-
The Franchiser
- Narrated by: Anthony Haden Salerno
- Length: 14 hrs and 9 mins
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
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
The Franchiser
Buy for $24.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand
- By: Samuel R. Delany
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 15 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 48
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 40
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 41
The story of a truly galactic civilization with more than 6,000 inhabited worlds. Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand is a science-fiction masterpiece, an essay on the inexplicability of sexual attractiveness, and an examination of interstellar politics among far-flung worlds. First published in 1984, the novel's central issues - technology, globalization, gender, sexuality, and multiculturalism - have only become more pressing with the passage of time.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Masterwork of postmodern fiction
- By G. Benett on 04-14-20
By: Samuel R. Delany
-
Why Read the Classics?
- By: Italo Calvino, Martin McLaughlin - translator
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 4
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 4
Italo Calvino was not only a prolific master of fiction, he was also an uncanny reader of literature, a keen critic of astonishing range. Why Read the Classics? is the most comprehensive collection of Calvino's literary criticism available in English, accounting for the enduring importance to our lives of crucial writers of the Western canon. Here - spanning more than two millennia, from antiquity to postmodernism - are 36 immediately relevant, accessible ruminations on the writers, poets, and scientists who meant most to Calvino at different stages of his life.
By: Italo Calvino, and others
-
Numbers in the Dark
- And Other Stories
- By: Italo Calvino
- Narrated by: Jefferson Mays
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 5
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5
Written between 1943 and 1984 and masterfully translated by Tim Parks, the fictions in Numbers in the Dark display all of Calvino's dazzling gifts: whimsy and horror, exuberance of style, and a cheerful grasp of the absurdities of the human condition. Here are speculative stories on life in the digital age, genre-bending wonders, and “impossible interviews” with the likes of Montezuma and a Neanderthal.
By: Italo Calvino
-
The Recognitions
- By: William Gaddis
- Narrated by: Nick Sullivan
- Length: 47 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 219
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 175
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 176
Wyatt Gwyon's desire to forge is not driven by larceny but from love. Exactingly faithful to the spirit and letter of the Flemish masters, he produces uncannily accurate "originals" - pictures the painters themselves might have envied. In an age of counterfeit emotion and taste, the real and fake have become indistinguishable; yet Gwyon's forgeries reflect a truth that others cannot touch - cannot even recognize.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Breathtaking, Dizzying, Stimulating, Funny
- By andrew on 11-17-10
By: William Gaddis
-
Dalva
- A Novel
- By: Jim Harrison
- Narrated by: Chris Henry Coffey, Stacey Glemboski
- Length: 13 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 63
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 57
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 55
From her home on the California coast, Dalva hears the broad silence of the Nebraska prairie where she was born, and longs for the son she gave up for adoption years before. Beautiful, fearless, tormented, at 45 she has lived a life of lovers and adventures. Now, Dalva begins a journey that will take her back to the bosom of her family, to the half-Sioux lover of her youth, and to a pioneering great-grandfather whose journals recount the bloody annihilation of the Plains Indians.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Male fantasy of women
- By swiss miss on 10-09-23
By: Jim Harrison
-
Happy-Go-Lucky
- By: David Sedaris
- Narrated by: David Sedaris
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 5,346
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 4,626
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 4,594
Back when restaurant menus were still printed on paper, and wearing a mask—or not—was a decision made mostly on Halloween, David Sedaris spent his time doing normal things. As Happy-Go-Lucky opens, he is learning to shoot guns with his sister, visiting muddy flea markets in Serbia, buying gummy worms to feed to ants, and telling his nonagenarian father wheelchair jokes. But then the pandemic hits, and like so many others, he’s stuck in lockdown, unable to tour and read for audiences, the part of his work he loves most.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great except for an audio glitch
- By Rynnkins on 06-01-22
By: David Sedaris
-
Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand
- By: Samuel R. Delany
- Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki
- Length: 15 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 48
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 40
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 41
The story of a truly galactic civilization with more than 6,000 inhabited worlds. Stars in My Pocket Like Grains of Sand is a science-fiction masterpiece, an essay on the inexplicability of sexual attractiveness, and an examination of interstellar politics among far-flung worlds. First published in 1984, the novel's central issues - technology, globalization, gender, sexuality, and multiculturalism - have only become more pressing with the passage of time.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Masterwork of postmodern fiction
- By G. Benett on 04-14-20
By: Samuel R. Delany
-
Why Read the Classics?
- By: Italo Calvino, Martin McLaughlin - translator
- Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini
- Length: 9 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 4
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 4
Italo Calvino was not only a prolific master of fiction, he was also an uncanny reader of literature, a keen critic of astonishing range. Why Read the Classics? is the most comprehensive collection of Calvino's literary criticism available in English, accounting for the enduring importance to our lives of crucial writers of the Western canon. Here - spanning more than two millennia, from antiquity to postmodernism - are 36 immediately relevant, accessible ruminations on the writers, poets, and scientists who meant most to Calvino at different stages of his life.
By: Italo Calvino, and others
-
Numbers in the Dark
- And Other Stories
- By: Italo Calvino
- Narrated by: Jefferson Mays
- Length: 10 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 5
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5
Written between 1943 and 1984 and masterfully translated by Tim Parks, the fictions in Numbers in the Dark display all of Calvino's dazzling gifts: whimsy and horror, exuberance of style, and a cheerful grasp of the absurdities of the human condition. Here are speculative stories on life in the digital age, genre-bending wonders, and “impossible interviews” with the likes of Montezuma and a Neanderthal.
By: Italo Calvino
-
The Recognitions
- By: William Gaddis
- Narrated by: Nick Sullivan
- Length: 47 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 219
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 175
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 176
Wyatt Gwyon's desire to forge is not driven by larceny but from love. Exactingly faithful to the spirit and letter of the Flemish masters, he produces uncannily accurate "originals" - pictures the painters themselves might have envied. In an age of counterfeit emotion and taste, the real and fake have become indistinguishable; yet Gwyon's forgeries reflect a truth that others cannot touch - cannot even recognize.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Breathtaking, Dizzying, Stimulating, Funny
- By andrew on 11-17-10
By: William Gaddis
-
Dalva
- A Novel
- By: Jim Harrison
- Narrated by: Chris Henry Coffey, Stacey Glemboski
- Length: 13 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 63
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 57
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 55
From her home on the California coast, Dalva hears the broad silence of the Nebraska prairie where she was born, and longs for the son she gave up for adoption years before. Beautiful, fearless, tormented, at 45 she has lived a life of lovers and adventures. Now, Dalva begins a journey that will take her back to the bosom of her family, to the half-Sioux lover of her youth, and to a pioneering great-grandfather whose journals recount the bloody annihilation of the Plains Indians.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Male fantasy of women
- By swiss miss on 10-09-23
By: Jim Harrison
-
Happy-Go-Lucky
- By: David Sedaris
- Narrated by: David Sedaris
- Length: 7 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 5,346
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 4,626
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 4,594
Back when restaurant menus were still printed on paper, and wearing a mask—or not—was a decision made mostly on Halloween, David Sedaris spent his time doing normal things. As Happy-Go-Lucky opens, he is learning to shoot guns with his sister, visiting muddy flea markets in Serbia, buying gummy worms to feed to ants, and telling his nonagenarian father wheelchair jokes. But then the pandemic hits, and like so many others, he’s stuck in lockdown, unable to tour and read for audiences, the part of his work he loves most.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great except for an audio glitch
- By Rynnkins on 06-01-22
By: David Sedaris
-
11-22-63
- A Novel
- By: Stephen King
- Narrated by: Craig Wasson
- Length: 30 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 68,177
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 61,473
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 61,327
On November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas, President Kennedy died, and the world changed. What if you could change it back? In this brilliantly conceived tour de force, Stephen King - who has absorbed the social, political, and popular culture of his generation more imaginatively and thoroughly than any other writer - takes listeners on an incredible journey into the past and the possibility of altering it.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
I Owe Stephen King An Apology
- By Kelly - Write Well Academy on 04-16-12
By: Stephen King
-
Wildlife
- By: Richard Ford
- Narrated by: Noah Michael Levine
- Length: 4 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 81
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 69
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 68
When Joe Brinson was 16, his father moved the family to Great Falls, Montana, the setting for this harrowing, transfixing novel by the acclaimed author of Rock Springs. Filled with an abiding sense of love and family, and of the forces that test them to the breaking point, Wildlife is a book whose spare poetry and expansive vision established it as an American classic.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Beautiful Wildlife
- By Stefahn on 01-02-19
By: Richard Ford
-
When You Are Engulfed in Flames
- By: David Sedaris
- Narrated by: David Sedaris
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 10,625
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 7,406
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 7,369
Once again, David Sedaris brings together a collection of essays so uproariously funny and profoundly moving that his legions of fans will fall for him all over again. He tests the limits of love when Hugh lances a boil from his backside, and pushes the boundaries of laziness when, finding the water shut off in his house in Normandy, he looks to the water in a vase of fresh cut flowers to fill the coffee machine.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Don't Start with this One
- By Elvie on 04-28-16
By: David Sedaris
-
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
- By: David Sedaris
- Narrated by: David Sedaris
- Length: 6 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7,582
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,058
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,053
In his newest collection of essays, David Sedaris lifts the corner of ordinary life, revealing the absurdity teeming below its surface. His world is alive with obscure desires and hidden motives, a world where forgiveness is automatic and an argument can be the highest form of love. Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim is another unforgettable collection from one of the wittiest and most original writers at work today.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Sedaris is the gay Mark Twain.
- By Steve on 06-02-04
By: David Sedaris
-
Let's Explore Diabetes with Owls
- By: David Sedaris
- Narrated by: David Sedaris
- Length: 6 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 9,394
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 8,410
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 8,357
From the unique perspective of David Sedaris comes a new collection of essays taking his listeners on a bizarre and stimulating world tour. From the perils of French dentistry to the eating habits of the Australian kookaburra, from the squat-style toilets of Beijing to the particular wilderness of a North Carolina Costco, we learn about the absurdity and delight of a curious traveler's experiences.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Devout Fan Disappointed
- By FanB14 on 05-07-13
By: David Sedaris
-
The Jewel in the Crown
- Raj Quartet
- By: Paul Scott
- Narrated by: Sam Dastor
- Length: 21 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 269
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 237
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 237
In the India of 1942, two rapes take place simultaneously - that of an English girl in Mayapore, and that of India by the British. In each, physical violence, racial animosity, the coercion of the weak by the strong all play their part, but playing a part too are love, affection, loyalty, and recognition that the last division of all to be overcome is the colour of the skin.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
This is one to get
- By Jeremy on 10-28-14
By: Paul Scott
-
Romola
- By: George Eliot
- Narrated by: Lucy Scott
- Length: 22 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 58
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 47
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 45
Set in the turbulent years following the death of Lorenzo de' Medici, George Eliot's fourth novel, Romola, moves the stage from the English countryside of the 19th century to an Italy four centuries before her time. It tells the tale of a young Florentine woman, Romola de' Bardi, and her coming of age through her troubled marriage to the suave and self-absorbed Greek Tito. Slowly Tito's true character begins to unfurl, and his lies and treachery push Romola toward a more spiritual path, where she transcends into a majestic, Madonna-like role.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Listened to it 4 times in a row
- By Theodoc on 12-14-21
By: George Eliot
-
The Bazaar of Bad Dreams
- Stories
- By: Stephen King
- Narrated by: Stephen King, Dylan Baker, Brooke Bloom, and others
- Length: 20 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 10,838
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 9,764
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 9,753
A master storyteller at his best - the O. Henry Prize winner Stephen King delivers a generous collection of stories, several of them brand-new, featuring revelatory autobiographical comments on when, why, and how he came to write (or rewrite) each story. Magnificent, eerie, utterly compelling, these stories comprise one of King's finest gifts to his constant fan. "I made them especially for you," says King. "Feel free to examine them, but please be careful. The best of them have teeth."
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
HE'S A CUP OF COFFEE
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 12-10-15
By: Stephen King
-
Uncommon Type
- Some Stories
- By: Tom Hanks
- Narrated by: Tom Hanks
- Length: 10 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 4,782
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 4,341
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 4,325
A collection of 17 wonderful short stories showing that two-time Oscar winner Tom Hanks is as talented a writer as he is an actor. The short stories are surprising, intelligent, heartwarming, and, for the millions and millions of Tom Hanks fans, an absolute must-have!
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Old fashioned romp of stories, some real gems!
- By Lili on 11-13-17
By: Tom Hanks
-
Naked
- By: David Sedaris
- Narrated by: David Sedaris, Amy Sedaris
- Length: 3 hrs and 4 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 3,656
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,634
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,614
Welcome to the hilarious, strange, elegiac, outrageous world of David Sedaris. In Naked, Sedaris turns the current mania for the memoir on its proverbial ear, mining the exceedingly rich terrain of his life, his family, and his unique worldview, a sensibility at once take-no-prisoners sharp and deeply charitable.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Not the whole book
- By Gabriela on 03-09-13
By: David Sedaris
-
Breakfast of Champions
- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: John Malkovich
- Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,230
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,826
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 3,817
Breakfast of Champions (1973) provides frantic, scattershot satire and a collage of Vonnegut's obsessions. His recurring cast of characters and American landscape was perhaps the most controversial of his canon; it was felt by many at the time to be a disappointing successor to Slaughterhouse-Five, which had made Vonnegut's literary reputation.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Kurt Was Right to Grade This a C
- By Dubi on 01-10-16
By: Kurt Vonnegut
-
The Corrections
- A Novel
- By: Jonathan Franzen
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 21 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,901
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,506
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 2,514
The Corrections is a grandly entertaining novel for the new century--a comic, tragic masterpiece about a family breaking down in an age of easy fixes. After almost 50 years as a wife and mother, Enid Lambert is ready to have some fun. Unfortunately, her husband, Alfred, is losing his sanity to Parkinson's disease, and their children have long since flown the family nest to the catastrophes of their own lives. Enid has set her heart on an elusive goal: bringing her family together for one last Christmas at home.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
"Grandly Entertaining"? Really?
- By Georgia Burns on 10-08-13
By: Jonathan Franzen
Publisher's summary
The comic story of a man’s obsessive quest to build a fast food empire across America.
For the better part of the 1970's, entrepreneur Ben Flesh could expand his business kingdom with the snap of his fingers. His fast food restaurants and electronics stores were all a part of his rapidly growing domain, remaking America one enterprise at a time. But when a series of personal and professional catastrophes strike unexpectedly, Ben finds himself on the verge of losing it all.
Hailed as one of Stanley Elkin’s greatest works, The Franchiser is a biting satire of American consumerism and the story of one man’s all-consuming determination to create his lasting legacy, one business at a time.
More from the same
Related to this topic
-
The Deep Blue Good-By
- A Travis McGee Novel, Book 1
- By: John D. MacDonald
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 6 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 4,835
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 4,285
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 4,292
He's a self-described beach bum who won his houseboat in a card game. He's also a knight errant who's wary of credit cards, retirement benefits, political parties, mortgages, and television. He only works when his cash runs out, and his rule is simple: he'll help you find whatever was taken from you, as long as he can keep half.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Before the A-Team, there was Travis McGee
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 11-12-16
-
Strong Motion
- By: Jonathan Franzen
- Narrated by: Scott Aiello
- Length: 20 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 220
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 193
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 196
Louis Holland arrives in Boston in a spring of ecological upheaval (a rash of earthquakes on the North Shore) and odd luck: the first one kills his grandmother. Louis tries to maintain his independence, but falls in love with a Harvard seismologist whose discoveries about the earthquakes' cause complicate everything.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Compelling Story, Ridiculous Narrator
- By DianeReads on 02-28-16
By: Jonathan Franzen
-
The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
- By: Mordecai Richler
- Narrated by: David Julian Hirsh
- Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 80
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 67
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 67
Duddy - the third generation of a Jewish immigrant family in Montreal - is combative, amoral, scheming, a liar, and totally hilarious. From his street days tormenting teachers at the Jewish academy to his time hustling four jobs at once in a grand plan to "be somebody", Duddy learns about living - and the lesson is an outrageous roller-coaster ride through the human comedy.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
OK but a bit disappointing; weak narration
- By Merlin on 05-12-17
By: Mordecai Richler
-
Falconer
- By: John Cheever
- Narrated by: Jay Snyder
- Length: 6 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 109
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 76
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 78
A convict named Farragut struggles to remain a man while inside a nightmarish prison. Cheever crafted his most powerful work of fiction out of Farragut's suffering and astonishing salvation.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Unsettling and beautiful
- By Darwin8u on 01-21-13
By: John Cheever
-
The One-in-a-Million Boy
- By: Monica Wood
- Narrated by: Chris Ciulla
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,609
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,370
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,377
For years, guitarist Quinn Porter has been on the road, chasing gig after gig, largely absent to his twice-ex-wife Belle and their odd, Guinness records-obsessed son. When the boy dies suddenly, Quinn seeks forgiveness for his paternal shortcomings by completing the requirements for one of his son's unfinished Boy Scout badges. For seven Saturdays Quinn does yard work for Ona Vitkus, the spry 104-year-old Lithuanian immigrant the boy had visited weekly.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Loved it
- By Justin on 10-20-16
By: Monica Wood
-
Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules (Unabridged Selections)
- By: Edited by David Sedaris
- Narrated by: David Sedaris, Mary-Louise Parker, Cherry Jones
- Length: 2 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 357
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 215
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 216
Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules is a collection of short stories, some classic, others impending, selected and introduced by David Sedaris.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great stories but only 5 of 17 are included
- By Terri Kirk on 07-13-12
-
The Deep Blue Good-By
- A Travis McGee Novel, Book 1
- By: John D. MacDonald
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 6 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 4,835
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 4,285
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 4,292
He's a self-described beach bum who won his houseboat in a card game. He's also a knight errant who's wary of credit cards, retirement benefits, political parties, mortgages, and television. He only works when his cash runs out, and his rule is simple: he'll help you find whatever was taken from you, as long as he can keep half.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Before the A-Team, there was Travis McGee
- By Jim "The Impatient" on 11-12-16
-
Strong Motion
- By: Jonathan Franzen
- Narrated by: Scott Aiello
- Length: 20 hrs and 51 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 220
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 193
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 196
Louis Holland arrives in Boston in a spring of ecological upheaval (a rash of earthquakes on the North Shore) and odd luck: the first one kills his grandmother. Louis tries to maintain his independence, but falls in love with a Harvard seismologist whose discoveries about the earthquakes' cause complicate everything.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Compelling Story, Ridiculous Narrator
- By DianeReads on 02-28-16
By: Jonathan Franzen
-
The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz
- By: Mordecai Richler
- Narrated by: David Julian Hirsh
- Length: 10 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 80
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 67
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 67
Duddy - the third generation of a Jewish immigrant family in Montreal - is combative, amoral, scheming, a liar, and totally hilarious. From his street days tormenting teachers at the Jewish academy to his time hustling four jobs at once in a grand plan to "be somebody", Duddy learns about living - and the lesson is an outrageous roller-coaster ride through the human comedy.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
OK but a bit disappointing; weak narration
- By Merlin on 05-12-17
By: Mordecai Richler
-
Falconer
- By: John Cheever
- Narrated by: Jay Snyder
- Length: 6 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 109
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 76
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 78
A convict named Farragut struggles to remain a man while inside a nightmarish prison. Cheever crafted his most powerful work of fiction out of Farragut's suffering and astonishing salvation.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Unsettling and beautiful
- By Darwin8u on 01-21-13
By: John Cheever
-
The One-in-a-Million Boy
- By: Monica Wood
- Narrated by: Chris Ciulla
- Length: 10 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,609
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,370
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,377
For years, guitarist Quinn Porter has been on the road, chasing gig after gig, largely absent to his twice-ex-wife Belle and their odd, Guinness records-obsessed son. When the boy dies suddenly, Quinn seeks forgiveness for his paternal shortcomings by completing the requirements for one of his son's unfinished Boy Scout badges. For seven Saturdays Quinn does yard work for Ona Vitkus, the spry 104-year-old Lithuanian immigrant the boy had visited weekly.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Loved it
- By Justin on 10-20-16
By: Monica Wood
-
Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules (Unabridged Selections)
- By: Edited by David Sedaris
- Narrated by: David Sedaris, Mary-Louise Parker, Cherry Jones
- Length: 2 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 357
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 215
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 216
Children Playing Before a Statue of Hercules is a collection of short stories, some classic, others impending, selected and introduced by David Sedaris.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great stories but only 5 of 17 are included
- By Terri Kirk on 07-13-12
-
The Confessions of Al Capone
- By: Loren D. Estleman
- Narrated by: Luke Daniels
- Length: 19 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 51
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 47
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 46
In 1944 Al Capone, the most notorious Mob boss in history, has already been released from prison. Though Capone is no longer the enormously powerful force who dominated Chicago’s underworld for years, he is still a thorn in the side of J. Edgar Hoover. The FBI chief knows that if he can somehow manage to get Capone to reveal details of crimes he and his Outfit committed, the Bureau has a good chance of nailing key members who now are active in the wartime black market.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting story
- By Michael on 02-07-17
-
She's Come Undone
- By: Wally Lamb
- Narrated by: Linda Stephens
- Length: 18 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,026
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,759
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,775
Meet Dolores Price. She's 13, wise-mouthed but wounded, having bid her childhood goodbye. Beached like a whale in front of her bedroom TV, she spends the next few years nourishing herself with the Mallomars, potato chips, and Pepsi her anxious mother supplies. When she finally rolls into young womanhood at 257 pounds, Dolores is no stronger and life is no kinder. But this time she's determined to rise to the occasion and give herself one more chance before really going belly-up.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Really disappointing narrator!
- By Jessica Williams on 01-21-12
By: Wally Lamb
-
Welcome to the Monkey House
- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: David Strathairn, Maria Tucci, Bill Irwin, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,011
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 706
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 705
Welcome to the Monkey House is a collection of Kurt Vonnegut's shorter works. Originally printed in publications as diverse as The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction and The Atlantic Monthly, what these superb stories share is Vonnegut's audacious sense of humor and extraordinary range of creative vision.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Classic Vonnegut
- By Michael Carrato on 08-17-06
By: Kurt Vonnegut
-
Disturbing the Peace
- By: Richard Yates
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 7 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 66
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 56
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 57
To all appearances, John Wilder has all the trappings of success, circa 1960: a promising career in advertising, a loving family, a beautiful apartment, even a country home. John's evenings are spent with associates at quiet Manhattan lounges and his weekends with friends at glittering cocktail parties. But something deep within this seemingly perfect life has long since gone wrong.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
7 hours and 27 minutes pure blisd
- By Mia on 01-05-13
By: Richard Yates
-
Nine Lives
- Mystery, Magic, Death, and Life in New Orleans
- By: Dan Baum
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 14 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 131
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 114
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 114
Nines Lives is a multivoiced biography of a dazzling, surreal, and imperiled city, told through the lives of nine unforgettable characters and bracketed by two epic storms: Hurricane Betsy, which transformed New Orleans in the 1960s, and Hurricane Katrina, which nearly destroyed it. Dan Baum brings this kaleidoscopic portrait to life, showing us what was lost in the storm and what remains to be saved.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Do not miss if you're interested in New Orleans
- By Kelly on 03-22-18
By: Dan Baum
-
In the Country
- Stories
- By: Mia Alvar
- Narrated by: Nancy Wu, Don Castro
- Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 58
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 53
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 55
These nine globe-trotting, unforgettable stories from Mia Alvar, a remarkable new literary talent, vividly give voice to the women and men of the Filipino diaspora. Here are exiles, emigrants, and wanderers uprooting their families from the Philippines to begin new lives in the Middle East, the United States, and elsewhere - and sometimes turning back again.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
My introduction to Filipino literature and culture
- By Amazon Customer on 03-28-16
By: Mia Alvar
-
Lit
- A Memoir
- By: Mary Karr
- Narrated by: Mary Karr
- Length: 12 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 983
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 728
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 724
Lit follows Mary Karr's descent into the inferno of alcoholism and madness - and her astonishing resurrection. Karr's longing for a solid family seems secure when her marriage to a handsome, Shakespeare-quoting poet produces a son they adore. But she can't outrun her apocalyptic past. She drinks herself into the same numbness that nearly devoured her charismatic but troubled mother, reaching the brink of suicide. A hair-raising stint in "The Mental Marriott" awakens her to the possibility of joy, and leads her to an unlikely faith.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Finally! One for the "Win" column
- By Kim on 03-22-10
By: Mary Karr
-
The Yiddish Policemen's Union
- A Novel
- By: Michael Chabon
- Narrated by: Peter Riegert
- Length: 12 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,535
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,359
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,355
For 60 years Jewish refugees and their descendants have prospered in the federal district of Sitka, a temporary safe haven created in the wake of the Holocaust and the shocking 1948 collapse of the fledgling state of Israel. The Jews of the Sitka District have created their own little world in the Alaskan panhandle, a vibrant and complex frontier city that moves to the music of Yiddish. But now the district is set to revert to Alaskan control, and their dream is coming to an end.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Didn't finish...
- By Ann E O'Connor on 10-16-17
By: Michael Chabon
-
Signals: New and Selected Stories
- By: Tim Gautreaux
- Narrated by: Joe Barrett
- Length: 13 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 27
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 27
After the stunning historical novels The Clearing and The Missing, Tim Gautreaux now ranges freely through contemporary life with 12 new stories and eight from previous collections. Most are set in his beloved Louisiana, many hard by or on the Mississippi River, others in North Carolina, and even in midwinter Minnesota. But generally it's heat, humidity, and bugs that beset his people as they wrestle with affairs of the heart, matters of faith, and the pros and cons of tight-knit communities.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Perfection! Amazing writer/amazing reader
- By Monique on 01-08-19
By: Tim Gautreaux
-
Appointment in Samarra
- Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition
- By: John O'Hara, Charles McGrath - introduction
- Narrated by: Christian Camargo
- Length: 6 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 271
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 234
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 232
In December 1930, just before Christmas, the Gibbsville, Pennsylvania, social circuit is electrified with parties and dances. At the center of the social elite stand Julian and Caroline English. But in one rash moment born inside a highball glass, Julian breaks with polite society and begins a rapid descent toward self-destruction.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Quite good, but not a classic
- By Michael on 04-25-15
By: John O'Hara, and others
-
The Visiting Privilege
- New and Collected Stories
- By: Joy Williams
- Narrated by: Richard Powers, Emily Woo Zeller, Elisabeth Rodgers, and others
- Length: 20 hrs and 30 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 47
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 41
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 40
Joy Williams has been celebrated as a master of the short story for four decades, her renown passing from one generation to the next even in the shifting landscape of contemporary writing. And at long last the incredible scope of her singular achievement is put on display: 33 stories drawn from three much-lauded collections and another 13 appearing here for the first time in book form.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
I sure tried.
- By A.C. CALLOWAY on 01-28-24
By: Joy Williams
-
Player Piano
- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: Christian Rummel
- Length: 11 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,258
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,026
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,034
Kurt Vonnegut's first novel spins the chilling tale of engineer Paul Proteus, who must find a way to live in a world dominated by a supercomputer and run completely by machines. Paul's rebellion is vintage Vonnegut – wildly funny, deadly serious, and terrifyingly close to reality.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Genuine 5-Stars
- By R.A. on 06-07-19
By: Kurt Vonnegut
What listeners say about The Franchiser
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance2 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- Amazon Customer
- 08-24-18
Interesting book but the narration...
I suppose this is a matter of subjectivity but I thought the narrator's tone was all wrong for this author's particular voice. Maybe Elkin's writing style is hard to capture but Salerno uses this weird stop-start style of reading for the prose sections. The voice he uses for the main character Ben Flesh is just odd in the sense that it doesn't capture the character nor does it sound like any recognizable human would speak. The female voices are shrill and off-putting. Would recommend reading rather than listening to this one.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!