Did you know?

• Don Quixote is the third most translated book in the world, available in over 50 languages.

• According to scholars, the plot structure of Don Quixote makes it the first "modern story."

• The term "quixotic" spawned from this book, referring to someone who is out of touch with reality like the main character.

What listeners said

• "I've been listening to audiobooks for over 3 years now, over 35 books, 2 hours a day in my commute. Of all the books I've listened to, this is easily the best. It's the first that had me laughing so hard I was worried about the effect on my driving. George Guidall's unparalleled narration took me completely into the drama of the story, brought out the characters as if they were alive in another country—not some un-relatable figures from the 14th century." -Peter, Audible listener

• "This is my favorite work of fiction. I love the story of Don Quixote. If you haven't listened to or read this book, it is a must. This book is very long, but is broken up into smaller stories told by people who run into Don Quixote on his travels and by a series of ridiculous "adventures" of Don Quixote and Sancho Panza themselves. (You will never see a blanket the same way again, for example. And everyone knows about the windmills... err... giants)." -Mike, Audible listener

• "This is an incredible book. One of the coolest things about it is the fact that there is so much in it that is cliché, but when the book was written it was all new. This book MADE those things cliché. Don Quixote was so far ahead of its time that if I didn't know better, I would think it was written in the modern era. I can't believe I've waited this long to read it; I'm mad at myself for that. The fact the George Guidall is narrating it is icing on the cake. He can do no wrong." -Joe, Audible listener

Listen if you loved

Quotes from Don Quixote

• "To dream the impossible dream, that is my quest."

• "When life itself seems lunatic, who knows where madness lies? Perhaps to be too practical is madness. To surrender dreams—this may be madness. Too much sanity may be madness—and maddest of all: to see life as it is, and not as it should be!"

• "It's up to brave hearts, sir, to be patient when things are going badly, as well as being happy when they're going well."

• "Virtue is persecuted by the wicked more than it is loved by the good."

• "Finally, from so little sleeping and so much reading, his brain dried up and he went completely out of his mind."

Adaptations

Over the centuries since its original publication in 1605, Don Quixote has been reimagined through varying interpretations. Notable adaptations include an 1869 ballet; the musical play Man of La Mancha, which premiered in 1965 and has been revived four times on Broadway; a 1972 film, directed by Arthur Hill and starring Peter O'Toole, Sophia Loren, and James Coco; and a 2018 movie, The Man Who Killed Don Quixote, a loose retelling of the novel by director Terry Gilliam.

About the author

Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra was widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelists. He is best known for his novel Don Quixote, a work often cited as both the first modern novel and "the first great novel of world literature." A 2002 poll of around 100 well-known authors voted it the "most meaningful book of all time" from among the "best and most central works in world literature."

About the performer

George Guidall is a prolific audiobook narrator and theatre actor. As of November 2014, he had recorded 1,270 audiobooks, which was believed to be the record at the time. Guidall says audiobook narration "expands the author's intent, brings it into an immediacy. I am the author when I'm doing it. I'm a literary hermit crab finding a home in someone else's imagined truth."