories reflecting disparate views of the world.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Drags On
- By T. Conrad on 10-25-17
By: Orhan Pamuk
-
Fire in the Belly
- The Life and Times of David Wojnarowicz
- By: Cynthia Carr
- Narrated by: Cynthia Barrett
- Length: 25 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 43
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 38
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 38
David Wojnarowicz was an abused child, a teen runaway who barely finished high school, but he emerged as one of the most important voices of his generation. His circle of East Village artists moved into the national spotlight just as the AIDS plague began its devastating advance, and as right-wing culture warriors reared their heads. Fire in the Belly is the untold story of a polarizing figure at a pivotal moment in American culture - and one of the most highly acclaimed biographies of the year.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Why did they let this person read?
- By Wendell Ricketts on 12-11-18
By: Cynthia Carr
-
Thunder and Lightning
- Cracking Open the Writer's Craft
- By: Natalie Goldberg
- Narrated by: Natalie Goldberg
- Length: 7 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 56
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 45
The challenge we face as writers, Natalie Goldberg says, begins with the process of turning inward and then trying to communicate what we find. From the secret of letting characters and stories "write themselves" to finding mentor sources and responding to criticism to writing's one essential ingredient, which is the mind - here are all-new Zen-based lessons and reflections, refined and proven at Natalie's acclaimed national writers' workshops.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Inspiring
- By StoryDtechtive on 02-11-17
By: Natalie Goldberg
-
Fairyland
- A Memoir of My Father
- By: Alysia Abbott
- Narrated by: Alysia Abbott
- Length: 10 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 117
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 107
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 106
A beautiful, vibrant memoir about growing up motherless in 1970s and 80s San Francisco with an openly gay father. After his wife dies in a car accident, bisexual writer and activist Steve Abbott moves with his two-year-old daughter to San Francisco. There they discover a city in the midst of revolution, bustling with gay men in search of liberation - few of whom are raising a child. Steve throws himself into San Francisco's vibrant cultural scene.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great representation of the time
- By AvidReader22 on 06-07-19
By: Alysia Abbott
-
My Life with Bob
- Flawed Heroine Keeps Book of Books, Plot Ensues
- By: Pamela Paul
- Narrated by: Eileen Stevens, Pamela Paul
- Length: 6 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 66
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 62
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 62
Pamela Paul has kept a single book by her side for 28 years - carried throughout high school and college, hauled from Paris to London to Thailand, from job to job, safely packed away and then carefully removed from apartment to house to its current perch on a shelf over her desk - reliable if frayed, anonymous-looking yet deeply personal. This book has a name: Bob. Bob is Paul's Book of Books, a journal that records every book she's ever read.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An uncanny mirror and a celebration of book love
- By Cherilyn Parsons on 07-28-19
By: Pamela Paul
-
Every Love Story Is a Ghost Story
- A Life of David Foster Wallace
- By: D. T. Max
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 12 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 382
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 341
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 340
David Foster Wallace was the leading literary light of his generation, a man who not only captivated readers with his prose but also mesmerized them with his brilliant mind. In this, the first biography of the writer, D. T. Max sets out to chart Wallace’s tormented, anguished, and often triumphant battle to succeed as a novelist as he fights off depression and addiction to emerge with his masterpiece, Infinite Jest.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Max avoids hagiography or a sycophant's biography
- By Darwin8u on 06-11-13
By: D. T. Max
-
Reading Like a Writer
- By: Francine Prose
- Narrated by: Nanette Savard
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 230
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 147
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 142
In her entertaining and edifying New York Times bestseller, acclaimed author Francine Prose invites you to sit by her side and take a guided tour of the tools and the tricks of the masters and discover why their work has endured. Written with passion, humor, and wisdom, Reading Like a Writer will inspire listeners to return to literature with a fresh eye and an eager heart.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Practical, literate, generous
- By Gare on 04-13-08
By: Francine Prose
People who viewed this also viewed...
-
The Art of Memoir
- By: Mary Karr
- Narrated by: Mary Karr
- Length: 7 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 703
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 600
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 584
Anchored by excerpts from her favorite memoirs and anecdotes from fellow writers' experience, The Art of Memoir lays bare Karr's own process. (Plus all those inside stories about how she dealt with family and friends get told - and the dark spaces in her own skull probed in depth.)
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Brilliant!
- By A. Potter on 01-18-16
By: Mary Karr
-
Start Writing Your Book Today
- A Step-by-Step Plan to Write Your Nonfiction Book, from First Draft to Finished Manuscript
- By: Morgan Gist MacDonald
- Narrated by: Jodi Stapler
- Length: 2 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 195
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 171
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 170
When we’re writing a book, we need inspiration, and we need the “how-to” pieces that we were never taught in school. Start Writing Your Book Today provides both. Over the last 10 years as a writing coach, Morgan has developed a blend of mindset and mechanics to help authors through feeling stuck and into power writing through their books. In this book, Morgan shares her methods with you, so that you can step up and become the writer you know you’re meant to be.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great (almost perfect) instructional book.
- By Yakov Nayerman on 06-06-17
-
Edinburgh
- By: Alexander Chee
- Narrated by: Daniel K. Isaac, Josh Hurley
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 218
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 193
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 193
Twelve-year-old Fee is a shy Korean American boy and a newly named section leader of the first sopranos in his local boys' choir. But when Fee learns how the director treats his section leaders, he is so ashamed he says nothing of the abuse, not even when Peter, his best friend, is in line to be next. When the director is arrested, Fee tries to forgive himself for his silence. But when Peter takes his own life, Fee blames only himself.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Oof, right in the feels
- By Snoz the Cat on 07-14-21
By: Alexander Chee
-
Body Work
- The Radical Power of Personal Narrative
- By: Melissa Febos
- Narrated by: Melissa Febos
- Length: 3 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 102
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 87
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 86
In this bold and exhilarating mix of memoir and master class, Melissa Febos tackles the emotional, psychological, and physical work of writing intimately while offering an utterly fresh examination of the storyteller's life and the questions which run through it.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A must!!!
- By Karen S. on 02-13-23
By: Melissa Febos
-
The Unspoken
- Ashe Cayne, Book 1
- By: Ian K. Smith
- Narrated by: Amir Abdullah
- Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 767
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 702
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 699
After refusing to participate in a police department cover-up involving the death of a young black man, Chicago detective Ashe Cayne is pushed out of the force. But he won’t sit quietly on the sidelines: he’s compelled to fight for justice as a private investigator. When a young woman, Tinsley Gerrigan, goes missing, her wealthy parents from the North Shore hire Cayne to find her. As Cayne looks into her life and past, he uncovers secrets Tinsley’s been hiding from her family. Cayne fears he may never find Tinsley alive.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Too many street details
- By La Smurf on 10-16-20
By: Ian K. Smith
-
The Mothers
- A Novel
- By: Brit Bennett
- Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,842
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,614
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,612
It is the last season of high school life for Nadia Turner, a rebellious, grief-stricken, 17-year-old beauty. Mourning her own mother's recent suicide, she takes up with the local pastor's son. Luke Sheppard is 21, a former football star whose injury has reduced him to waiting tables at a diner. They are young; it's not serious. But the pregnancy that results from this teen romance—and the subsequent cover-up—will have an impact that goes far beyond their youth.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
anti abortion message dampens the enjoyment
- By T on 06-26-19
By: Brit Bennett
-
The Art of Memoir
- By: Mary Karr
- Narrated by: Mary Karr
- Length: 7 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 703
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 600
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 584
Anchored by excerpts from her favorite memoirs and anecdotes from fellow writers' experience, The Art of Memoir lays bare Karr's own process. (Plus all those inside stories about how she dealt with family and friends get told - and the dark spaces in her own skull probed in depth.)
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Brilliant!
- By A. Potter on 01-18-16
By: Mary Karr
-
Start Writing Your Book Today
- A Step-by-Step Plan to Write Your Nonfiction Book, from First Draft to Finished Manuscript
- By: Morgan Gist MacDonald
- Narrated by: Jodi Stapler
- Length: 2 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 195
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 171
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 170
When we’re writing a book, we need inspiration, and we need the “how-to” pieces that we were never taught in school. Start Writing Your Book Today provides both. Over the last 10 years as a writing coach, Morgan has developed a blend of mindset and mechanics to help authors through feeling stuck and into power writing through their books. In this book, Morgan shares her methods with you, so that you can step up and become the writer you know you’re meant to be.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great (almost perfect) instructional book.
- By Yakov Nayerman on 06-06-17
-
Edinburgh
- By: Alexander Chee
- Narrated by: Daniel K. Isaac, Josh Hurley
- Length: 8 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 218
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 193
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 193
Twelve-year-old Fee is a shy Korean American boy and a newly named section leader of the first sopranos in his local boys' choir. But when Fee learns how the director treats his section leaders, he is so ashamed he says nothing of the abuse, not even when Peter, his best friend, is in line to be next. When the director is arrested, Fee tries to forgive himself for his silence. But when Peter takes his own life, Fee blames only himself.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Oof, right in the feels
- By Snoz the Cat on 07-14-21
By: Alexander Chee
-
Body Work
- The Radical Power of Personal Narrative
- By: Melissa Febos
- Narrated by: Melissa Febos
- Length: 3 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 102
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 87
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 86
In this bold and exhilarating mix of memoir and master class, Melissa Febos tackles the emotional, psychological, and physical work of writing intimately while offering an utterly fresh examination of the storyteller's life and the questions which run through it.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A must!!!
- By Karen S. on 02-13-23
By: Melissa Febos
-
The Unspoken
- Ashe Cayne, Book 1
- By: Ian K. Smith
- Narrated by: Amir Abdullah
- Length: 8 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 767
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 702
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 699
After refusing to participate in a police department cover-up involving the death of a young black man, Chicago detective Ashe Cayne is pushed out of the force. But he won’t sit quietly on the sidelines: he’s compelled to fight for justice as a private investigator. When a young woman, Tinsley Gerrigan, goes missing, her wealthy parents from the North Shore hire Cayne to find her. As Cayne looks into her life and past, he uncovers secrets Tinsley’s been hiding from her family. Cayne fears he may never find Tinsley alive.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Too many street details
- By La Smurf on 10-16-20
By: Ian K. Smith
-
The Mothers
- A Novel
- By: Brit Bennett
- Narrated by: Adenrele Ojo
- Length: 9 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,842
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,614
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,612
It is the last season of high school life for Nadia Turner, a rebellious, grief-stricken, 17-year-old beauty. Mourning her own mother's recent suicide, she takes up with the local pastor's son. Luke Sheppard is 21, a former football star whose injury has reduced him to waiting tables at a diner. They are young; it's not serious. But the pregnancy that results from this teen romance—and the subsequent cover-up—will have an impact that goes far beyond their youth.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
anti abortion message dampens the enjoyment
- By T on 06-26-19
By: Brit Bennett
-
Playing in the Dark
- Whiteness and the Literary Imagination
- By: Toni Morrison
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 3 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 98
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 79
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 78
Morrison shows how much the themes of freedom and individualism, manhood and innocence, depended on the existence of a black population that was manifestly unfree--and that came to serve white authors as embodiments of their own fears and desires. According to the Chicago Tribune, Morrison "reimagines and remaps the possibility of America." Her brilliant discussions of the "Africanist" presence in the fiction of Poe, Melville, Cather, and Hemingway leads to a dramatic reappraisal of the essential characteristics of our literary tradition.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
My goodness..get ready to be challenged
- By keishie23 on 05-13-20
By: Toni Morrison
-
City of the Lost
- A Rockton Novel (Casey Duncan Novels, Book 1)
- By: Kelley Armstrong
- Narrated by: Thérèse Plummer
- Length: 13 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,954
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,698
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,691
Casey Duncan is a homicide detective with a secret: When she was in college, she killed a man. She was never caught, but he was the grandson of a mobster, and she knows that someday this crime will catch up to her. Casey's best friend, Diana, is on the run from a violent, abusive ex-husband. When Diana's husband finds her, and Casey herself is attacked shortly after, Casey knows it's time for the two of them to disappear again. Diana has heard of a town made for people like her, a town that takes in people on the run who want to shed their old lives.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
I wouldn't want to live here!
- By shelley on 03-11-18
By: Kelley Armstrong
-
When I Was a Child I Read Books
- Essays
- By: Marilynne Robinson
- Narrated by: Marilynne Robinson
- Length: 7 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 84
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 67
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 66
Marilynne Robinson has built a sterling reputation as a writer of sharp, subtly moving prose, not only as a major American novelist, but also as a rigorous thinker and incisive essayist. In When I Was a Child I Read Books she returns to and expands upon the themes which have preoccupied her work with renewed vigor.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great material, hard to process
- By Jeff Hopper on 08-24-18
-
Heavy
- By: Kiese Laymon
- Narrated by: Kiese Laymon
- Length: 6 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 6,030
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 5,448
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,424
Kiese Laymon is a fearless writer. In his essays, personal stories combine with piercing intellect to reflect both on the state of American society and on his experiences with abuse, which conjure conflicted feelings of shame, joy, confusion, and humiliation. Laymon invites us to consider the consequences of growing up in a nation wholly obsessed with progress yet wholly disinterested in the messy work of reckoning with where we’ve been.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Be prepared
- By Amy Eberle on 10-30-18
By: Kiese Laymon
-
Bluebird, Bluebird
- By: Attica Locke
- Narrated by: J. D. Jackson
- Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,813
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,537
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 2,527
When it comes to law and order, East Texas plays by its own rules - a fact that Darren Mathews, a black Texas Ranger, knows all too well. Deeply ambivalent about growing up black in the Lone Star State, he was the first in his family to get as far away from Texas as he could. Until duty called him home. When his allegiance to his roots puts his job in jeopardy, he travels up Highway 59 to the small town of Lark, where two murders - a black lawyer from Chicago and a local white woman - have stirred up a hornet's nest of resentment.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Good but very irritating
- By Tunde on 01-15-18
By: Attica Locke
-
Blackouts
- A Novel
- By: Justin Torres
- Narrated by: Ozzie Rodriguez, Torian Brackett
- Length: 6 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 47
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 41
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 41
Out in the desert in a place called the Palace, a young man tends to a dying soul, someone he once knew briefly, but who has haunted the edges of his life. Juan Gay—playful raconteur, child lost and found and lost, guardian of the institutionalized—has a project to pass along to this new narrator. It is inspired by a true artifact of a book, Sex Variants: A Study in Homosexual Patterns, which contains stories collected in the early twentieth century from queer subjects by a queer researcher, Jan Gay, whose groundbreaking work was then co-opted by a committee, her name buried.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Un hombre inspirado
- By Beatriz on 11-17-23
By: Justin Torres
-
On Writing
- A Memoir of the Craft
- By: Stephen King
- Narrated by: Stephen King, Joe Hill, Owen King
- Length: 9 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 14,980
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 12,325
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 12,221
“Long live the King” hailed Entertainment Weekly upon publication of Stephen King’s On Writing. Part memoir, part master class by one of the bestselling authors of all time, this superb volume is a revealing and practical view of the writer’s craft, comprising the basic tools of the trade every writer must have. King’s advice is grounded in his vivid memories from childhood through his emergence as a writer, from his struggling early career to his widely reported, near-fatal accident in 1999—and how the inextricable link between writing and living spurred his recovery.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Who needs a print edition when King reads King?
- By Cather on 11-18-05
By: Stephen King
-
Solito
- A Memoir
- By: Javier Zamora
- Narrated by: Javier Zamora
- Length: 17 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 2,435
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 2,242
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 2,237
Javier Zamora’s adventure is a three-thousand-mile journey from his small town in El Salvador, through Guatemala and Mexico, and across the U.S. border. He will leave behind his beloved aunt and grandparents to reunite with a mother who left four years ago and a father he barely remembers. Traveling alone amid a group of strangers and a “coyote” hired to lead them to safety, Javier expects his trip to last two short weeks.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
MASTERPIECE of Poetic Prose, Outstanding Narration
- By Mary Burnight on 01-12-23
By: Javier Zamora
-
Braiding Sweetgrass
- Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants
- By: Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Narrated by: Robin Wall Kimmerer
- Length: 16 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 10,592
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 9,177
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 9,151
As a botanist and professor of plant ecology, Robin Wall Kimmerer has spent a career learning how to ask questions of nature using the tools of science. As a Potawatomi woman, she learned from elders, family, and history that the Potawatomi, as well as a majority of other cultures indigenous to this land, consider plants and animals to be our oldest teachers.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Finally, Words
- By Donovan P Malley on 06-30-19
-
Doppelganger
- A Trip into the Mirror World
- By: Naomi Klein
- Narrated by: Naomi Klein
- Length: 14 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 529
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 491
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 490
What if you woke up one morning and found you’d acquired another self—a double who was almost you and yet not you at all? What if that double shared many of your preoccupations but, in a twisted, upside-down way, furthered the very causes you’d devoted your life to fighting against? Not long ago, the celebrated activist and public intellectual Naomi Klein had just such an experience—she was confronted with a doppelganger whose views she found abhorrent but whose name and public persona were sufficiently similar to her own that many people got confused about who was who.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Elite Psychobabble
- By A Reviewer on 09-30-23
By: Naomi Klein
-
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
- A Novel
- By: Ocean Vuong
- Narrated by: Ocean Vuong
- Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,325
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,854
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,834
Poet Ocean Vuong’s debut novel is a shattering portrait of a family, a first love, and the redemptive power of storytelling. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late 20s, the letter unearths a family’s history that began before he was born - a history whose epicenter is rooted in Vietnam - and serves as a doorway into parts of his life his mother has never known, all of it leading to an unforgettable revelation.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Beautifully written, but painful.
- By NB on 06-10-19
By: Ocean Vuong
-
Poverty, by America
- By: Matthew Desmond
- Narrated by: Dion Graham
- Length: 5 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 681
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 597
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 596
The United States, the richest country on earth, has more poverty than any other advanced democracy. Why? Why does this land of plenty allow one in every eight of its children to go without basic necessities, permit scores of its citizens to live and die on the streets, and authorize its corporations to pay poverty wages?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A testimonial based on facts and witness
- By Alonzo Nightjar on 03-27-23
By: Matthew Desmond
What listeners say about How to Write an Autobiographical Novel
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Lizzyc
- 06-06-21
Transcendental
This book swept me away and put me in the moment in the most beautiful way. It’s exquisitely written and makes me love the writer and want to read everything by him.
Thank you Alexander Chee for this book!
I’m telling everyone I know to read it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Andre
- 09-16-22
A Great Contemporary Collection of Essays
I love this book. I read an interview with Alexander Chee in Poets & Writers. Because I am beginning to write essays, I decided to try his book. I was pleased, delighted, and amazed. Chee is a writer's writer. He delves into the craft, using personal stories as illustrations. He believes good writing can be taught and that writing matters. He has lived a life filled with surprising turns from a drag queen, to an ACT-Up activist, to a waiter for conservation William F. Buckley--all along, he plumbs lessons for writing and living. His book is a cross between Stephen King's "On Writing" and Anthony Bourdain's "Kitchen Confidential." It is intimate and raw. His sentences sparkle, and his prose sings. I will enjoy listening to the book over again. I highly recommend it.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Mark A.
- 07-03-19
The unexpected how-to
I loved this book despite it not being what I expected and instead being what I needed. I enjoyed the essays weaving me through his life and his relationship with writing. As he told his story, I was dropped into my own historical moments reliving the good and the bad.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
6 people found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- nancy morales
- 03-09-22
Very interesting!
Had my attention from start to finish. I wanted to read something different. I’m glad I picked this book for my thought provoking genre.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- L.A.
- 12-20-21
Fine collection of essays
I went into this not knowing what to expect and am in a spell from this fine collection of essays. Well done, Chee.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Sheena Olivas
- 10-19-21
If you sometimes wonder what's the point
Chee writes to this moment we're in as a country, as a planet. In so many essays that are really one love spell Chee speaks to an emotional undercurrent that so many lonely lost souls will know.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- teaman
- 02-07-21
Well done
I read Edinburg by this authors and really enjoyed it. This is a very well written and interesting memoir. The narrator was excellent.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Nathanael Brown
- 11-27-19
Craft Writing with Chiseled Narration
I’ll be listening to this book again. The anecdotes and writing notes were made vibrant when coupled with a convincing and pleasant voice.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 03-13-21
Beautifully written and performed collection of essays
Beautifully written and insightful essays. Chee’s writing is lyrical and clear-eyed. This was a great follow-up after Edinburgh, a book I could not put down.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- kelly showker
- 03-18-22
Stunning and beautiful
I don’t usually like super gay books, but Audible recommended this one and it was incredible. Also the guy who reads it sounds like the bad guy in the movie There Will Be Blood and I LOVED that. Made it feel juicy and taboo. Really gave me a new appreciation for gay men. Fantastic writer.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!