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American Snake Pit
- Hope, Grit, and Resilience in the Wake of Willowbrook
- Narrated by: Tom Askin
- Length: 7 hrs and 47 mins
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Publisher's Summary
"We have a situation that borders on a snake pit." - Robert F. Kennedy
In 1987, following a public outcry about its questionable medical practices, Staten Island's Willowbrook State School for people with intellectual disabilities closed its doors for good.
Flat broke and almost finished with graduate school, Dan Tomasulo - now a core faculty member at Columbia University's Spirituality Mind Body Institute - was hired to relocate Willowbrook's most severely disabled inhabitants into a groundbreaking community-based group home.
American Snake Pit is the story of the disregarded souls who ended up in Tomasulo's care; of the eccentric, resilient staff who helped make such a momentous success possible; and, most of all, of one man's persistent struggle to give voices to those who could not advocate for themselves.
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What listeners say about American Snake Pit
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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Story5 out of 5 stars
- Peter Berridge
- 07-16-18
Twice in three days!
During long drives this week, I tuned into Dan's book, American Snake Pit. I'm a regular Audible subscriber and usually listen to part of a book, sometimes the whole book, and rarely the same book twice. This is the first time I've listened to the same book twice in three days. American Snake Pit is riveting, educating, hilarious and poignant. The narrator does an excellent job and Dan's writing creates a vivid mental picture that draws you in. It was during the return trip home when I played the book for my sister, a pediatric nurse. I found myself looking forward to her discovery of each chapter - she loved it. So much so that she just purchased her first Audible book - American Snake Pit.
We laughed and were moved by this incredible story of challenge and transformation. I can't wait to see the movie!
Pete
1 person found this helpful
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-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,127
In the long awaited follow-up to the highly praised novel She's Come Undone, Dominick Birdsey must come to terms with himself, as well as with the schizophrenic twin brother he has spent his life both protecting and resenting.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Disappointing
- By Douglas on 03-20-08
By: Wally Lamb
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The Hour I First Believed
- A Novel
- By: Wally Lamb
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 25 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,193
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 839
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Story4 out of 5 stars 841
When high-school teacher Caelum Quirk and his wife, Maureen, move to Littleton, Colorado, they both get jobs at Columbine High School. In April 1999, while Caelum is away, Maureen finds herself in the library at Columbine, cowering in a cabinet and expecting to be killed. Miraculously, she survives. But when Caelum and Maureen flee to an illusion of safety on the Quirk family's Connecticut farm, they discover that the effects of chaos are not easily put right.
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5 out of 5 stars
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excellent all around yarn
- By G. on 01-10-09
By: Wally Lamb
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Spoonbenders
- A Novel
- By: Daryl Gregory
- Narrated by: Ari Fliakos
- Length: 14 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,941
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,554
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,539
Teddy Telemachus is a charming con man with a gift for sleight of hand and some shady underground associates. In need of cash, he tricks his way into a classified government study about telekinesis and its possible role in intelligence gathering. There he meets Maureen McKinnon, and it's not just her piercing blue eyes that leave Teddy forever charmed but her mind - Maureen is a genuine psychic of immense and mysterious power.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Slow start, but patience is your friend here.
- By Heather on 08-22-17
By: Daryl Gregory
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May We Be Forgiven
- By: A. M. Homes
- Narrated by: Andy Paris
- Length: 20 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 162
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 141
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Story4 out of 5 stars 140
May We Be Forgiven, a darkly comic novel of 21st-century domestic life, stars Harold Silver, a historian who's always been jealous of his successful brother, George. But when the hot-tempered George is institutionalized for committing a violent act, Harold finds himself comforting his brother's wife and children. What follows is a scathing examination of a family so fractured it may never be whole again.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Give this one a try!
- By JWB on 02-13-13
By: A. M. Homes
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Gorilla and the Bird
- A Memoir of Madness and a Mother's Love
- By: Zack McDermott
- Narrated by: Zack McDermott
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 363
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 331
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Story5 out of 5 stars 332
Zack McDermott, a 26-year-old Brooklyn public defender, woke up one morning convinced he was being filmed, Truman Show-style, as part of an audition for a TV pilot. This was it - his big dreams were finally coming true. Every passerby was an actor; every car would magically stop for him; everything he saw was a cue from "The Producer" to help inspire the performance of a lifetime. After a manic spree around Manhattan, Zack, who is bipolar, was arrested on a subway platform and admitted to Bellevue Hospital.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Disappointed
- By Amazon Customer on 06-20-19
By: Zack McDermott
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72 Hour Hold
- By: Bebe Moore Campbell
- Narrated by: Pamella D'Pella
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 308
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 187
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 187
In this novel of family and redemption, a mother struggles to save her 18-year-old daughter from the devastating consequences of mental illness by forcing her to deal with her bipolar disorder. New York Times best-selling author Bebe Moore Campbell draws on her own powerful emotions and African-American roots, showcasing her best writing yet.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Very interesting book on mental health...
- By Kevin on 11-27-05
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Girl in the Dark
- A Novel
- By: Marion Pauw
- Narrated by: Emily Sutton-Smith, Scott Merriman
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 72
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 66
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Story4 out of 5 stars 66
A single mother and lawyer, Iris has a colorful caseload, a young son with behavior issues, and a judgmental mother. She also has a brother - shocking news she uncovers by accident. Why did her mother lie to her for her entire life? Why did she hide the existence of Ray Boelens from her?
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1 out of 5 stars
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Boring
- By Stacey on 01-19-17
By: Marion Pauw
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Mother, Mother
- A Novel
- By: Koren Zailckas
- Narrated by: Rebecca Lowman
- Length: 11 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 141
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 128
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Story4 out of 5 stars 130
Josephine Hurst has her family under control. With two beautiful daughters, a brilliantly intelligent son, a tech-guru of a husband and a historical landmark home, her life is picture perfect. She has everything she wants; all she has to do is keep it that way. But living in this matriarch's determinedly cheerful, yet subtly controlling domain hasn't been easy for her family, and when her oldest daughter, Rose, runs off with a mysterious boyfriend, Josephine tightens her grip, gradually turning her flawless home into a darker sort of prison.
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5 out of 5 stars
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captivating
- By JoelleLeah on 05-20-16
By: Koren Zailckas
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An Absent Mind
- By: Eric Rill
- Narrated by: Sandra Burr, Mel Foster
- Length: 4 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 357
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 313
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Story4 out of 5 stars 311
Seventy-one and a man used to controlling those around him, Saul finds himself slipping into what he describes as his slow dance with death. His ramblings, humor, emotions, lucid moments, and confusion are laid bare as well as the thoughts and feelings of his loved ones: his wife, Monique, conflicted and depressed, caring yet angry; his daughter, Florence, compassionate yet proper and reserved; his son, Joey, self-centered and narcissistic, seemingly indifferent to his family's challenges.
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4 out of 5 stars
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We all need at least one daughter
- By Wayne on 04-30-16
By: Eric Rill
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Summer Hours at the Robbers Library
- A Novel
- By: Sue Halpern
- Narrated by: Josh Bloomberg, Dara Rosenberg, Allyson Ryan
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 77
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 70
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Story4 out of 5 stars 70
People are drawn to libraries for all kinds of reasons. Most come for the books themselves, of course; some come to borrow companionship. For head librarian Kit, the public library in Riverton, New Hampshire, offers what she craves most: peace. Here, no one expects Kit to talk about the calamitous events that catapulted her out of what she thought was a settled, suburban life. She can simply submerge herself in her beloved books and try to forget her problems. But that changes when 15-year-old, home-schooled Sunny gets arrested for shoplifting a dictionary.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great Story. Well Read.
- By Catherine Singer on 07-12-18
By: Sue Halpern
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Breaking Night
- A Memoir of Forgiveness, Survival, and My Journey from Homeless to Harvard
- By: Liz Murray
- Narrated by: Liz Murray
- Length: 14 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 889
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 794
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 793
Liz Murray was born to loving but drug-addicted parents in the Bronx. In school she was taunted for her dirty clothing and lice-infested hair, eventually skipping so many classes that she was put into a girls' home. At age 15, Liz found herself on the streets when her family finally unraveled. She learned to scrape by, foraging for food and riding subways all night to have a warm place to sleep. Then, when Liz's mother died of AIDS, she decided to take control of her own destiny.
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5 out of 5 stars
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unbelievably inspiring
- By Amazon Customer on 03-17-12
By: Liz Murray
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Running with Scissors
- A Memoir
- By: Augusten Burroughs
- Narrated by: Augusten Burroughs
- Length: 7 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,024
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,116
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Story4 out of 5 stars 1,115
Running with Scissors is the true story of a boy whose mother (a poet with delusions of being Anne Sexton) gave him away to be raised by her psychiatrist, a dead ringer for Santa and a lunatic in the bargain.
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5 out of 5 stars
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NOT what I was expecting
- By Art H on 04-25-03
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Girl, Forgotten
- By: Karin Slaughter
- Narrated by: Kathleen Early
- Length: 15 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5,829
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 5,332
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,300
A girl with a secret. Longbill Beach, 1982. Emily Vaughn gets ready for the prom. For an athlete, who is smart, pretty and well-liked, this night that should be the highlight of her high school career. But Emily has a secret. And by the end of the evening, that secret will be silenced forever. Forty years later, Emily’s murder remains a mystery. Her tight-knit group of friends closed ranks; her respected, wealthy family retreated inwards; the small town moved on from her grisly attack. But all that’s about to change.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Previously seen in Pieces of Her…
- By shelley on 08-24-22
By: Karin Slaughter
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Everything Matters!
- A Novel
- By: Ron Currie Jr.
- Narrated by: Abby Craden, Hillary Huber, Mark Deakins, and others
- Length: 12 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 330
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 219
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Story4 out of 5 stars 217
In infancy, Junior Thibodeaux is encoded with a prophesy: A comet will obliterate life on Earth in 36 years. Alone in this knowledge, he comes of age in rural Maine grappling with the question: Does anything I do matter? While the voice that has accompanied him since conception appraises his choices, Junior's loved ones emerge with parallel stories - his anxious mother.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Everything Is A Plot Twist!
- By Bill M. Fuller on 12-18-09
By: Ron Currie Jr.
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Outside the Lines
- A Novel
- By: Amy Hatvany
- Narrated by: Candace Thaxton, Corey Brill
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 158
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 148
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Story4 out of 5 stars 148
When Eden was 10 years old she found her father, David, bleeding on the bathroom floor. The suicide attempt led to her parents’ divorce, and David all but vanished from Eden’s life. Twenty years later, Eden runs a successful catering company and dreams of opening a restaurant. Since childhood, she has heard from her father only rarely, just enough to know that he’s been living on the streets and struggling with mental illness.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Wonderful real life novel about mental illness
- By Brian PDX on 04-08-15
By: Amy Hatvany