Being There

By: Jerzy Kosinski

Narrated by: Dustin Hoffman

Length: 2 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

Earphones Award Winner (AudioFile Magazine)

Audie Award Nominee, Best Solo Narration, 2013

Jerzy Kosinski’s clever parable of a naive man thrust into the modern world is more pointed now than ever. Academy Award winner Dustin Hoffman (Rain Man, The Graduate), perhaps best known for his portrayals of vulnerable characters and antiheroes, gives an understated and exemplary performance of this satiric look at the unreality of American media culture.

Chance, the enigmatic gardener, becomes Chauncey Gardiner after getting hit by a limo belonging to a Wall Street tycoon. The whirlwind that follows brings Chance to his new status of political policy advisor and possible vice presidential candidate. His garden-variety political responses, inspired by television, become heralded as visionary, and he is soon a media icon due to his unknown background and vague, yet appealing, conversational nature. Being There was adapted into an Academy Award-winning film, starring Peter Sellers as Chance, in 1979.

Explore more titles performed by some of the most celebrated actors in the business in Audible’s Star-Powered Listens collection.

©1971 Jerzy Kosinski (P)2012 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"Dustin Hoffman's performance of this spare and provocative novel is a revelation. The story is surreal (though certainly not difficult and certainly highly amusing); to deliver it, what is needed is not pacing or vocal pyrotechnics but a thorough, thoughtful understanding of the text and the restraint to perform only exactly what is there." (AudioFile)

Almost a parable

What did you love best about Being There?

I think the thing I enjoyed most was about how Chance or Chauncy (if you prefer) reacted to the events around him, and how, in turn, different individuals took in his reactions. It was almost surreal at times, but it was also very real.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Chance himself. His straightforward approach to the world around him and how the world reacts to his (lacking a better term) simplicity was highly amusing.

What does Dustin Hoffman bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

I think Dustin Hoffman makes Chance feel more real than if I had just read the book.

A Simple Man In A Complex World

This is the story of how Chance, a simple person who just wants to tend his garden, becomes viewed very differently by many people. Once the media became involved, Chance is viewed as a sex symbol, a scholar of Russian literature, a brave person who admits he doesn't read the NY Times or any other paper, and a financier. This has all transpired just because Chance is bring himself: a gardener who hasn't left home before now and who cannot read and write; his view of the outside world comes from what he sees on TV.

I would have liked more about his back story; although you can guess as to who his father is, it is never actually stated. I liked the ending; to me, it showed that no matter what happened around him, Chance is still himself: the man who finds peace in his garden.

Not as good as the movie

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

Maybe to a fan of Dustin Hoffman, or of the movie.

Any additional comments?

Sometimes I think it's sacrilege to suggest to literary types that a book is inferior to the movie adaptation, but every now and then it's true. It's true here.

Perfect

Dustin Hoffman is a great choice to read this charming novel, and he brings a subtle grace to the task. Easily the best audiobook I've ever lite listened to.

Wonderful Narration

Dustin Hoffman 's excellent Narration was another effective interpretation of this wonderfully crafted Kosinski novel.

Delightful!

What a really seemingly simple but incredibly insightful story! One of my favorite actors, Dustin H. was incredible and really made the characters come alive!

Dustin Hoffman reads masterfully.

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this reading of Jezry Kosinski's classic work, which is as relevant today as it was in 1970.

A classic.

Though the story was written years ago before cell phones, the Internet and politics by sound bites, this story is as pertinent now as it was in 1970. Dustin Hoffman does a great job with the narration.

a great book

i've always liked dustin hoffman AND jerzy kosinski, but i was a tiny bit apprehensive if this was going to be any good. for one, hoffman has, as he has gotten older, acquired a certain set of actory habits that can be a little grating. and for another, there's the movie with peter sellers, which could get in hoffman's or kosinski's way here.

so the pleasant surprise is that hoffman does a subdued job, you barely begin to recognise it's him, even. he rattles through the story at speed, keeping the listener's interest awake and well primed, and yes, there's clearly some irony here, and some satire, but the novel actually predates the reagan presidency, so it should not be confused with, say, a philip roth job on nixon.

it's a short tale, and can be taken in during an afternoon's comfortable session with biscuits and coffee or cakes and ale. and will stay with you for a long time afterwards. i certainly enjoyed listening to this reading, having already read the book and watched the movie.

I loved the movie, enjoyed this audio even more!

Dustin Hoffman's performance of Jerzy Kosinski's satirical novel about American media and public personae is simply stellar! This is one book I will listen to again and again.