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Selected Shorts
- Timeless Classics
- Narrated by: Maria Tucci, Charles Keating, James Naughton
- Length: 3 hrs and 13 mins
- Performance
- Release date: 11-28-05
- Language: English
- Publisher: Symphony Space, Inc.
Regular price: $19.60
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Selected Shorts: Funny Business
- By: Simon Rich, David Schickler, Joe Meno, and others
- Narrated by: Wyatt Cenac, Isiah Sheffer, Kirsten Vangsness, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 12 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 24
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 21
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Story4 out of 5 stars 20
From wild and wacky to knee-slapping, laugh-out-loud fun, these humorous tales represent some of the best of recent seasons of the hit public radio series Selected Shorts. Comedian Wyatt Cenac gives a killer performance of Simon Rich’s hilarious tale of woe from the point of view of a condom in a young man’s wallet. Alec Baldwin gives a delightful over-the-top performance of James Thurber’s wonderfully silly classic tale of the day everybody in a small Ohio town thought the dam broke.
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3 out of 5 stars
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Some very entertaining, some not
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Selected Shorts
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 196
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 52
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 51
Selected Shorts is an award-winning series of classic and contemporary short fiction read by acclaimed actors. The readings are recorded live at Peter Norton Symphony Space in New York City. The Selected Shorts radio series is a co-production of Symphony Space and WNYC, New York Public Radio, and is heard on public radio stations nationwide.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Wonderful Radio Show
- By Steve on 11-26-05
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Selected Shorts: American Classics
- By: Amy Tan, Donald Barthelme, Eudora Welty, and others
- Narrated by: Freda Foh Shen, David Strathairn, Stockard Channing, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 45 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 64
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 52
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A compilation of classic tales by great American writers performed by terrific actors, with a lineup including Pulitzer Prize winners, National Book Award winners, and PEN Award winners.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Classic classics
- By Michael on 08-30-12
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Selected Shorts: Even More Laughs
- By: T. Coraghessan Boyle, Jonathan Lethem, Miranda July, and others
- Narrated by: Jerry Zaks, Alec Baldwin, Christine Baranski, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 6 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 55
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 34
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Story4 out of 5 stars 35
From silly chuckles to rueful ironic glee to deep cosmic laughter, this new volume of humorous tales samples the best of recent seasons of the popular public radio series Selected Shorts.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Smiling more than laughing
- By Timo on 12-02-10
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Selected Shorts
- Whodunit?
- By: C. S. Montanye, Dashiell Hammett, Ed McBain, and others
- Narrated by: Fionnula Flanagan, John Shea, Isaiah Sheffer, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 26
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 18
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Story4 out of 5 stars 16
Selected Shorts is an award-winning, one-hour program featuring readings of classic and new short fiction, recorded live at New York's Symphony Space. One of the most popular series on the airwaves, this unique show is hosted by Isaiah Sheffer and produced for radio by Symphony Space and WNYC Radio.
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5 out of 5 stars
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This is My Kinda Fiction Buster...
- By HIYBRID on 03-18-12
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Selected Shorts
- Family Matters
- By: Shirley Jackson, Frank O'Connor, Toure, and others
- Narrated by: Lois Smith, Malachy McCourt, Daniel Alexander Jones, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 29 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 19
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 11
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Story4 out of 5 stars 11
Hilarious and colorful episodes in the lives of families, many depicted from a kid's-eye-view, are the theme for this compilation. Being part of a family is often trying, and stranger than any fiction, but never dull and always worth it in the end. Join these very different families as they face the shrinking of parents, the pre-emptive guilt of First Confession, the secret worlds of children, and more!
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Selected Shorts: Funny Business
- By: Simon Rich, David Schickler, Joe Meno, and others
- Narrated by: Wyatt Cenac, Isiah Sheffer, Kirsten Vangsness, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 12 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 24
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 21
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Story4 out of 5 stars 20
From wild and wacky to knee-slapping, laugh-out-loud fun, these humorous tales represent some of the best of recent seasons of the hit public radio series Selected Shorts. Comedian Wyatt Cenac gives a killer performance of Simon Rich’s hilarious tale of woe from the point of view of a condom in a young man’s wallet. Alec Baldwin gives a delightful over-the-top performance of James Thurber’s wonderfully silly classic tale of the day everybody in a small Ohio town thought the dam broke.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Some very entertaining, some not
- By D. Littman on 11-22-14
-
Selected Shorts
- Lots of Laughs!
- By: Nicholson Baker, John Updike, David Schickler, and others
- Narrated by: Thomas Gibson, Charles Keating, David Rakoff
- Length: 3 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 196
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 52
-
Story3.5 out of 5 stars 51
Selected Shorts is an award-winning series of classic and contemporary short fiction read by acclaimed actors. The readings are recorded live at Peter Norton Symphony Space in New York City. The Selected Shorts radio series is a co-production of Symphony Space and WNYC, New York Public Radio, and is heard on public radio stations nationwide.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Wonderful Radio Show
- By Steve on 11-26-05
-
Selected Shorts: American Classics
- By: Amy Tan, Donald Barthelme, Eudora Welty, and others
- Narrated by: Freda Foh Shen, David Strathairn, Stockard Channing, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 45 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 64
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 52
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 51
A compilation of classic tales by great American writers performed by terrific actors, with a lineup including Pulitzer Prize winners, National Book Award winners, and PEN Award winners.
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5 out of 5 stars
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- By Michael on 08-30-12
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Selected Shorts: Even More Laughs
- By: T. Coraghessan Boyle, Jonathan Lethem, Miranda July, and others
- Narrated by: Jerry Zaks, Alec Baldwin, Christine Baranski, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 6 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 55
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 35
From silly chuckles to rueful ironic glee to deep cosmic laughter, this new volume of humorous tales samples the best of recent seasons of the popular public radio series Selected Shorts.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Smiling more than laughing
- By Timo on 12-02-10
-
Selected Shorts
- Whodunit?
- By: C. S. Montanye, Dashiell Hammett, Ed McBain, and others
- Narrated by: Fionnula Flanagan, John Shea, Isaiah Sheffer, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 26
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 18
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 16
Selected Shorts is an award-winning, one-hour program featuring readings of classic and new short fiction, recorded live at New York's Symphony Space. One of the most popular series on the airwaves, this unique show is hosted by Isaiah Sheffer and produced for radio by Symphony Space and WNYC Radio.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
This is My Kinda Fiction Buster...
- By HIYBRID on 03-18-12
-
Selected Shorts
- Family Matters
- By: Shirley Jackson, Frank O'Connor, Toure, and others
- Narrated by: Lois Smith, Malachy McCourt, Daniel Alexander Jones, and others
- Length: 2 hrs and 29 mins
- Original Recording
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 19
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 11
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 11
Hilarious and colorful episodes in the lives of families, many depicted from a kid's-eye-view, are the theme for this compilation. Being part of a family is often trying, and stranger than any fiction, but never dull and always worth it in the end. Join these very different families as they face the shrinking of parents, the pre-emptive guilt of First Confession, the secret worlds of children, and more!
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Selected Shorts
- Readers & Writers
- By: Evelyn Waugh, Molly Giles, Ray Bradbury, and others
- Narrated by: Tony Roberts, John Shea, Leonard Nimoy, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 56
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 31
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 31
A boon for booklovers, this audio set features funny, fantastical and poignant stories about people with unique and passionate connections to the written word.
Tony Roberts reads a hilarious Walter R. Brooks story about how Ed - a talking horse - became a voracious reader of adventure tales and mysteries. In a story by Italo Calvino, read by John Shea, a man tries to make the most of his beach holiday by reading and making love at the same time.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Truly Enjoyable!
- By Mazz on 01-07-16
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The Library Book
- By: Susan Orlean
- Narrated by: Susan Orlean
- Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 194
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 183
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 182
On the morning of April 29, 1986, a fire alarm sounded in the Los Angeles Public Library. As the moments passed, the patrons and staff who had cleared out of the building realized this was not the usual false alarm. As one fireman recounted later, “Once that first stack got going, it was good-bye, Charlie.” The fire was disastrous: It reached 2,000 degrees and burned for more than seven hours. By the time it was extinguished, it had consumed 400,000 books and damaged 700,000 more.
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1 out of 5 stars
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SLOW
- By Monchi on 11-17-18
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Selected Shorts: Behaving Badly
- By: Neil Gaiman, Nathan Englander, Stephen King, and others
- Narrated by: Neil Gaiman, Jefferson Mays, Michael Imperioli, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 3 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 50
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 43
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Story4 out of 5 stars 43
The award winning series of classic and contemporary fiction returns with a collection of darkly funny short stories by the likes of Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Aimee Bender, A.M. Homes, Nathan Englander, Kim, Addonizio, and George Saunders. Readers include Anjelica Huston, Neil Gaiman, Michael Imperioli, Harris Yulin, Christina Pickles, Jefferson Mays, and Christine Ebersole.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Come close to me, and I'll eat your life.
- By Cynthia on 02-28-16
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The Yellow Wallpaper
- By: Charlotte Perkins Gilman
- Narrated by: Jo Myddleton
- Length: 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 407
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 347
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 344
Instructed to abandon her intellectual life and avoid stimulating company, she sinks into a still-deeper depression invisible to her husband, who believes he knows what is best for her. Alone in the yellow-wallpapered nursery of a rented house, she descends into madness.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Unnerving and disturbing
- By ESK on 12-29-13
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Selected Shorts: A Touch of Magic
- By: Andrew Lam, Ray Bradbury, Haruki Murakami, and others
- Narrated by: James Naughton, Stephen Colbert, John Lithgow, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 47
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 33
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Story4 out of 5 stars 36
By turns funny, moving, romantic and surreal, and filled with unexpected twists and turns, each of the tales on this lineup has a magical element.
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Short Stories: The Vintage Collection
- By: F. Scott Fitzgerald, Saki, Thomas Hardy, and others
- Narrated by: Derek Jacobi, Martin Jarvis, Hugh Laurie, and others
- Length: 7 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall3.5 out of 5 stars 93
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 68
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Story3.5 out of 5 stars 69
The fifth volume in CSA Word's massively popular complete and unabridged ‘Short Stories’ collection is bound to please. With something for everyone this collection of classic stories read by only the best-suited and most established readers will delight the ears as a vintage wine excites the gullet; The Vintage Collection is audible gold. Features eye-catching typographical series design.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Superb Collection and Production
- By andrew on 07-14-12
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Selected Shorts
- Edith Wharton
- By: Edith Wharton
- Narrated by: Kathleen Chalfant, Maria Tucci, Brenda Wehle, and others
- Length: 1 hr and 55 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 24
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 11
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Story5 out of 5 stars 12
Selected Shorts: A Celebration of the Short Story has toured to the Mount, the stately and elegant home of the great American writer Edith Wharton, for the last several summers, presenting Broadway and Hollywood actors reading stories by Wharton and other writers. Selected Shorts now presents a collection of four of Edith Wharton's short stories, recorded live at the Mount, and featuring acclaimed actresses Kathleen Chalfant, Christina Pickles, Maria Tucci, and Brenda Wehle.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Excellent readings, BUT...
- By Daniel on 05-08-10
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The James Thurber Audio Collection
- Fables and Selected Stories by James Thurber
- By: James Thurber
- Narrated by: Keith Olbermann
- Length: 3 hrs and 2 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 114
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 103
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 102
"My father was in the hospital and every night when I visited him, I read aloud to him. James Thurber. And one night he said, 'You really should do that on your show,' and I said, 'Dad, it’s a television newscast. I’d love to, but how could it possibly fit?' And he said, 'How often have I ever suggested anything for your shows?' And I remembered that he never had. But I also reminded him that there were things like copyrights and bills, to which he said, 'Try it. You never know.'"
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4 out of 5 stars
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Olbermann a lttle over the top
- By Carol Richards on 09-05-12
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Selected Shorts
- Are We There Yet?
- By: Stuart Dybek, Martha Gellhorn, Edward P. Jones, and others
- Narrated by: Keith Szarabajka, Joanna Gleason, Sonia Manzano, and others
- Length: 3 hrs and 7 mins
- Original Recording
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 22
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 9
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Story4 out of 5 stars 9
A lot can happen on the way from one place to another, especially when an overnight flight makes for an unexpected romantic encounter between strangers seated together; a trucker finds life beyond the ranch where he grew up; and a bored Midwestern housewife tries to escape Kansas City.
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News of the World
- A Novel
- By: Paulette Jiles
- Narrated by: Grover Gardner
- Length: 5 hrs and 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 5,753
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 5,333
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 5,320
In the aftermath of the Civil War, an aging itinerant news reader agrees to transport a young captive of the Kiowa back to her people in this exquisitely rendered, morally complex, multilayered novel of historical fiction from the author of Enemy Women that explores the boundaries of family, responsibility, honor, and trust.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Delightful story....but not True Grit
- By DenGig on 04-14-17
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The Open Boat
- By: Stephen Crane
- Narrated by: Richard Rohan
- Length: 58 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 20
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 14
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 14
As a well-paid war correspondent, Stephen Crane was shipwrecked en route to Cuba in early 1897. He and a small party of passengers spent 30 hours adrift off the coast of Florida, an experience that Crane would later transform into this, his most famous short story, in 1898.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Worth hearing again
- By HamIAm on 09-15-15
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Less
- By: Andrew Sean Greer
- Narrated by: Robert Petkoff
- Length: 8 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,988
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,753
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Story4 out of 5 stars 2,742
You are a failed novelist about to turn 50. A wedding invitation arrives in the mail: Your boyfriend of the past nine years is engaged to someone else. You can't say yes - it would be too awkward - and you can't say no - it would look like defeat. On your desk are a series of invitations to half-baked literary events around the world. Question: How do you arrange to skip town? Answer: You accept them all.
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4 out of 5 stars
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Endearing, funny, but sometimes overly clever
- By Becca on 07-30-17
Publisher's Summary
Selected Shorts is an award-winning series of classic and contemporary short fiction read by acclaimed actors. The readings are recorded live at Peter Norton Symphony Space in New York City. The Selected Shorts radio series is a co-production of Symphony Space and WNYC, New York Public Radio, and is heard on public radio stations nationwide.
In this collection of timeless classics:
- James Thurber's "The Night the Ghost Got In" read by Isiah Sheffer
- Edith Wharton's "Roman Fever" read by Maria Tucci
- Jack London's "Make Westing" read by Steven Gilborn
- D.H. Lawrence's "The Rocking-horse Winner" read by John Shea
- Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery" read by Marian Seldes
- Richard Connell's "The Most Dangerous Game" read by Charles Keating
- Raymond Carver's "Cathedral" read by James Naughton
Critic Reviews
- Audie Award Finalist, Audiobook Adapted from Another Medium, 2007
"What makes these retellings fresh is the dynamic of the live audience, with the murmurs and, at times, laughter of the crowd helping to direct readers." ( Audiofile)
More from the same
What members say
Average Customer Ratings
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Southern lady
- 07-22-07
Outstanding!
A wonderful variety of stories, each one offers opportunities for perspectives you may not have considered before. Some will leave you podering others are just laugh out loud. So good you'll want to go back to listen again!
4 of 4 people found this review helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Scott
- 03-04-06
first rate
perfect before sleep listening. the pieces are reasonably short and it's easy to navigate from one to the other.
great stories, well read. this is the nineteenth of a series from symphony space. i can only hope audible nabs the rest.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- William
- 09-14-06
Very Good
The short stories are great and very very well read. I was highly entertained and pleased.
2 of 2 people found this review helpful
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Overall5 out of 5 stars
- Christina
- Dallas, TX, USA
- 05-02-07
Wonderful Entertainment
Excellent!! Wonderful stories read by awesome performers.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
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Overall4 out of 5 stars
- Jill
- chicago, il
- 06-12-09
a worthwhile listen
While most of the stories are engaging, I did find myself zoning out while listening to a couple of them. Overall this is a good listen. The length of the stories is perfect for commute or on the treadmill. I would recommend.