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The Naked and the Dead
- Narrated by: John Buffalo Mailer
- Length: 26 hrs and 14 mins
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Publisher's summary
Hailed as one of the finest novels to come out of the Second World War, The Naked and the Dead received unprecedented critical acclaim upon its publication and has since become part of the American canon. This fiftieth anniversary edition features a new introduction created especially for the occasion by Norman Mailer.
Written in gritty, journalistic detail, the story follows an army platoon of foot soldiers who are fighting for the possession of the Japanese-held island of Anopopei. Composed in 1948, The Naked and the Dead is representative of the best in twentieth-century American writing.
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From Here to Eternity
- By: James Jones
- Narrated by: Elijah Alexander
- Length: 36 hrs and 50 mins
- Unabridged
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Diamond Head, Hawaii, 1941. Pvt. Robert E. Lee Prewitt is a champion welterweight and a fine bugler. But when he refuses to join the company's boxing team, he gets "the treatment" that may break him or kill him. First Sgt. Milton Anthony Warden knows how to soldier better than almost anyone, yet he's risking his career to have an affair with the commanding officer's wife. Both Warden and Prewitt are bound by a common bond: the Army is their heart and blood...and, possibly, their death.
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Genius on Every Level
- By aaron on 06-13-13
By: James Jones
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Catch-22
- By: Joseph Heller
- Narrated by: Jay O. Sanders
- Length: 19 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Set in Italy during World War II, this is the story of the incomparable, malingering bombardier Yossarian, a hero who is furious because thousands of people he has never met are trying to kill him. But his real problem is not the enemy - it is his own army, which keeps increasing the number of missions the men must fly to complete their service. Yet if Yossarian makes any attempt to excuse himself from the perilous missions he's assigned, he'll be in violation of Catch-22.
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Stop randomly adding music
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By: Joseph Heller
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Once a Warrior King
- Memories of an Officer in Vietnam
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He was a young American soldier - and the most powerful man in a remote rural District of Vietnam.
In the spring of 1969, First Lieutenant David Donovan arrived in the Mekong Delta of South Vietnam to work as military advisor with village chiefs and local militia to win the war.
But as he was the highest-ranking person in the entire district, his life there was far more complex than anyone could have imagined.
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Finally on audio!
- By Trucker john on 02-27-14
By: David Donovan
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The Last True Story I'll Ever Tell
- An Accidental Soldier's Account of the War in Iraq
- By: John Crawford
- Narrated by: Patrick Lawlor
- Length: 5 hrs and 26 mins
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John Crawford joined the Florida National Guard to pay for his college tuition; it had seemed a small sacrifice to give up one weekend a month and two weeks a year in exchange for a free education. But one semester short of graduating, and newly married, he was called to active duty, to serve in Kuwait, then on the front lines of the invasion of Iraq, and ultimately in Baghdad. While serving in Iraq, Crawford began writing short nonfiction stories, his account of what he and his fellow soldiers experienced.
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An honest, real account of the Iraq War
- By Michael J. Mountain on 09-07-05
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Sometimes a Great Notion
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A literary icon sometimes seen as a bridge between the Beat Generation and the hippies, Ken Kesey scored an unexpected hit with his first novel, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. His successful follow-up, Sometimes a Great Notion, was also transformed into a major motion picture, directed by and starring Paul Newman. Here, Oregon’s Stamper family does what it can to survive a bitter strike dividing their tiny logging community. And as tensions rise, delicate family bonds begin to fray and unravel.
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Sometimes a Great Novel Pops up out of Nowhere
- By Mr. Eyuz on 06-07-19
By: Ken Kesey
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Covenant with Death
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- Narrated by: Mike Rogers
- Length: 14 hrs and 55 mins
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They joined for their country. They fought for each other. When war breaks out in 1914, Mark Fenner and his Sheffield friends immediately flock to Kitchener's call. Amid waving flags and boozy celebration, the three men - Fen, his best friend Locky and self-assured Frank, rival for the woman Fen loves - enlist as volunteers to take on the Germans and win glory.
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A superb Great War historical novel
- By Jean on 09-28-14
By: John Harris
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The Orenda
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- Length: 17 hrs and 37 mins
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Christophe has been in the New World only a year when his native guides abandon him to flee their Iroquois pursuers. A Huron warrior and elder named Bird soon takes him prisoner, along with a young Iroquois girl, Snow Falls, whose family he has just killed, and holds them captive in his massive village. Champlain's Iron People have only recently begun trading with the Huron, who mistrust them as well as this Crow who has now trespassed onto their land; and her people, of course, have become the Huron's greatest enemy.
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Thoughtful and interesting, if not always gripping
- By David on 06-15-14
By: Joseph Boyden
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Dispatches
- By: Michael Herr
- Narrated by: Ray Porter
- Length: 8 hrs and 27 mins
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From its terrifying opening to its final eloquent words, Dispatches makes us see, in unforgettable and unflinching detail, the chaos and fervor of the war and the surreal insanity of life in that singular combat zone. Michael Herr’s unsparing, unorthodox retellings of the day-to-day events in Vietnam take on the force of poetry, rendering clarity from one of the most incomprehensible and nightmarish events of our time.
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All of the reviews are correct.
- By Mark Thoreson on 01-18-22
By: Michael Herr
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Walking Point
- From the Ashes of the Vietnam War
- By: Perry A. Ulander
- Narrated by: Alan Ross
- Length: 8 hrs and 29 mins
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In this intimate memoir, Perry A. Ulander chronicles with powerful clarity the bewildering predicament he confronted and the fellowship and guidance that transformed him during the year he served as an American GI in the jungles of Vietnam. Conveying with unadorned precision the harrowing experiences that shattered his core beliefs, Ulander also captures the camaraderie and humor of his platoon, the hostility between "lifers" and draftees, the physical hardships of reconnaissance missions, and the unrelenting apprehension underlying everyday life.
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Bad transitions
- By Rosemary N Bourgeois on 12-18-16
By: Perry A. Ulander
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1968. The Vietnam War was raging. President Lyndon Johnson, facing a challenge in his own Democratic Party from the maverick antiwar candidate Eugene McCarthy, announced that he would not seek a second term. In April, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated and riots broke out in inner cities throughout America. Bobby Kennedy was killed after winning the California primary in June. In August, Republicans met in Miami, picking the little-loved Richard Nixon as their candidate.
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1968 Was A Crazy Political Year
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A Mysterious Country
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From his bestselling first novel, The Naked and the Dead, to his last work, American democracy was a lifelong project for Norman Mailer. It was his grand theme. Nearly all of his books touched on the pros and cons, the strengths and weaknesses, the grace (to use his word) and fragility of the American experiment as well as the threats to it. A Mysterious Country is a carefully selected collection of Mailer’s most incisive—and sometimes remarkably prophetic—commentary on American democracy and what must be done to safeguard it.
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Matterhorn
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Why we think it’s a great listen: A performance so poignant, we gave Bronson Pinchot (yes, Balki from Perfect Strangers) our inaugural Narrator of the Year award.... In the monsoon season of 1968-69 at a fire support base called Matterhorn, located in the remote mountains of Vietnam, a young and ambitious Marine lieutenant wants to command a company to further his civilian political ambitions. But two people stand in his way.
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A First For Me . . . And The Last
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What listeners say about The Naked and the Dead
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- J. Larson
- 08-11-16
John Buffalo Mailer narrates his father's book
Any additional comments?
I first started reading Norman Mailer’s books as a high school senior in 1970 with a paperback copy of ARMIES OF THE NIGHT, and have spent the years since reading all of his books—often reading them two or three times each--and considering Mailer as America’s best writer. Now we have the audible version of THE NAKED AND THE DEAD read by his son, John Buffalo Mailer.
John does an outstanding, professional, insightful, and loving job with the performance. I’ve listened to hundreds of audio books, and John Buffalo Mailer’s performance ranks among the best. I’m sure Norman would be extremely proud of him. I hope that John narrates other books by Norman Mailer that are not available as audio books, such as DEER PARK, THE EXECUTIONER’S SONG, WHY ARE WE IN VIETNAM, and my favorite, AN AMERICAN DREAM.It’s a shame these books, and all of Norman Mailer’s books, aren’t available as audio books.
Thankfully THE NAKED AND THE DEAD is now available, narrated superbly by John Buffalo Mailer.
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21 people found this helpful
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- David C.
- 06-01-21
A most fitting Memorial Day read
When I first began reading "The Naked and the Dead", the first important soldier's novel following World War II, I did not know that I would complete it on Memorial Day. At 721 pages (and over 27 hours in the Audible version exquisitely performed by Norman Mailer's son, John) , it is a masterfully told tale of a platoon of soldiers fighting on a Japanese occupied island in the South Pacific.
Based loosely on his own war experience in the Philippines, Norman Mailer tells a hard, brutal and gritty story of the men thrown randomly together by war. Some were Pearl Harbor inspired volunteers, some were draftees, some were in the army only because, compared to economic options at home, it was a pretty damn good income.
Our main characters are members of an Intelligence and Reconnaissance platoon on the fictional island of Anopopei. Mailer moves back in forth in time as he reveals the lives of the platoon members as they find themselves tasked to launch a cross island scouting mission to ascertain the strength of the Japanese forces in advance of a full scale invasion. How they interact and talk to each other reveals the overt racism that existed in the ranks as the one Mexican and two Jewish members endure the barbs and epithets so common of the time.
The platoon is comprised of mostly seasoned vets who had survived a previous campaign and a few replacements assigned from headquarters to take part in their first scouting mission. With little accurate information with respect to the interior of the island and being led by an inexperienced, newly assigned lieutenant who had been tasked to take on the mission after falling on the wrong side of the Commanding General, the I&R platoon plunges into the dense jungle at the foot of an imposing range of mountains which bisected the island.
The tension and horrors of war play out throughout the novel with unexpected and tragic losses of the characters. Interestingly, as Mailer delves into the motivations of his characters, you catch the nuances of many in the both the officer's and enlisted ranks who embrace fascistic leanings who have a difficult time reconciling the alliance with the Communist Soviet Union and share more in common politically with the authoritarians they were fighting. It seemed that Mailer saw the foreshadowing of the rise of the totalitarian right wing intent on controlling the land of the free as soon as they could get their paws on it. That they cavalierly reviewed the numbers of the dead, both theirs and the enemy's, with little more than statistical consideration hints at how dismissive they are to value in human life as a component of their acquisition of power.
Mailer is one of America's best writers of the second half of the 20th Century. This debut novel was the portent of the written artistry to come.
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- J. Budds
- 11-24-21
Excellent Novel on Human Nature
The Naked and the Dead, by Norman Mailer, offers a raw and gripping glimpse of World War II combat in the Southwest Pacific Theater. Based on personal experiences, the book is set around a U.S. Army reconnaissance platoon and Mailer’s robust character development and gritty combat depictions are both first-rate.
In providing background and motivations for his characters, Mailer affords the reader with an understanding of lower and middle-class Americans during the interwar years. Most of the troops in this book were poor men, drafted against their will. Each one carries baggage from a former life. Each character is believable.
Being Jewish, he also offers unique insight into blatant racism in the ranks. Additionally, as a draftee in early 1944, Mailer counters popular belief that the “greatest generation” was comprised on a homogenized group of determined patriots intent on defeating a common enemy. Mailer’s soldiers are largely fighting for survival.
This 1948 novel, Mailer’s first, is significantly different from other novels of the 1920s though the 1940s or even early 1950s. Whereas other authors gloss over sensitive details, Mailer’s neither varnishes the crude language, nor shies away from the course nature of his characters or of the combat they experience. The corpses, both American and Japanese, are depicted in graphic detail. The men’s lust for the pleasures in life is stark and fully exposed. Love for family is evident. Oddly, however, Mailer doesn’t really depict strong bonds between any of the soldiers – certainly not my experience as a 23-year Marine.
Despite it’s many positive attributes, the book has a couple of minor drawbacks. First, some of the dialogue seems to be awkwardly placed within the book. It’s a stretch to believe that soldiers under fire or on a nerve-wrecking patrol would openly discuss personal matters at home. Additionally, the dialogue between Lieutenant Hearn and General Cummings is completely unrealistic and depicts Mailer’s lack of intimate knowledge of officer relationships. A Harvard educated enlisted man; he is at his best in crafting the dialogue that he was no doubt familiar with.
Overall, I highly recommend this book to students of military history or those generally interested in human nature.
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6 people found this helpful
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- Mark Mosier
- 04-09-20
Good and bad
Depends on what you want in a book. If you want a drama, then this is your book. 2% of the book was about battle movements and the rest was relational
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6 people found this helpful
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- Mark
- 10-02-19
What a performance!
A stunning and horrifying story of the realities of war and human nature.
Brilliantly narrated!
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4 people found this helpful
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- alex
- 04-11-17
Best audio book is hard so far.
The performance was totally immersive and entertaining. John must have made his father very proud wish this.
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- Amazon Customer
- 11-24-21
A GOOD READ...BUT BEST WAR NOVEL EVER?
This is a very good book. It's easy to see why Mailer became as famous as he did at such a young age. "The Naked and the Dead" is often hailed as the "Best novel to come out of the...war. Perhaps the best novel to come out of any war" (see book jacket comment from the San Francisco Chronicle). Not sure I agree with this at all. Best novel to come out of WWII? Perhaps. The characters are extremely interesting, complex, and varied. The story line? Pretty linear and tactical in the sense that its really only following a single platoon during the Pacific Island campaigns. There are quite a few war novels I have found to be better (I, for example, really liked Herman Wouk's "The Caine Mutiny" and the "The Winds of War" and "War and Remembrance" novels [the latter two of which would have been better left alone as books instead of ruining them as great stories by making made-for-TV movies out of them!] and James Webb's "Fields of Fire"). I liked it, but its a little overblown in its reference to the "greatest" ever as far as war novels go. Still, highly recommended reading!
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- janine lieberman
- 03-18-21
The Naked and the Dead
This novel was a delight and intrigue from beginning to end.
Well-chosen words create the pleasure of listening and cadence like poetry; detailed and rich images lead you into the sense of place; and psychological insight into men in general and men in war is terrifying and heartbreaking. This character development was pleasing even as some of it imitated stereotypes, with the performance keeping to the tone and dialect of the ethnic diversity. I being a woman of 74, with little military knowledge or history, was captivated by the dialogue and layered description.
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- Anonymous User
- 01-10-18
Could be an Oscar winning war film
It is anticlimactic, but that was the intention. Great character development and deep understanding of the pysche for the battle fatigued soldier. If done correctly, this could be adapted to film that would be a multi Oscar winner.
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- David P. Wingert
- 04-09-23
Best war narrative you can find
I am embarrassed it has taken me this long to read this novel. I’m not sure why the novel’s gritty realism has not captured many modern reader’s attention. It is well worth the effort.
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