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Prater Violet
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Publisher's Summary
Isherwood's story centers on the production of the vacuous fictional melodrama Prater Violet, set in 19th-century Vienna, providing ironic counterpoint to tragic events as Hitler annexes the real Vienna of the 1930s. The novel features the vivid portraits of imperious, passionate, and witty Austrian director Friedrich Bergmann and his disciple, a genial young screenwriter: the fictionalized Christopher Isherwood.
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
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Performance5 out of 5 stars
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- David P
- 05-15-16
An Overlooked Isherwood
Isherwood never really gets his due. He's too subtle, self-effacing, and writes in what appears to be effortless prose. This short masterpiece is out of the Goodbye to Berlin playbook in that it is pre-WWII and involves a character named "Christopher Isherwood" and a lot of memorable minor players. It's a great book about making movies. The director character is completely unforgettable. It's like a short hike with a great view at the end.
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- Narrated by: Hugh Fraser
- Length: 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 117
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 101
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 101
On a dark evening, Mr. Harley Quin appears at the door of Royston Hall under the premise that his car has broken down. Once inside, he embarks upon the tragic tale of Royston Hall's former occupants, leading to a dramatic change in the perceptions of the current inhabitants - but has Mr. Quin's revelation come too late?
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5 out of 5 stars
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Agatha Christie at Her Best
- By Hailey Unger on 07-03-18
By: Agatha Christie
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Piccadilly Jim
- By: P. G. Wodehouse
- Narrated by: Frederick Davidson
- Length: 8 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 85
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 73
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 74
He was a gossip columnist’s dream. Piccadilly Jim’s life was a collage of broken promises and drunken brawls. And his straight-laced Victorian aunt was not amused. So, she decided to reform him. Unfortunately, her reform project started at a time when Jim had fallen in love and had already decided to reform himself. Thus, life became complicated. Jim pretends to be himself - a beautiful display of Wodehousean logic; hilarious indeed!
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5 out of 5 stars
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Glad to Finally Have Frederick Davidson’s Version
- By John on 11-09-22
By: P. G. Wodehouse
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Call for the Dead
- A George Smiley Novel
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 4 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,691
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,413
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,399
George Smiley is no one's idea of a spy - which is perhaps why he's such a natural. But Smiley apparently made a mistake. After a routine security interview, he concluded that the affable Samuel Fennan had nothing to hide. Why, then, did the man from the Foreign Office shoot himself in the head only hours later? Or did he? The heart-stopping tale of intrigue that launched both novelist and spy, Call for the Dead is an essential introduction to le Carre's chillingly amoral universe.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Smiley is the spies' spy.
- By Little Buffalo on 10-16-17
By: John le Carré
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The Golden Notebook
- By: Doris Lessing
- Narrated by: Juliet Stevenson
- Length: 27 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 501
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 415
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Story4 out of 5 stars 412
Author Anna Wulf attempts to overcome writer’s block by writing a comprehensive "golden notebook" that draws together the preoccupations of her life, each of which is examined in a different notebook. Anna’s struggle to unify the various strands of her life – emotional, political, and professional – amasses into a fascinating encyclopaedia of female experience in the ‘50s.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Transcendent narration of a masterpiece.
- By @vmarinelli on 07-03-12
By: Doris Lessing
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Foreign Affairs
- By: Alison Lurie
- Narrated by: Jennifer Van Dyck
- Length: 10 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 289
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 244
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Story4 out of 5 stars 242
Virginia Miner, a 50-something, unmarried tenured professor, is in London to work on her new book about children's folk rhymes. Despite carrying a U.S. passport, Vinnie feels essentially English and rather looks down on her fellow Americans. But in spite of that, she is drawn into a mortifying and oddly satisfying affair with an Oklahoman tourist who dresses more Bronco Billy than Beau Brummel.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Fascinating
- By Margaret on 03-16-12
By: Alison Lurie
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The Parisians
- By: Marius Gabriel
- Narrated by: Karissa Vacker
- Length: 13 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 702
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 637
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 634
Paris, 1940. The Nazis have occupied the city - and the Ritz. The opulent old hotel, so loved by Parisians, is now full of swaggering officers, their minions and their mistresses. For American Olivia Olsen, working as a chambermaid at the hotel means denying her nationality and living a lie, every day bringing the danger of discovery closer. When Hitler’s right-hand man moves in and makes her his pet, she sees an opportunity to help the Resistance - and draw closer to Jack, her contact, whose brusque instructions may be a shield for something more....
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5 out of 5 stars
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Not another WWII Book
- By CaliReader on 02-03-19
By: Marius Gabriel
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Epitaph for a Spy
- By: Eric Ambler
- Narrated by: Alexander Spencer
- Length: 6 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 61
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 46
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 46
Vadassy was just another name on the guest list at the seedy Mediterranean Hotel until he was accused of spying. Then, suddenly, he was on everybody's list.
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4 out of 5 stars
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A breezy entry in the Ambler canon
- By Mr. Eyuz on 01-31-20
By: Eric Ambler
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Freddy Pilkington-Soames Adventures: Books 1-3: A Case of Blackmail in Belgravia, A Case of Murder in Mayfair, A Case of Conspiracy in Clerkenwell
- A Freddy Pilkington-Soames Adventure
- By: Clara Benson
- Narrated by: Gethyn Edwards
- Length: 18 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 53
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 48
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 47
Join chaotic 1920s reporter and accidental sleuth Freddy Pilkington-Soames on his adventures in this series of light-hearted mysteries. This omnibus edition contains the first three books in the Freddy Pilkington-Soames Adventure series.
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4 out of 5 stars
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cozy historical mystery
- By Roberta A. Halverson on 07-11-22
By: Clara Benson
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My Autobiography
- By: Charles Chaplin, David Robinson - introduction
- Narrated by: Steve John Shepherd
- Length: 19 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 27
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 24
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Story5 out of 5 stars 24
Take an unforgettable journey with the man George Bernard Shaw called "the only genius to come out of the movie industry" as he moves from his impoverished South London childhood to the heights of Hollywood wealth and fame; from the McCarthy-era investigations to his founding of United Artists to his "reverse migration" back to Europe.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Finally Chaplin’s auto is available!
- By Ryan Baumbach on 04-28-22
By: Charles Chaplin, and others
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The Little Drummer Girl
- A Novel
- By: John le Carré
- Narrated by: Michael Jayston
- Length: 20 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 695
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 624
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 626
On holiday in Mykonos, Charlie wants only sunny days and a brief escape from England's bourgeois dreariness. Then a handsome stranger lures the aspiring actress away from her pals - but his intentions are far from romantic. Joseph is an Israeli intelligence officer, and Charlie has been wooed to flush out the leader of a Palestinian terrorist group responsible for a string of deadly bombings. Still uncertain of her own allegiances, she debuts in the role of a lifetime as a double agent in the "theatre of the real".
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5 out of 5 stars
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Terror is Theatre: Le Carré Awakens Anger & Love
- By Darwin8u on 07-24-12
By: John le Carré
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The Bastard
- The Kent Family Chronicles, Book 1
- By: John Jakes
- Narrated by: Marc Vietor
- Length: 19 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,137
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,008
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,004
Set against the colorful tumult of events that gave rise to our fledgling nation, this novel of romance and adventure introduces Phillipe Charboneau. The illegitimate son of an English nobleman, Phillipe flees Europe and, as Philip Kent, joins the men who set our course for freedom. The Bastard is the first volume in the Kent Family Chronicles, a series of novels that details one family's journey in the early years of the American nation.
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5 out of 5 stars
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An Amazing Tale
- By will on 11-06-13
By: John Jakes
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A Single Man
- By: Christopher Isherwood
- Narrated by: Simon Prebble
- Length: 4 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 714
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 603
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Story4 out of 5 stars 606
When A Single Man was originally published, it shocked many by its frank, sympathetic, and moving portrayal of a gay man in midlife. George, the protagonist, is adjusting to life on his own after the sudden death of his partner, and determines to persist in the routines of his daily life; the course of A Single Man spans 24 hours in an ordinary day.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Gorgeous Writing but Not for Everyone
- By Catherine on 01-27-13
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The Real Life of Sebastian Knight
- By: Vladimir Nabokov
- Narrated by: Luke Daniels
- Length: 6 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 47
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 38
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Story4 out of 5 stars 38
The Real Life of Sebastian Knight, the first novel Nabokov wrote in English, is a tantalizing literary mystery in which a writer’s half brother searches to unravel the enigma of the life of the famous author of Albinos in Black, The Back of the Moon, and Doubtful Asphodel. A characteristically cunning play on identity and deception, the novel concludes “ I am Sebastian, or Sebastian is I, or perhaps we both are someone whom neither of us knows.”
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3 out of 5 stars
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A dry run at big, complex themes
- By Darwin8u on 12-08-13
By: Vladimir Nabokov