• Autobiography of Red

  • Vintage Contemporaries Series
  • By: Anne Carson
  • Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
  • Length: 3 hrs and 55 mins
  • 4.2 out of 5 stars (115 ratings)

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.
Autobiography of Red  By  cover art

Autobiography of Red

By: Anne Carson
Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $10.31

Buy for $10.31

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

The award-winning poet Anne Carson reinvents a genre in Autobiography of Red, a stunning work that is both a novel and a poem, both an unconventional recreation of an ancient Greek myth and a wholly original coming-of-age story set in the present.

Geryon, a young boy who is also a winged red monster, reveals the volcanic terrain of his fragile, tormented soul in an autobiography he begins at the age of five. As he grows older, Geryon escapes his abusive brother and affectionate but ineffectual mother, finding solace behind the lens of his camera and in the arms of a young man named Herakles, a cavalier drifter who leaves him at the peak of infatuation. When Herakles reappears years later, Geryon confronts again the pain of his desire and embarks on a journey that will unleash his creative imagination to its fullest extent.

By turns whimsical and haunting, erudite and accessible, richly layered and deceptively simple, Autobiography of Red is a profoundly moving portrait of an artist coming to terms with the fantastic accident of who he is.

©1998 Anne Carson (P)2016 Tantor

What listeners say about Autobiography of Red

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    70
  • 4 Stars
    19
  • 3 Stars
    14
  • 2 Stars
    4
  • 1 Stars
    8
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    63
  • 4 Stars
    19
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    2
  • 1 Stars
    6
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    61
  • 4 Stars
    15
  • 3 Stars
    11
  • 2 Stars
    6
  • 1 Stars
    4

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

Wholly Original and Entirely Captivating

Refreshing original narrative. Captivated my imagination and understanding each moment of the literary journey. Anne Carson is a star writer.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

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

good

excellent audio adaptation of an unconventional text. worth the while. if you're into that sort of thing

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

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

Perfect Poetry

This is how poetry is meant to be given! Incredible strange story of a red boy.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Wow. Those that write of poetry are really stretching it.

This was nothing I expected from reading reviews. The reviews remind me of the emperors new clothes. The story while beautifully written for the most part was disconnected and splintered. There was a message but I was able to discern that very early on then it was a slog.

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 masterpiece

What a magnificent artistic vision. I felt truly transported by the descriptions, like I was there myself zoomed into every detail.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

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

Amazing performance

The reader’s interpretation of this book makes it beautiful and clear, where it is not always clear to read silently.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

3 people found this helpful

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

Incendiary Novel in Verse

Gorgeous flow, hilarious tone and wit, all within such a moving story arranged in genius poetic prose. SO SO BRILLIANT I have to let my thoughts marinate closer to the molten golden goodness Anne Carson serves here. HIGHLY RECOMMEND to set your soul on fire.

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

Beautiful writing and narration

The story so charged with love, and its language subtle and incredibly beautiful. Even if its message in its entirety remains a bit cryptic to me upon finishing it, I am still in awe of the stills Anne Carson created through an intense command of language. Totally recommend this one.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

broken audiobook

last parts of the book had no audio. don't know how it ended. don't care.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

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

Could not get into it

Could not understand or get into it. Not the authors fault based on the awesome reviews. Apparently not my style of writing.

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

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful