-
My Soul Looks Back
- A Memoir
- Narrated by: Jessica B. Harris
- Length: 6 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Release date: 05-09-17
- Language: English
- Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.
Regular price: $20.97
People who bought this also bought...
-
The Cooking Gene
- A Journey Through African-American Culinary History in the Old South
- By: Michael W. Twitty
- Narrated by: Michael W. Twitty
- Length: 15 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 39
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 40
Southern food is integral to the American culinary tradition, yet the question of who "owns" it is one of the most provocative touchpoints in our ongoing struggles over race. In this unique memoir, culinary historian Michael W. Twitty takes listeners to the white-hot center of this fight, tracing the roots of his own family and the charged politics surrounding the origins of soul food, barbecue, and all Southern cuisine.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Amazing, interesting culinary history
- By V R on 08-07-18
-
Motherhood
- A Novel
- By: Sheila Heti
- Narrated by: Sheila Heti
- Length: 5 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 44
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 41
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 40
In Motherhood, Sheila Heti asks what is gained and what is lost when a woman becomes a mother, treating the most consequential decision of early adulthood with candor, originality, and humor. In her late 30s, when her friends are asking when they will become mothers, the narrator of Heti’s intimate and urgent audiobook considers whether she will do so at all. In a narrative spanning several years, casting among the influence of her peers, partner, and her duties to her forebearers, she struggles to make a wise and moral choice.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
I admire that she gave herself so much permission.
- By Ingrid on 06-03-18
-
Sing, Unburied, Sing
- A Novel
- By: Jesmyn Ward
- Narrated by: Kelvin Harrison Jr., Chris Chalk, Rutina Wesley
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,712
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,508
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,501
In Jesmyn Ward's first novel since her National Book Award-winning Salvage the Bones, this singular American writer brings the archetypal road novel into rural 21st-century America. An intimate portrait of a family and an epic tale of hope and struggle, Sing, Unburied, Sing journeys through Mississippi's past and present, examining the ugly truths at the heart of the American story and the power - and limitations - of family bonds.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
3.5 Stars
- By kurdis teed on 01-09-18
-
The Wedding Date
- By: Jasmine Guillory
- Narrated by: Janina Edwards
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 448
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 411
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 411
On the eve of his ex's wedding festivities, Drew is minus a plus one. Until a power outage strands him with the perfect candidate for a fake girlfriend... After Alexa and Drew have more fun than they ever thought possible, Drew has to fly back to Los Angeles and his job as a pediatric surgeon, and Alexa heads home to Berkeley, where she's the mayor's chief of staff. Too bad they can't stop thinking about the other...
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Cute, but was hoping for more
- By Audiobookhoe on 02-07-18
-
The Great Believers
- By: Rebecca Makkai
- Narrated by: Michael Crouch
- Length: 18 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 141
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 134
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 134
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
-
Best book for a long time!
- By jenny b/hudson oh on 07-01-18
-
This Is Just My Face
- Try Not to Stare
- By: Gabourey Sidibe
- Narrated by: Gabourey Sidibe
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,239
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 2,052
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,050
Gabourey Sidibe - "Gabby" to her legion of fans - skyrocketed to international fame in 2009 when she played the leading role in Lee Daniels' acclaimed movie Precious. In This Is Just My Face, she shares a one-of-a-kind life story in a voice as fresh and challenging as many of the unique characters she's played onscreen. With full-throttle honesty, Sidibe paints her Bed-Stuy/Harlem family life with a polygamous father and a gifted mother who supports her two children by singing in the subway.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Honest, heart wrenching, and hilarious!
- By CleverLewis on 05-16-17
-
The Cooking Gene
- A Journey Through African-American Culinary History in the Old South
- By: Michael W. Twitty
- Narrated by: Michael W. Twitty
- Length: 15 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 39
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 40
Southern food is integral to the American culinary tradition, yet the question of who "owns" it is one of the most provocative touchpoints in our ongoing struggles over race. In this unique memoir, culinary historian Michael W. Twitty takes listeners to the white-hot center of this fight, tracing the roots of his own family and the charged politics surrounding the origins of soul food, barbecue, and all Southern cuisine.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Amazing, interesting culinary history
- By V R on 08-07-18
-
Motherhood
- A Novel
- By: Sheila Heti
- Narrated by: Sheila Heti
- Length: 5 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 44
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 41
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 40
In Motherhood, Sheila Heti asks what is gained and what is lost when a woman becomes a mother, treating the most consequential decision of early adulthood with candor, originality, and humor. In her late 30s, when her friends are asking when they will become mothers, the narrator of Heti’s intimate and urgent audiobook considers whether she will do so at all. In a narrative spanning several years, casting among the influence of her peers, partner, and her duties to her forebearers, she struggles to make a wise and moral choice.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
I admire that she gave herself so much permission.
- By Ingrid on 06-03-18
-
Sing, Unburied, Sing
- A Novel
- By: Jesmyn Ward
- Narrated by: Kelvin Harrison Jr., Chris Chalk, Rutina Wesley
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,712
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,508
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,501
In Jesmyn Ward's first novel since her National Book Award-winning Salvage the Bones, this singular American writer brings the archetypal road novel into rural 21st-century America. An intimate portrait of a family and an epic tale of hope and struggle, Sing, Unburied, Sing journeys through Mississippi's past and present, examining the ugly truths at the heart of the American story and the power - and limitations - of family bonds.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
3.5 Stars
- By kurdis teed on 01-09-18
-
The Wedding Date
- By: Jasmine Guillory
- Narrated by: Janina Edwards
- Length: 8 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 448
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 411
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 411
On the eve of his ex's wedding festivities, Drew is minus a plus one. Until a power outage strands him with the perfect candidate for a fake girlfriend... After Alexa and Drew have more fun than they ever thought possible, Drew has to fly back to Los Angeles and his job as a pediatric surgeon, and Alexa heads home to Berkeley, where she's the mayor's chief of staff. Too bad they can't stop thinking about the other...
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Cute, but was hoping for more
- By Audiobookhoe on 02-07-18
-
The Great Believers
- By: Rebecca Makkai
- Narrated by: Michael Crouch
- Length: 18 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 141
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 134
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 134
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
-
Best book for a long time!
- By jenny b/hudson oh on 07-01-18
-
This Is Just My Face
- Try Not to Stare
- By: Gabourey Sidibe
- Narrated by: Gabourey Sidibe
- Length: 6 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,239
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 2,052
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,050
Gabourey Sidibe - "Gabby" to her legion of fans - skyrocketed to international fame in 2009 when she played the leading role in Lee Daniels' acclaimed movie Precious. In This Is Just My Face, she shares a one-of-a-kind life story in a voice as fresh and challenging as many of the unique characters she's played onscreen. With full-throttle honesty, Sidibe paints her Bed-Stuy/Harlem family life with a polygamous father and a gifted mother who supports her two children by singing in the subway.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Honest, heart wrenching, and hilarious!
- By CleverLewis on 05-16-17
-
The Mars Room
- A Novel
- By: Rachel Kushner
- Narrated by: Rachel Kushner
- Length: 9 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 400
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 368
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 368
Featuring original music by Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon! It's 2003 and Romy Hall is at the start of two consecutive life sentences at Stanville Women's Correctional Facility, deep in California's Central Valley. Outside is the world from which she has been severed: the San Francisco of her youth and her young son, Jackson. Inside is a new reality: thousands of women hustling for the essentials needed to survive; the bluffing and pageantry and acts of violence by guards and prisoners alike; and the absurdities of institutional living, which Kushner evokes with great humor and precision.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Amazing novel !
- By Amazon Customer on 06-08-18
-
The Mother of Black Hollywood
- A Memoir
- By: Jenifer Lewis
- Narrated by: Jenifer Lewis
- Length: 10 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 4,740
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 4,245
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 4,232
Jenifer Lewis keeps it real in this provocative and touching memoir by a Midwestern girl with a dream whose journey from poverty to Hollywood will move, shock, and inspire listeners. Told in the audacious voice her fans adore, Jenifer describes a road to fame made treacherous by dysfunction and undiagnosed mental illness, including a sex addiction. Yet, supported by loving friends and strengthened by "inner soldiers", Jenifer never stopped entertaining and creating.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Brutally honest memoir!
- By D. Easter on 11-14-17
-
The Book of Night Women
- By: Marlon James
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 15 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,693
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 1,387
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,389
The story of Lilith, born into slavery on a Jamaican sugar plantation at the end of the 18th century. Even at her birth, the slave women around her recognize a dark power that they - and she - will come to both revere and fear. The Night Women, as they call themselves, have long been plotting a slave revolt, and as Lilith comes of age and reveals the extent of her power, they see her as the key to their plans.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
twenty stars
- By Denise on 09-21-10
-
My Year of Rest and Relaxation
- By: Ottessa Moshfegh
- Narrated by: Julia Whelan
- Length: 7 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 421
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 394
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 393
Our narrator should be happy, shouldn't she? She's young, thin, pretty, a recent Columbia graduate; she works an easy job at a hip art gallery and lives in an apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan paid for, like the rest of her needs, by her inheritance. But there is a dark and vacuous hole in her heart, and it isn't just the loss of her parents, or the way her Wall Street boyfriend treats her, or her sadomasochistic relationship with her best friend, Reva. It's the year 2000 in a city aglitter with wealth and possibility; what could be so terribly wrong?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
I love it...
- By Claudia Gallegos on 07-12-18
-
Girls Burn Brighter
- A Novel
- By: Shobha Rao
- Narrated by: Soneela Nankani
- Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 110
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 102
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 100
Poornima and Savitha have three strikes against them. They are poor. They are driven. And they are girls. After her mother’s death, Poornima has very little kindness in her life. She is left to take care of her siblings until her father can find her a suitable match. So when Savitha enters their household, Poornima is intrigued by the joyful, independent-minded girl. Suddenly their Indian village doesn't feel quite so claustrophobic, and Poornima begins to imagine a life beyond the arranged marriage her father is desperate to secure for her.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The Color Indigo
- By Smith's Rock on 04-05-18
-
The Warmth of Other Suns
- The Epic Story of America's Great Migration
- By: Isabel Wilkerson
- Narrated by: Robin Miles, Ken Burns (introduction)
- Length: 22 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,053
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 3,598
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,587
In this epic, beautifully written masterwork, Pulitzer Prize–winning author Isabel Wilkerson chronicles one of the great untold stories of American history: the decades-long migration of black citizens who fled the South for northern and western cities in search of a better life. From 1915 to 1970, this exodus of almost six million people changed the face of America. Wilkerson interviewed more than a thousand people, and gained access to previously untapped data and official records, to write this definitive and vividly dramatic account of how these American journeys unfolded, altering our cities, our country, and ourselves.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Superior non-fiction
- By Lila on 05-20-11
-
What We Lose
- A Novel
- By: Zinzi Clemmons
- Narrated by: Nicole Lewis
- Length: 3 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 97
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 83
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 80
Raised in Pennsylvania, Thandi views the world of her mother's childhood in Johannesburg as both impossibly distant and ever present. She is an outsider wherever she goes, caught between being black and white, American and not. She tries to connect these dislocated pieces of her life, and as her mother succumbs to cancer, Thandi searches for an anchor - someone, or something, to love.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Very real & thought provoking
- By Jeri on 10-12-17
-
We Were Eight Years in Power
- An American Tragedy
- By: Ta-Nehisi Coates
- Narrated by: Beresford Bennett
- Length: 13 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,456
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,310
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 1,299
"We were eight years in power" was the lament of Reconstruction-era black politicians as the American experiment in multiracial democracy ended with the return of white supremacist rule in the South. Now Ta-Nehisi Coates explores the tragic echoes of that history in our own time: the unprecedented election of a black president followed by a vicious backlash that fueled the election of the man Coates argues is America's "first white president".
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Repackaged Atlantic Articles, but worth reading
- By Adam Shields on 10-04-17
-
Calypso
- By: David Sedaris
- Narrated by: David Sedaris
- Length: 6 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 7,711
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 7,005
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 6,938
If you've ever laughed your way through David Sedaris's cheerfully misanthropic stories, you might think you know what you're getting with Calypso. You'd be wrong. When he buys a beach house on the Carolina coast, Sedaris envisions long, relaxing vacations spent playing board games and lounging in the sun with those he loves most. And it's as idyllic as he imagined, except for one tiny, vexing realization: it's impossible to take a vacation from yourself. With Calypso, Sedaris sets his formidable powers of observation - and dark humor - toward middle age and mortality.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Dark and funny
- By dana k sherwood on 06-05-18
-
Homegoing
- A Novel
- By: Yaa Gyasi
- Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman
- Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 4,386
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,982
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 3,988
Two half sisters, Effia and Esi, unknown to each other, are born into different villages in 18th-century Ghana. Effia is married off to an Englishman and will live in comfort in the palatial rooms of Cape Coast Castle, raising children who will be sent abroad to be educated before returning to the Gold Coast to serve as administrators of the empire. Esi, imprisoned beneath Effia in the castle's women's dungeon and then shipped off on a boat bound for America, will be sold into slavery.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
An important story but terribly disjointed
- By Joy on 12-07-17
-
American Street
- By: Ibi Zoboi
- Narrated by: Robin Miles
- Length: 8 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 337
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 301
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 303
On the corner of American Street and Joy Road, Fabiola Toussaint thought she would finally find une belle vie - a good life. But after they leave Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Fabiola's mother is detained by US immigration, leaving Fabiola to navigate her loud American cousins - Chantal, Donna, and Princess - the grittiness of Detroit's West Side, a new school, and a surprising romance all on her own.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A lot to unpack
- By Audiobookhoe on 07-18-17
-
The History of White People
- By: Nell Irvin Painter
- Narrated by: Allyson Johnson
- Length: 14 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 459
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 392
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 392
A mind-expanding and myth-destroying exploration of notions of white race—not merely a skin color but also a signal of power, prestige, and beauty to be withheld and granted selectively. Ever since the Enlightenment, race theory and its inevitable partner, racism, have followed a crooked road, constructed by dominant peoples to justify their domination of others. Filling a huge gap in historical literature that long focused on the non-white, eminent historian Nell Irvin Painter guides us through more than two thousand years of Western civilization, tracing not only the invention of the idea of race but also the frequent worship of “whiteness” for economic, social, scientific, and political ends.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Destroys the myth that race is about skin color
- By Emily L. on 08-25-14
Publisher's Summary
In the Technicolor glow of the early 70s, Jessica B. Harris debated, celebrated, and danced her way from the jazz clubs of the Manhattan's West Side to the restaurants of the Village, living out her buoyant youth alongside the great minds of the day - luminaries like Maya Angelou, James Baldwin, and Toni Morrison. My Soul Looks Back is her paean to that fascinating social circle and the depth of their shared commitment to activism, intellectual engagement, and each other.
Harris paints evocative portraits of her illustrious friends: Baldwin as he read aloud an early draft of If Beale Street Could Talk, Angelou cooking in her California kitchen, and Morrison relaxing at Baldwin's house in Provence. Harris describes her role as theater critic for the New York Amsterdam News and editor at then burgeoning Essence magazine; star-studded parties in the South of France; drinks at Mikell's, a hip West Side club; and the simple joy these extraordinary people took in each other's company. The book is framed by Harris' relationship with Sam Floyd, a fellow professor at Queens College, who introduced her to Baldwin. More than a memoir of friendship and first love, My Soul Looks Back is a carefully crafted, intimately understood homage to a bygone era and the people that made it so remarkable.
More from the same
Author
Narrator
What members say
Average Customer Ratings
Overall
-
4.5 out of 5 stars
-
5 Stars13
-
4 Stars8
-
3 Stars2
-
2 Stars0
-
1 Stars0
Performance
-
4.5 out of 5 stars
-
5 Stars16
-
4 Stars5
-
3 Stars1
-
2 Stars0
-
1 Stars0
Story
-
4.5 out of 5 stars
-
5 Stars13
-
4 Stars7
-
3 Stars1
-
2 Stars1
-
1 Stars0
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- sandy g
- Massachusetts
- 05-13-17
Great read
Very well crafted memoir which in poignant ways underscores the reality that the choices one makes in ones twenties can lay the foundation for ones life. Ms. Harris's parents prepared her to embrace the world with an openness and confidence that serve her well. This is a wonderful story told with honesty and compassion. Her relationships with the gifted artists and writers of her time were amazing. Bravo!
3 of 3 people found this review helpful
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Taj
- 07-25-18
My soul is pleased
This book was recommended by a dear friend who knows of my admiration for Baldwin and Angelou and Nina and the rest. I’m sure she didn’t know that I’d connect deeper with Jessica who, like me, I imagine upon finishing, feels she existed in the margins in most of it.
Before reaching chapter 4, i’d recommended the book to 15 people. By the end of the book, 50 people. Just amazing! Thank you, Jessica.
-Darnell Lamont Walker