Contrary Motion
A Novel
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
3 months free
Contrary Motion
Buy for $19.99
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
-
Narrated by:
-
Scott Merriman
-
By:
-
Andy Mozina
About this listen
Matthew Grzbc is just your average newly divorced dad. He shares custody of his six-year-old daughter. He may still be in love with his ex-wife. He believes he probably doesn't deserve his sexy, successful, driven girlfriend. And he plays the harp - that's his job.
When his father dies unexpectedly (he has a heart attack while listening to a meditation CD), Matt is forced to confront his own mortality and the fleeting nature of life - he questions everything, from his romantic attachments to his professional aspirations.
When he earns an audition for the principle harp chair in a first-rate orchestra - just the kind of life-changing development he could use right now - he is poised to seize the opportunity...but then his ex-wife gets engaged, his girlfriend grows distant, his daughter seems to be having the six-year-old version of an emotional breakdown, he learns things about his father's life that make him question everything he thought he knew about the man, and then...even his harp starts to betray him.
©2016 Andy Mozina (P)2015 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved. Recorded by arrangement with Spiegel & Grau, an imprint of Random House, a division of Penguin Random House LLC.Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Great Believers
- By: Rebecca Makkai
- Narrated by: Michael Crouch
- Length: 18 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,933
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,499
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,485
In 1985, Yale Tishman, the development director for an art gallery in Chicago, is about to pull off an amazing coup, bringing in an extraordinary collection of 1920s paintings as a gift to the gallery. Yet as his career begins to flourish, the carnage of the AIDS epidemic grows around him. One by one, his friends are dying and after his friend Nico's funeral, the virus circles closer and closer to Yale himself. Soon the only person he has left is Fiona, Nico's little sister.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A story for all time
- By Carla jo Thompson on 08-06-18
By: Rebecca Makkai
-
Purple Hearts
- A Novel
- By: Tess Wakefield
- Narrated by: Kyle Mason, Shayna Thibodeaux
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 280
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 251
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 250
Cassie Salazar and Luke Morrow couldn't be more different. Sharp-witted Cassie works nights at a bar in Austin, Texas, to make ends meet while pursuing her dream of becoming a singer/songwriter. Luke is an army trainee, about to ship out for duty, who finds comfort in the unswerving discipline of service. But a chance encounter at Cassie's bar changes the course of both their lives.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
RATING PURPLE HEARTS BOOK VS PURPLE HEARTS MOVIE
- By Rozzy on 02-05-23
By: Tess Wakefield
-
This Is Where I Leave You
- By: Jonathan Tropper
- Narrated by: Ramon De Ocampo
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 3,471
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,845
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 2,857
The death of Judd Foxman's father marks the first time that the entire Foxman family - including Judd's mother, brothers, and sister - have been together in years. Conspicuously absent: Judd's wife, Jen, whose 14-month affair with Judd's radio-shock-jock boss has recently become painfully public. Judd joins the rest of the Foxmans as they reluctantly submit to their patriarch's dying request: to spend the seven days following the funeral together.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Greatly entertaining, not for all audiences.
- By Jamie on 07-26-12
By: Jonathan Tropper
-
A Visit from the Goon Squad
- By: Jennifer Egan
- Narrated by: Roxana Ortega
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,326
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 1,140
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,137
Jennifer Egan’s spellbinding interlocking narratives circle the lives of Bennie Salazar, an aging former punk rocker and record executive, and Sasha, the passionate, troubled young woman he employs. Although Bennie and Sasha never discover each other’s pasts, the listener does, in intimate detail, along with the secret lives of a host of other characters whose paths intersect with theirs, over many years, in locales as varied as New York, San Francisco, Naples, and Africa.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Deep and dazzling novel, brilliantly read!
- By J. W. Coop on 06-29-19
By: Jennifer Egan
-
In Short Measures
- Three Novellas
- By: Michael Ruhlman
- Narrated by: Lydia Mackay, Robert McCollum, Lauren Davis
- Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 206
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 189
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 190
In his three novellas, In Short Measures, Strong Conspirators, and Sally Forth, Michael Ruhlman delves deeply into the nuanced complexity of romantic and sexual love - and the inevitable evolution of the heart over the span of years and decades. Each novella asks questions about the nature of love in terms of loyalty and fidelity - what are one's obligations toward one's spouse, one's family, and one's heart?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
achingly lovely
- By Kmeme on 09-13-20
By: Michael Ruhlman
-
The Last Romantics
- A Novel
- By: Tara Conklin
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,330
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,168
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,171
In the spring of 1981, the young Skinner siblings - fierce Renee, dreamy Caroline, golden boy Joe, and watchful Fiona - lose their father to a heart attack and their mother to a paralyzing depression, events that thrust them into a period they will later call “the Pause”. Caught between the predictable life they once led and an uncertain future that stretches before them, the siblings navigate the dangers and resentments of the Pause to emerge fiercely loyal and deeply connected. Two decades later, the Skinners find themselves again confronted with a family crisis....
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Maybe the best book I ever read
- By Plundered treasure on 02-16-19
By: Tara Conklin
-
The Great Believers
- By: Rebecca Makkai
- Narrated by: Michael Crouch
- Length: 18 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,933
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,499
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,485
In 1985, Yale Tishman, the development director for an art gallery in Chicago, is about to pull off an amazing coup, bringing in an extraordinary collection of 1920s paintings as a gift to the gallery. Yet as his career begins to flourish, the carnage of the AIDS epidemic grows around him. One by one, his friends are dying and after his friend Nico's funeral, the virus circles closer and closer to Yale himself. Soon the only person he has left is Fiona, Nico's little sister.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A story for all time
- By Carla jo Thompson on 08-06-18
By: Rebecca Makkai
-
Purple Hearts
- A Novel
- By: Tess Wakefield
- Narrated by: Kyle Mason, Shayna Thibodeaux
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 280
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 251
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 250
Cassie Salazar and Luke Morrow couldn't be more different. Sharp-witted Cassie works nights at a bar in Austin, Texas, to make ends meet while pursuing her dream of becoming a singer/songwriter. Luke is an army trainee, about to ship out for duty, who finds comfort in the unswerving discipline of service. But a chance encounter at Cassie's bar changes the course of both their lives.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
RATING PURPLE HEARTS BOOK VS PURPLE HEARTS MOVIE
- By Rozzy on 02-05-23
By: Tess Wakefield
-
This Is Where I Leave You
- By: Jonathan Tropper
- Narrated by: Ramon De Ocampo
- Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 3,471
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,845
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 2,857
The death of Judd Foxman's father marks the first time that the entire Foxman family - including Judd's mother, brothers, and sister - have been together in years. Conspicuously absent: Judd's wife, Jen, whose 14-month affair with Judd's radio-shock-jock boss has recently become painfully public. Judd joins the rest of the Foxmans as they reluctantly submit to their patriarch's dying request: to spend the seven days following the funeral together.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Greatly entertaining, not for all audiences.
- By Jamie on 07-26-12
By: Jonathan Tropper
-
A Visit from the Goon Squad
- By: Jennifer Egan
- Narrated by: Roxana Ortega
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,326
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 1,140
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,137
Jennifer Egan’s spellbinding interlocking narratives circle the lives of Bennie Salazar, an aging former punk rocker and record executive, and Sasha, the passionate, troubled young woman he employs. Although Bennie and Sasha never discover each other’s pasts, the listener does, in intimate detail, along with the secret lives of a host of other characters whose paths intersect with theirs, over many years, in locales as varied as New York, San Francisco, Naples, and Africa.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Deep and dazzling novel, brilliantly read!
- By J. W. Coop on 06-29-19
By: Jennifer Egan
-
In Short Measures
- Three Novellas
- By: Michael Ruhlman
- Narrated by: Lydia Mackay, Robert McCollum, Lauren Davis
- Length: 11 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 206
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 189
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 190
In his three novellas, In Short Measures, Strong Conspirators, and Sally Forth, Michael Ruhlman delves deeply into the nuanced complexity of romantic and sexual love - and the inevitable evolution of the heart over the span of years and decades. Each novella asks questions about the nature of love in terms of loyalty and fidelity - what are one's obligations toward one's spouse, one's family, and one's heart?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
achingly lovely
- By Kmeme on 09-13-20
By: Michael Ruhlman
-
The Last Romantics
- A Novel
- By: Tara Conklin
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 12 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,330
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,168
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,171
In the spring of 1981, the young Skinner siblings - fierce Renee, dreamy Caroline, golden boy Joe, and watchful Fiona - lose their father to a heart attack and their mother to a paralyzing depression, events that thrust them into a period they will later call “the Pause”. Caught between the predictable life they once led and an uncertain future that stretches before them, the siblings navigate the dangers and resentments of the Pause to emerge fiercely loyal and deeply connected. Two decades later, the Skinners find themselves again confronted with a family crisis....
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Maybe the best book I ever read
- By Plundered treasure on 02-16-19
By: Tara Conklin
-
Too Bright to Hear Too Loud to See
- By: Juliann Garey
- Narrated by: Dan Butler
- Length: 11 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 495
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 453
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 452
In her tour-de-force first novel, Juliann Garey takes us inside the restless mind, ravaged heart, and anguished soul of Greyson Todd, a successful Hollywood studio executive who leaves his wife and young daughter and for a decade travels the world giving free reign to the bipolar disorder he's been forced to keep hidden for almost 20 years.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Psychosis or Syphilis?
- By Vira on 04-02-13
By: Juliann Garey
-
Golden State
- A Novel
- By: Michelle Richmond
- Narrated by: Käthe Mazur
- Length: 9 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 398
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 369
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 367
Dr. Julie Walker wakes on a summer morning in San Francisco to find a city in chaos. Today Californians are voting on a controversial ballot initiative that will change history. With the future of the state and the nation uncertain, the streets have erupted into violence. Injured, Julie must make her way across the city by foot to the Veterans Administration Hospital, where her sister, recently returned from Afghanistan, is in labor. At the hospital a brutal scene is unfolding as a man who shares an intimate past with Julie begins to take his revenge.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
So so
- By Rose Cheke on 09-06-17
-
The Lying Club
- By: Annie Ward
- Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt
- Length: 10 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,517
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,374
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,367
At an elite private school nestled in the Colorado mountains, Natalie, an office assistant, dreams of having a life like the school moms she deals with every day. Women like Brooke—a gorgeous heiress, ferociously loving mother and serial cheater—and Asha, an overprotective mom who suspects her husband of having an affair. Their fates are bound by the handsome assistant athletic director Nicholas, whom Natalie loves, Brooke wants and Asha needs.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
5 Star Story & 5 Star Narration.
- By Public name on 04-15-22
By: Annie Ward
-
How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets
- By: Garth Stein
- Narrated by: Oliver Wyman
- Length: 13 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 160
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 114
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 114
Evan had a hit single, but that was 10 years ago. Thirty-one now, hes drifting, playing in a local band and teaching middle-aged men to coax music from an electric guitar. Now, 14 years later, he experiences unplanned parenthood when he undertakes to raise the resentful teenage son hes never known. Off beat and disarming, How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets portrays a contemporary American family with unfailing honesty.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great narrator of a fine story.
- By Richard Delman on 09-28-18
By: Garth Stein
-
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
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 344
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 229
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 227
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.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Everything Is A Plot Twist!
- By Bill M. Fuller on 12-18-09
By: Ron Currie Jr.
-
How to Talk to a Widower
- By: Jonathan Tropper
- Narrated by: Eric Ruben
- Length: 7 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 373
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 298
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 298
Doug Parker is a widower at age 29, and in his quiet suburban town, that makes him something of a celebrity - the object of sympathy, curiosity, and, in some cases, unbridled desire. But Doug has other things on his mind. First there's his 16-year-old stepson, Russ - a once-sweet kid who now is getting into increasingly serious trouble on a daily basis. And then there are Doug's sisters.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The Characters Have Character
- By Zan on 10-06-13
By: Jonathan Tropper
-
This Was Not the Plan
- A Novel
- By: Cristina Alger
- Narrated by: George Newbern
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 103
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 92
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 90
Charlie Goldwyn's life hasn't exactly gone according to plan. A widower at 34, he is left trying to raise a quirky five-year-old, Caleb, whose obsession with natural disasters and penchant for girls' clothing have made him a loner at his preschool. The only thing Charlie does have going for him is his job at a prestigious law firm where - after 10 long years of 12-hour days and working through weekends and a huge win on a settlement - he is finally a rising star on his way to becoming a partner.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Modern Fairy Tale
- By RueRue on 03-04-16
By: Cristina Alger
-
Things You Won't Say
- A Novel
- By: Sarah Pekkanen
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 11 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 233
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 208
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 208
Every morning, as her husband Mike straps on his SIG Sauer and pulls on his heavy Magnum boots, Jamie Anderson tenses up. Then comes the call she has always dreaded: There's been a shooting at police headquarters. Mike isn't hurt, but his longtime partner is grievously injured. As weeks pass and her husband's insomnia and disconnectedness mount, Jamie realizes he is an invisible casualty of the attack. Then the phone rings again. Another shooting - but this time Mike has pulled the trigger.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Perfect for my long car ride
- By CMSCO on 06-04-15
By: Sarah Pekkanen
-
Outside the Lines
- A Novel
- By: Amy Hatvany
- Narrated by: Candace Thaxton, Corey Brill
- Length: 10 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 158
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 147
-
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Wonderful real life novel about mental illness
- By Brian PDX on 04-08-15
By: Amy Hatvany
-
Mika in Real Life
- A Novel
- By: Emiko Jean
- Narrated by: Sura Siu, Andi Arndt
- Length: 10 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 237
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 219
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 218
At thirty-five, Mika Suzuki’s life is a mess. Her last relationship ended in flames. Her roommate-slash-best friend might be a hoarder. She’s a perpetual disappointment to her traditional Japanese parents. And, most recently, she’s been fired from her latest dead-end job. Mika is at her lowest point when she receives a phone call from Penny—the daughter she placed for adoption sixteen years ago. Penny is determined to forge a relationship with her birth mother, and in turn, Mika longs to be someone Penny is proud of. Faced with her own inadequacies, Mika embellishes a fact about her life.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Not Just a book, It's An Experience
- By Brenda C. on 08-04-22
By: Emiko Jean
-
The Never Never Sisters
- By: L. Alison Heller
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 9 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 68
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 63
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 61
Marriage counselor Paige Reinhardt is counting down the days to summer, eager to reconnect with her workaholic husband at their cozy rental cottage in the Hamptons. But soon a mysterious crisis at Dave's work ruins their getaway plans. Paige is still figuring out how to handle the unexplained chill in her marriage when her troubled sister suddenly returns after a two-decade silence. Now, instead of enjoying the lazy summer days along the ocean, Paige is navigating the rocky waters of a forgotten bond with her sister in the sweltering city heat.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Julia Whelan makes it worth the credit.
- By Ellen Zelda on 09-15-15
By: L. Alison Heller
-
Everything Changes
- A Novel
- By: Jonathan Tropper
- Narrated by: Scott Brick
- Length: 10 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 282
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 199
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 200
To all appearances, Zachary King is a man with luck on his side. A steady, well-paying job, a rent-free Manhattan apartment, and Hope, his stunning, blue-blooded fiancee: smart, sexy, and completely out of his league. But as the wedding day looms, Zack finds himself haunted by the memory of his best friend, Rael, killed in a car wreck two years earlier, and by his increasingly complicated feelings for Tamara, the beautiful widow Rael left behind.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Good guy book
- By betsyg on 09-20-06
By: Jonathan Tropper