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The Elements of Eloquence
- Secrets of the Perfect Turn of Phrase
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 5 hrs and 29 mins
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Publisher's summary
From classic poetry to pop lyrics, from Charles Dickens to Dolly Parton, even from Jesus to James Bond, Mark Forsyth explains the secrets that make a phrase - such as "O Captain! My Captain!" or "To be or not to be" - memorable. In his inimitably entertaining and wonderfully witty style, he takes apart famous phrases and shows how you too can write like Shakespeare or quip like Oscar Wilde. Whether you’re aiming to achieve literary immortality or just hoping to deliver the perfect one-liner, The Elements of Eloquence proves that you don’t need to have anything important to say - you simply need to say it well. In an age unhealthily obsessed with the power of substance, this is a book that highlights the importance of style.
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Little is known about the Ancient Greek oral poet Homer, the supposed 8th century BC author of the world-read Iliad and his later masterpiece, The Odyssey. These classic epics provided the basis for Greek education and culture throughout the classical age and formed the backbone of humane education through the birth of the Roman Empire and the spread of Christianity.
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Worth the price, worth the time
- By Sam on 12-31-04
By: Homer
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The Oscar Wilde Collection
- By: Oscar Wilde
- Narrated by: James Marsters, Jacqueline Bisset, Alfred Molina, and others
- Length: 8 hrs and 22 mins
- Original Recording
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Four classic comedies from one of the wittiest playwrights in Western literature: Lady Windermere's Fan, A Woman of No Importance, An Ideal Husband, and The Importance of Being Earnest, all featuring star-studded casts with the likes of Jacqueline Bisset, Miriam Margolyes, James Marsters, Alfred Molina, Roger Rees, Yeardley Smith, Eric Stoltz, and many more. This audio also includes a chilling dramatization of Wilde's sole novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray.
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Good Collection
- By Anniebligh on 03-31-12
By: Oscar Wilde
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Fury
- By: Salman Rushdie
- Narrated by: Salman Rushdie
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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The world renowned author of The Satanic Verses and The Ground Beneath Her Feet, Salman Rushdie is a Whitbread Award winner and recipient of the Booker Prize. His first truly American novel, Fury is a metaphorically rich black comedy that reflects the pressure-cooker of modern life. Malik Solanka, irascible doll-maker and retired historian of ideas, suffers the pain of wanting without knowing exactly what it is he wants.
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surprisingly good
- By David on 11-21-07
By: Salman Rushdie
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Born to Kvetch
- Yiddish Language and Culture in All of Its Moods
- By: Michael Wex
- Narrated by: Michael Wex
- Length: 10 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
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As the main spoken language of the Jews for more than a thousand years, Yiddish has had plenty to lament, plenty to conceal. Its phrases and expressions paint a comprehensive picture of the mind-set that enabled the Jews of Europe to survive persecution: they never stopped kvetching about God, gentiles, children, and everything else.
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Fascinating, but...
- By Christopher B. on 04-05-16
By: Michael Wex
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The Ground Beneath Her Feet
- By: Salman Rushdie
- Narrated by: Steven Crossley
- Length: 27 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
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Salman Rushdie is widely considered one of a handful of truly great living writers. The internationally acclaimed, Booker Prize-winning author's storytelling shines in this epic love story, a modern retelling of the myth of Orpheus.
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Okay, Salmon, We get that you're a genious already
- By Julie A Quinn on 04-23-09
By: Salman Rushdie
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Foucault's Pendulum
- By: Umberto Eco
- Narrated by: Tim Curry
- Length: 6 hrs and 34 mins
- Abridged
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One Colonel Ardenti, who has unnaturally black, brilliantined hair, a carefully groomed mustache, wears maroon socks, and who once served in the Foreign Legion, starts it all. He tells three Milan book editors that he has discovered a coded message about a Templar Plan, centuries old and involving Stonehenge, a plan to tap a mystic source of power far greater than atomic energy.
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too much missing
- By Kenneth on 01-29-07
By: Umberto Eco
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The Earth Will Shake
- The Historical Illuminatus Chronicles Vol. I
- By: Robert Anton Wilson
- Narrated by: Scot Crisp
- Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins
- Unabridged
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They have been with us throughout the ages: the "Invisible College" of wisdom and their adversaries, the destroyers. Naples, Italy, circa 1764: A young aristocrat is about to stumble onto one piece of the great pattern. As witness to a vicious assassination and victim of his passion for the beautiful daughter of his enemy, young Sigismundo Celine is forced to begin a mystical odyssey amidst an ageless clash of Freemasons, Mafia, and the Illuminati.
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Hugely entertaining and informative.
- By Andrew on 07-13-07
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The Roman Way
- By: Edith Hamilton
- Narrated by: Nadia May
- Length: 6 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Edith Hamilton shows us Rome through the eyes of the Romans. Plautus and Terence, Cicero and Caesar, Catullus, Horace, Virgil, and Augustus come to life in their ambitions, their work, their loves and hates. In them we see reflected a picture of Roman life very different from that fixed in our minds through schoolroom days, and far livelier.
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Not so bad
- By steve on 04-25-11
By: Edith Hamilton
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A History of the World in 10 1/2 Chapters
- By: Julian Barnes
- Narrated by: Alex Jennings
- Length: 10 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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This is one of the defining novels of English writer Julian Barnes. An entertaining melange of stories starting with a contemporary account of the launch of Noah's Ark takes us into unexpected areas of human foibles, activities, and tendencies.
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Not what I Expected
- By Mark on 02-20-08
By: Julian Barnes
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Maddening! Does not work as an audiobook!
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You'll be horrified at a lifetime of usage errors.
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Best audiobook by far for writing screenplays
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A definitive collection of wisdom on every style of writing and a celebration of the transformative power of the written word from one of the most influential writers and thinkers of the modern age, C. S. Lewis, the beloved author of the Chronicles of Narnia series, Mere Christianity, The Screwtape Letters, and other revered classics.
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Does your mind blank in conversation and create awkward silence? Do you run out of things to say and struggle to keep dialogue flowing? (A) Conversation isn't scripted, (B) it's 100% unpredictable, and (C) it can be terrifying at times. How do you prepare for such a thing? By learning how to apply improv comedy techniques to roll with any punch and improve your conversations and social interactions.
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should be required reading or listening
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What listeners say about The Elements of Eloquence
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Philo
- 10-30-14
Who knew rhetoric could be so much fun?
(Yes, that's a rhetorical question.)
This is not for everybody, but this is probably a bookish crowd, right? (We have a second rhetorical question already? Oops, and there's another?.) If you are delighted by English words and phrases, I recommend this. The author almost dances through it, tossing jokes everywhere. The narrator is ideal -- I wonder whether my laughing aloud on my listening-walks is at the wit of the author (and his often smartly goofy portrayals of very ostensibly serious writings) or the narrator's understated puckish style that always seems casual and yet right on the edge of laughter. This is a nice trip through English poetry and literature of the last few hundred years too. There are many little deconstructions of Shakespeare, also Dickens, William Blake, a bit of Jane Austen, some Churchill, on and on.
I see the author has other books here, and I won't hesitate to snap them up.
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65 people found this helpful
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- Gillian
- 04-27-15
Quick! Answer This:
What do Jesus and John Lennon have in common? Shakespeare and Sting? The greatest fun of "The Elements of Eloquence" is finding out. Sure Shakespeare gets the lion's share of coverage, along with some Austen, Dumas, and other classics. But here you'll find references to Quentin Tarantino, Snoop Dogg, quotes from modern politicians.
This is a hilarious work covering elements I'd never known the names of, and some I'd never heard of. It's enlightening, and like I said, the examples are so much fun. I learned so much (the most important thing being: You actually CAN end a sentence with a preposition! So take THAT Mrs. Bryson!).
I suggest listening to it at x1.25 speed, as even then it flows casually.
This is so enjoyable for both readers and writers. For readers: You can listen in one sitting. For writers: You'll want to come back to this again and again!
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64 people found this helpful
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- Donald E. Campbell
- 06-21-15
Just enjoy the listen
Any additional comments?
I think some of the negative comments for this book come from those who expect too much from it. It is a light/skim the surface look at the "elements of eloquence" -- You aren't going into the jungle of deep learning here folks. You are just being introduced in a well written (often funny) and light manner.
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31 people found this helpful
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- David
- 02-17-15
A book that provides great insights into writing
Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?
Yes! Exceptional book. It provides a great amount of detail as to why we like certain sayings. I found it to be fantastic.
What did you like best about this story?
The breadth and depth of the analysis; the details offered. Great stuff!
Have you listened to any of Don Hagen’s other performances before? How does this one compare?
No, but I hope to again. I found him to be a greater reader.
What did you learn from The Elements of Eloquence that you would use in your daily life?
I will pay more attention to both writings and speaking, to pick up on some of the techniques that the author describes.
Any additional comments?
I found the writing style to be exceptional. The author is quite talented, both in his ability to gather details but also in expressing them. Again, the reading was great, too.
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22 people found this helpful
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- Kyle
- 10-19-15
Well Done!
I would recommend this book to anybody who desires to improve their speech and/or writing, especially to those who want to inspire or become memorable with the spoken and written word.
This book does get a little dry. It's a study book, not something to read quickly.
The narrator was phenomenal! He spoke with an air of...I don't know...Eloquence.
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15 people found this helpful
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- Dennis Jones
- 09-03-15
Witty, but
Would you consider the audio edition of The Elements of Eloquence to be better than the print version?
A paperback is probably the proper method to memorize this mesmerizing manual for manufacturing memorable mannerisms.
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14 people found this helpful
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- R.Dunn
- 05-27-15
Sexy.
For logophiles, this audiobook sounds like fucking feels. If English classes were Sex Ed., this would be porn.
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14 people found this helpful
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- Touque
- 02-04-16
A detailed English lesson, but NOT for businessmen
I'm a terrible writer (thankfully, I'm a business person). I bought this book in hopes of becoming more eloquent in my presentations, but the many English lessons were a bit too technical and tedious for me. I still gave this book a 4-star rating because it delivers on what it promises and I can see how it would be very helpful for writers.
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- Tim
- 09-22-15
Fantastic book ; Excellent narration
This is among the best books available on Audible.com. Mark Forsyth is learned and hilarious. There is no author quite like him. Buy this book and listen to it!
The narrator, Don Hagen, does an excellent job with this material.
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- Grandmother librarian
- 12-02-15
Good, if sometimes a little too technical
I liked all the examples from the various sources . He used prose, poetry, speeches and plays to demonstrate the use of figures of rhetoric. But sometimes the minute differences were hard to distinguish, even with examples. Nonetheless, it was an entertaining book with a skilled reader.
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9 people found this helpful