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Black Mischief
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Scoop
- By: Evelyn Waugh
- Narrated by: Simon Cadell
- Length: 6 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 166
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 150
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 150
In Scoop, surreptitiously dubbed "a newspaper adventure", Waugh flays Fleet Street and the social pastimes of its war correspondants as he tells how William Boot became the star of British super-journalism and how, leaving part of his shirt in the claws of the lovely Katchen, he returned from Ishmaelia to London as the "Daily's Beast's" more accoladed overseas reporter.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Delicious humor
- By Bill on 05-30-15
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Decline and Fall
- By: Evelyn Waugh
- Narrated by: Michael Maloney
- Length: 5 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 164
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 147
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 143
Sent down from Oxford after a wild, drunken party, Paul Pennyfeather is oddly surprised to find himself qualifying for the position of schoolmaster at a boys' private school in Wales. His colleagues are an assortment of misfits, rascals and fools, including Prendy (plagued by doubts) and Captain Grimes, who is always in the soup (or just plain drunk). Then Sports Day arrives, and with it the delectable Margot Beste-Chetwynde, floating on a scented breeze.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Black Humor, Satire, and the Absurd
- By Gypsi on 06-09-18
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A Handful of Dust
- By: Evelyn Waugh
- Narrated by: Andrew Sachs
- Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 192
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 173
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 174
Evelyn Waugh's 1934 novel is a bitingly funny vision of aristocratic decadence in England between the wars. It tells the story of Tony Last, who, to the irritation of his wife, is inordinately obsessed with his Victorian Gothic country house and life. When Lady Brenda Last embarks on an affair with the worthless John Beaver out of boredom with her husband, she sets in motion a sequence of tragicomic disasters that reveal Waugh at his most scathing.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Slow Start then Subtle
- By Michael on 05-16-15
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Put Out More Flags
- By: Evelyn Waugh
- Narrated by: Michael Maloney
- Length: 5 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 37
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 35
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 34
Upper-class scoundrel Basil Seal, mad, bad, and dangerous to know, creates havoc wherever he goes, much to the despair of the three women in his life - his sister, his mother, and his mistress. When Neville Chamberlain declares war on Germany, it seems the perfect opportunity for more action and adventure. So Basil follows the call to arms and sets forth to enjoy his finest hour - as a war hero. Basil's instincts for self-preservation come to the fore as he insinuates himself into the Ministry of Information and a little-known section of Military Security.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Wickedly Funny
- By Lilly K on 07-25-19
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Sword of Honor
- By: Evelyn Waugh
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 24 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 130
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 119
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 120
This trilogy about World War II, largely based on his own experiences as an army officer, is the crowning achievement of Evelyn Waugh's career. Its central character is Guy Crouchback, head of an ancient but decayed Catholic family, who at first discovers new purpose in the challenge to defend Christian values against Nazi barbarism, but then gradually finds the complexities and cruelties of war too much for him.
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1 out of 5 stars
-
At least one chapter missing
- By Sviatoslav on 08-17-15
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The Loved One
- By: Evelyn Waugh
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 3 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 58
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 50
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 51
Following the death of a friend, the poet and pets' mortician Dennis Barlow finds himself entering the artificial Hollywood paradise of the Whispering Glades Memorial Park. Within its golden gates, death, American-style, is wrapped up and sold like a package holiday - and Dennis gets drawn into a bizarre love triangle with Aimée Thanatogenos, a naïve Californian corpse beautician, and Mr. Joyboy, a master of the embalmer's art.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Hilarious funny.
- By James Lucier on 05-29-16
-
Scoop
- By: Evelyn Waugh
- Narrated by: Simon Cadell
- Length: 6 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 166
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 150
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 150
In Scoop, surreptitiously dubbed "a newspaper adventure", Waugh flays Fleet Street and the social pastimes of its war correspondants as he tells how William Boot became the star of British super-journalism and how, leaving part of his shirt in the claws of the lovely Katchen, he returned from Ishmaelia to London as the "Daily's Beast's" more accoladed overseas reporter.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Delicious humor
- By Bill on 05-30-15
-
Decline and Fall
- By: Evelyn Waugh
- Narrated by: Michael Maloney
- Length: 5 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 164
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 147
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 143
Sent down from Oxford after a wild, drunken party, Paul Pennyfeather is oddly surprised to find himself qualifying for the position of schoolmaster at a boys' private school in Wales. His colleagues are an assortment of misfits, rascals and fools, including Prendy (plagued by doubts) and Captain Grimes, who is always in the soup (or just plain drunk). Then Sports Day arrives, and with it the delectable Margot Beste-Chetwynde, floating on a scented breeze.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Black Humor, Satire, and the Absurd
- By Gypsi on 06-09-18
-
A Handful of Dust
- By: Evelyn Waugh
- Narrated by: Andrew Sachs
- Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 192
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 173
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 174
Evelyn Waugh's 1934 novel is a bitingly funny vision of aristocratic decadence in England between the wars. It tells the story of Tony Last, who, to the irritation of his wife, is inordinately obsessed with his Victorian Gothic country house and life. When Lady Brenda Last embarks on an affair with the worthless John Beaver out of boredom with her husband, she sets in motion a sequence of tragicomic disasters that reveal Waugh at his most scathing.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Slow Start then Subtle
- By Michael on 05-16-15
-
Put Out More Flags
- By: Evelyn Waugh
- Narrated by: Michael Maloney
- Length: 5 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 37
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 35
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 34
Upper-class scoundrel Basil Seal, mad, bad, and dangerous to know, creates havoc wherever he goes, much to the despair of the three women in his life - his sister, his mother, and his mistress. When Neville Chamberlain declares war on Germany, it seems the perfect opportunity for more action and adventure. So Basil follows the call to arms and sets forth to enjoy his finest hour - as a war hero. Basil's instincts for self-preservation come to the fore as he insinuates himself into the Ministry of Information and a little-known section of Military Security.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Wickedly Funny
- By Lilly K on 07-25-19
-
Sword of Honor
- By: Evelyn Waugh
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 24 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 130
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 119
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 120
This trilogy about World War II, largely based on his own experiences as an army officer, is the crowning achievement of Evelyn Waugh's career. Its central character is Guy Crouchback, head of an ancient but decayed Catholic family, who at first discovers new purpose in the challenge to defend Christian values against Nazi barbarism, but then gradually finds the complexities and cruelties of war too much for him.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
At least one chapter missing
- By Sviatoslav on 08-17-15
-
The Loved One
- By: Evelyn Waugh
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 3 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 58
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 50
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 51
Following the death of a friend, the poet and pets' mortician Dennis Barlow finds himself entering the artificial Hollywood paradise of the Whispering Glades Memorial Park. Within its golden gates, death, American-style, is wrapped up and sold like a package holiday - and Dennis gets drawn into a bizarre love triangle with Aimée Thanatogenos, a naïve Californian corpse beautician, and Mr. Joyboy, a master of the embalmer's art.
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5 out of 5 stars
-
Hilarious funny.
- By James Lucier on 05-29-16
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Brideshead Revisited
- By: Evelyn Waugh
- Narrated by: Jeremy Irons
- Length: 11 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,969
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,847
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,835
Evelyn Waugh's most celebrated work is a memory drama about the intense entanglement of the narrator, Charles Ryder, with a great Anglo-Catholic family. Written during World War II, the story mourns the passing of the aristocratic world Waugh knew in his youth and vividly recalls the sensuous pleasures denied him by wartime austerities; in so doing it also provides a profound study of the conflict between the demands of religion and the desires of the flesh.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Extraordinary
- By Vieux Carré Blonde on 12-12-12
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Men at Arms
- By: Evelyn Waugh
- Narrated by: Christian Rodska
- Length: 8 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 32
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 30
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Story4 out of 5 stars 30
Guy Crouchback, determined to get into the war, takes a commission in the Royal Corps of Halberdiers. His spirits high, he sees all the trimmings but none of the action. And his first campaign, an abortive affair on the West African coastline, ends with an escapade that seriously blots his Halberdier copybook. Men at Arms is the first novel in Waugh's brilliant Sword of Honor trilogy recording the tumultuous wartime adventures of Guy Crouchback.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Supposedly Humorous
- By InspiredFam on 11-13-18
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The Complete Stories of Evelyn Waugh
- By: Evelyn Waugh
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 19 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 30
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 30
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Story4 out of 5 stars 27
A book of brilliant entertainments: 39 stories spanning the entire career of a great modern writer and an undisputed comic genius, "a satirist whose skill at sticking pens in people rates him a roomy cell in the murderers' row (Swift, Poe, Wilde, Shaw) of English letters" ( Time).
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2 out of 5 stars
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Evelyn Waugh sampler, just short stories-
- By Carla on 01-29-17
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White
- By: Bret Easton Ellis
- Narrated by: Bret Easton Ellis
- Length: 6 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 573
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 522
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 522
White is Bret Easton Ellis's first work of nonfiction. Already the bad boy of American literature, from Less Than Zero to American Psycho, Ellis has also earned the wrath of right-thinking people everywhere with his provocations on social media, and here he escalates. Eschewing convention, he embraces views that will make many in literary and media communities cringe, as he takes aim at anti-Trump fixation, coastal elites, corporate censorship, Hollywood, identity politics, Generation Wuss, "woke" cultural watchdogs, and more.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Fantastic Listen
- By Keith on 04-18-19
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Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold
- By: Evelyn Waugh
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 4 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 11
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 11
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Story4 out of 5 stars 11
Gilbert Pinfold is a reclusive Catholic novelist suffering from acute inertia. In an attempt to keep insomnia at bay he has been imbibing an unappetizing cocktail of bromide, chloral, and creme de menthe. He books a passage on the SS Caliban, and as it cruises towards Ceylon, he slips into madness. Almost as soon as the gangplank lifts, Pinfold hears sounds coming out of the ceiling of his cabin: wild jazz bands, barking dogs, and loud revival meetings. He is convinced that an erratic public-address system is letting him hear everything that goes on aboard ship....until instead of just sounds, he hears voices.
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The Day of the Locust
- By: Nathanael West
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 5 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 19
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 18
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Story4 out of 5 stars 18
Admired by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Dorothy Parker, and Dashiell Hammett, and hailed as one of the best 100 English-language novels by Time magazine, The Day of the Locust continues to influence American writers, artists, and culture. Bob Dylan wrote the classic song "Day of the Locusts" in homage, and Matt Groening's Homer Simpson is named after one of its characters. No novel more perfectly captures the nuttier side of Hollywood. Here the lens is turned on its fringes-actors out of work, film extras with big dreams, and parents lining their children up for small roles.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Okay, okay, you've convinced me…
- By Blingus on 02-18-19
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Helena
- By: Evelyn Waugh
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 5 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 45
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 41
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Story4 out of 5 stars 41
Helena is the intelligent, horse-mad daughter of a British chieftan who is suddenly betrothed to the warrior who becomes the Roman emperor Constantius. She spends her life seeking truth in the religions, mythologies, and philosophies of the declining ancient world. This she eventually finds in Christianity-and literally in the Cross of Christ.The Empress Helena, mother of Constantine the Great, made the historic pilgrimage to Palestine and built churches at Bethlehem and Olivet.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Needed a female narrator.
- By Michelle on 09-13-19
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My Man Jeeves
- By: P. G. Wodehouse
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 5 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,471
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,112
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Story4 out of 5 stars 1,114
My Man Jeeves, first published in 1919, introduced the world to affable, indolent Bertie Wooster and his precise, capable valet, Jeeves. Some of the finest examples of humorous writing found in English literature are woven around the relationship between these two men of very different classes and temperaments. Where Bertie is impetuous and feeble, Jeeves is coolheaded and poised.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Jeeves and Pepper
- By Ken on 06-19-07
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Beauty
- A Very Short Introduction
- By: Roger Scruton
- Narrated by: Chris MacDonnell
- Length: 6 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 13
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 13
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 13
In this Very Short Introduction audiobook, the renowned philosopher Roger Scruton explores the concept of beauty, asking what makes an object - either in art, in nature, or the human form - beautiful and examining how we can compare differing judgments of beauty when it is evident all around us that our tastes vary so widely.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Introduction to Beauty
- By Adam Shields on 05-03-19
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Something Fresh
- By: P. G. Wodehouse
- Narrated by: Jonathan Cecil
- Length: 7 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 436
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 397
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 397
The one thing that could be expected to disturb the peace of life at Blandings is the incursion of imposters. Blandings has imposters like other houses have mice. On this occasion there are two of them--both intent on a dangerous enterprise.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Great Story. Well Read. but. . .
- By Heather on 10-29-13
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Our Man in Havana
- By: Graham Greene
- Narrated by: Jeremy Northam
- Length: 7 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 531
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 484
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 481
In a legendary novel that appears to predict the Cuban Missile Crisis of 1962, Graham Greene introduces James Wormold, a vacuum cleaner salesman whose life in transformed when he is asked to join the British Secret Service. He agrees, and finds himself with no information to offer, so begins to invent sources and agencies which do not exist, but which appear very real to his superiors.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Classic British spy novel
- By Dennis on 07-25-12
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Selected Shorts: The Man Who Liked Dickens
- By: Evelyn Waugh
- Narrated by: Leonard Nimoy
- Length: 38 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 49
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 45
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 44
Selected Shorts is a weekly public radio show broadcast on over 130 stations to about 300,000 listeners. It is produced by Symphony Space and WNYC Radio and distributed by Public Radio International. The radio show is recorded live at the popular New York City stage show which began in 1985 and still enjoys sell-out audiences today at the Peter Sharp Theater at Symphony Space on Broadway and 95th Street in New York City. Selected Shorts is one of the premiere reading series in New York City.
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5 out of 5 stars
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The man who liked Dickens
- By Patricia L. Schwatka on 04-23-17
Publisher's Summary
Black Mischief, Waugh's third novel, helped to establish his reputation as a master satirist. Set on the fictional African island of Azania, the novel chronicles the efforts of Emperor Seth, assisted by the Englishman Basil Seal, to modernize his kingdom.
Profound hilarity ensues from the issuance of homemade currency, the staging of a "Birth Control Gala", the rightful ruler's demise at his own rather long and tiring coronation ceremonies and a good deal more mischief.
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- K Martin
- 03-30-19
Distracting narration
The reader’s overdone character accents made it impossible for me to listen to this book.
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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
- Chalk the Sun
- 09-26-17
A hilarious book beautifully read
One of Waugh's most biting satires inspired by meeting Emperor Haile Selassie at Oxford. The reader's plummy rendition of Basil Seal is wonderful. Waugh ridicules the self-serving deluded Brits and French as much as the savage Azanians. I especially enjoyed Emperor Seth's family planning campaign which misfires badly.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
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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
- G. R. Rayner
- 01-17-17
Excellent narration of a master author
There is much more relevance in the writings of mr Waugh than you could guess, 85 years on. The political incorrectness may offend some, and yet such is the subtle humour, extraordinary characters that only he can capture, and brilliant satire that those people may find it hard to place the blame. A great narration of what cannot be an easy book to voice.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
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Performance4 out of 5 stars
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Story3 out of 5 stars
- J. C. James
- 05-29-16
A spirited rendition
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Not particularly. 'Of it's time,' the story seemed a little dated (how could it not be!) but Michael Maloney gave a spirited performance, sounding reasonably convincing on the many & varied accents, though sounding less assured on the Azanian ones...somewhere in East Africa.
What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)
Thinking of character development, I would have liked a bit more of a hint as to the main protagonist's next step.
Which character – as performed by Michael Maloney – was your favourite?
Dame Mildred!
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
No.
Any additional comments?
No.
1 of 3 people found this review helpful