-
The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil
- Narrated by: George Saunders
- Length: 2 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Genre Fiction
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Buy for $14.00
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Pastoralia
- By: George Saunders
- Narrated by: George Saunders
- Length: 4 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 103
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 86
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 84
Hailed by Thomas Pynchon as "graceful, dark, authentic, and funny," George Saunders gives us, in his inventive and beloved voice, this best-selling collection of stories set against a warped, hilarious, and terrifyingly recognizable American landscape.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Greatest living short story author reads own work.
- By A. Cohen on 08-25-19
By: George Saunders
-
Fox 8
- A Story
- By: George Saunders
- Narrated by: George Saunders
- Length: 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 576
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 533
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 531
Fox 8 has always been known as the daydreamer in his pack, the one his fellow foxes regarded with a knowing snort and a roll of the eyes. That is, until Fox 8 develops a unique skill: He teaches himself to speak Yuman by hiding in the bushes outside a house and listening to children’s bedtime stories. The power of language fuels his abundant curiosity about people - even after danjer arrives in the form of a new shopping mall that cuts off his food supply, sending Fox 8 on a harrowing quest to help save his pack.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Sly Foxes, Wise Owls, Mean Dudes
- By Mel on 05-28-13
By: George Saunders
-
In Persuasion Nation
- By: George Saunders
- Narrated by: George Saunders
- Length: 5 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 35
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 35
From the number one New York Times best-selling author of the Man Booker Prize-winning novel Lincoln in the Bardo and the story collection Tenth of December, a 2013 National Book Award Finalist for Fiction. Talking candy bars, baby geniuses, disappointed mothers, castrated dogs, interned teenagers, and moral fables - all in this hilarious and heartbreaking collection from an author hailed as the heir to Kurt Vonnegut and Thomas Pynchon.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Disappointing
- By Cynthia on 06-14-21
By: George Saunders
-
Bluebeard
- The Autobiography of Rabo Karabekian (1916-1988)
- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 586
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 526
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 522
Meet Rabo Karabekian, a moderately successful surrealist painter who we meet late in life and see struggling (like all of Vonnegut's key characters) with the dregs of unresolved pain and the consequences of brutality. Loosely based on the legend of Bluebeard (best realized in Bela Bartok's one-act opera), the novel follows Karabekian through the last events in his life that is heavy with women, painting, artistic ambition, artistic fraudulence, and as of yet unknown consequence.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Kurt Vonnegut explores the arts
- By Darwin8u on 12-28-17
By: Kurt Vonnegut
-
CivilWarLand in Bad Decline
- Stories and a Novella
- By: George Saunders, Joshua Ferris - introduction
- Narrated by: George Saunders, Joshua Ferris
- Length: 5 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 147
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 131
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 129
Since its publication in 1996, George Saunders’ debut collection has grown in esteem from a cherished cult classic to a masterpiece of the form, inspiring an entire generation of writers along the way. In six stories and a novella, Saunders hatches an unforgettable cast of characters, each struggling to survive in an increasingly haywire world.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Gold
- By jdk on 09-13-19
By: George Saunders, and others
-
Consider the Lobster
- And Other Essays
- By: David Foster Wallace
- Narrated by: David Foster Wallace, Robert Petkoff
- Length: 15 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 429
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 361
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 359
Do lobsters feel pain? Did Franz Kafka have a funny bone? What is John Updike's deal, anyway? And what happens when adult video starlets meet their fans in person? David Foster Wallace answers these questions and more in essays that are also enthralling narrative adventures.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
How this differs from the other version
- By Jonathan Penley on 12-26-17
-
Pastoralia
- By: George Saunders
- Narrated by: George Saunders
- Length: 4 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 103
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 86
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 84
Hailed by Thomas Pynchon as "graceful, dark, authentic, and funny," George Saunders gives us, in his inventive and beloved voice, this best-selling collection of stories set against a warped, hilarious, and terrifyingly recognizable American landscape.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Greatest living short story author reads own work.
- By A. Cohen on 08-25-19
By: George Saunders
-
Fox 8
- A Story
- By: George Saunders
- Narrated by: George Saunders
- Length: 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 576
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 533
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 531
Fox 8 has always been known as the daydreamer in his pack, the one his fellow foxes regarded with a knowing snort and a roll of the eyes. That is, until Fox 8 develops a unique skill: He teaches himself to speak Yuman by hiding in the bushes outside a house and listening to children’s bedtime stories. The power of language fuels his abundant curiosity about people - even after danjer arrives in the form of a new shopping mall that cuts off his food supply, sending Fox 8 on a harrowing quest to help save his pack.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Sly Foxes, Wise Owls, Mean Dudes
- By Mel on 05-28-13
By: George Saunders
-
In Persuasion Nation
- By: George Saunders
- Narrated by: George Saunders
- Length: 5 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 35
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 35
From the number one New York Times best-selling author of the Man Booker Prize-winning novel Lincoln in the Bardo and the story collection Tenth of December, a 2013 National Book Award Finalist for Fiction. Talking candy bars, baby geniuses, disappointed mothers, castrated dogs, interned teenagers, and moral fables - all in this hilarious and heartbreaking collection from an author hailed as the heir to Kurt Vonnegut and Thomas Pynchon.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Disappointing
- By Cynthia on 06-14-21
By: George Saunders
-
Bluebeard
- The Autobiography of Rabo Karabekian (1916-1988)
- By: Kurt Vonnegut
- Narrated by: Mark Bramhall
- Length: 7 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 586
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 526
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 522
Meet Rabo Karabekian, a moderately successful surrealist painter who we meet late in life and see struggling (like all of Vonnegut's key characters) with the dregs of unresolved pain and the consequences of brutality. Loosely based on the legend of Bluebeard (best realized in Bela Bartok's one-act opera), the novel follows Karabekian through the last events in his life that is heavy with women, painting, artistic ambition, artistic fraudulence, and as of yet unknown consequence.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Kurt Vonnegut explores the arts
- By Darwin8u on 12-28-17
By: Kurt Vonnegut
-
CivilWarLand in Bad Decline
- Stories and a Novella
- By: George Saunders, Joshua Ferris - introduction
- Narrated by: George Saunders, Joshua Ferris
- Length: 5 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 147
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 131
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 129
Since its publication in 1996, George Saunders’ debut collection has grown in esteem from a cherished cult classic to a masterpiece of the form, inspiring an entire generation of writers along the way. In six stories and a novella, Saunders hatches an unforgettable cast of characters, each struggling to survive in an increasingly haywire world.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Gold
- By jdk on 09-13-19
By: George Saunders, and others
-
Consider the Lobster
- And Other Essays
- By: David Foster Wallace
- Narrated by: David Foster Wallace, Robert Petkoff
- Length: 15 hrs and 8 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 429
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 361
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 359
Do lobsters feel pain? Did Franz Kafka have a funny bone? What is John Updike's deal, anyway? And what happens when adult video starlets meet their fans in person? David Foster Wallace answers these questions and more in essays that are also enthralling narrative adventures.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
How this differs from the other version
- By Jonathan Penley on 12-26-17
-
The Very Persistent Gappers of Frip
- By: George Saunders
- Narrated by: George Saunders
- Length: 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 9
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 9
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 9
Gappers will get your goat. Literally. If you don't brush them off and return them to the ocean, these bright orange, many-eyed creatures will cover your goats, and the goats will stop giving milk. In a village called Frip, goat's milk was the entire economy. Three families lived there - the Romos, the Ronsens, and a little girl named Capable and her widowed father, who wanted everything to remain the same. It didn't. One day, the Gappers decided for a good reason to concentrate on Capable's goats. Oh, how the Romos and Ronsens turned their backs on the gapper-ridden Capable!
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Perfect parable on kindness for all ages
- By Bonnie on 04-10-20
By: George Saunders
-
A Swim in a Pond in the Rain
- In Which Four Russians Give a Master Class on Writing, Reading, and Life
- By: George Saunders
- Narrated by: George Saunders, Phylicia Rashad, Nick Offerman, and others
- Length: 14 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 272
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 228
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 222
For the last 20 years, George Saunders has been teaching a class on the Russian short story to his MFA students at Syracuse University. In A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, he shares a version of that class with us, offering some of what he and his students have discovered together over the years. Paired with iconic short stories by Chekhov, Turgenev, Tolstoy, and Gogol, the seven essays in this book are intended for anyone interested in how fiction works and why it’s more relevant than ever in these turbulent times.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An innovative and fresh listening experience
- By Scott Garrioch on 01-14-21
By: George Saunders
-
The Braindead Megaphone
- By: George Saunders
- Narrated by: George Saunders
- Length: 6 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 32
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 29
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 28
George Saunders's first foray into nonfiction is comprised of essays on literature, travel, and politics. At the core of this unique collection are Saunders's travel essays based on his trips to seek out the mysteries of the "Buddha Boy" of Nepal; to attempt to indulge in the extravagant pleasures of Dubai; and to join the exploits of the minutemen at the Mexican border. Saunders expertly navigates the works of Mark Twain, Kurt Vonnegut, and Esther Forbes, and leads the listener across the rocky political landscape of modern America.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
George Saunders is a genius!
- By caitlyngarofolo on 05-31-20
By: George Saunders
-
Let Them Eat Tweets
- How the Right Rules in an Age of Extreme Inequality
- By: Jacob S. Hacker, Paul Pierson
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 8 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 94
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 80
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 78
In Let Them Eat Tweets, best-selling political scientists Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson offer a definitive answer: the Republican Party serves its plutocratic masters to a degree without precedent in modern global history. Conservative parties, by their nature, almost always side with the rich. But when faced with popular resistance, they usually make concessions, allowing some policies that benefit the working and middle classes. After all, how can a political party maintain power in a democracy if it serves only the interests of a narrow and wealthy slice of society?
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
a call to action that does not shame but warns
- By SomeGuy on 08-29-20
By: Jacob S. Hacker, and others
-
The Futurological Congress
- From the Memoirs of Ijon Tichy
- By: Stanislaw Lem
- Narrated by: David Marantz
- Length: 4 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 155
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 137
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 139
Bringing his twin gifts of scientific speculation and scathing satire to bear on that hapless planet, Earth, Lem sends his unlucky cosmonaut, Ijon Tichy, to the Eighth Futurological Congress. Caught up in local revolution, Tichy is shot and so critically wounded that he is flashfrozen to await a future cure.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
The Onion on scifi steroids
- By Julie W. Capell on 03-27-16
By: Stanislaw Lem
-
The Sailor Who Fell From Grace With the Sea
- By: Yukio Mishima
- Narrated by: Brian Nishii
- Length: 4 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 304
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 264
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 264
A band of savage 13-year-old boys reject the adult world as illusory, hypocritical, and sentimental, and train themselves in a brutal callousness they call 'objectivity'. When the mother of one of them begins an affair with a ship's officer, he and his friends idealise the man at first; but it is not long before they conclude that he is in fact soft and romantic. They regard this disallusionment as an act of betrayal on his part - and the retribution is deliberate and horrifying.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Good Book
- By Gabriel Francy on 01-22-19
By: Yukio Mishima
Publisher's Summary
From the number-one New York Times best-selling author of the Man Booker Prize-winning novel Lincoln in the Bardo and the story collection Tenth of December, a 2013 National Book Award Finalist for Fiction.
In a profoundly strange country called Inner Horner, large enough for only one resident at a time, citizens waiting to enter the country fall under the rule of the power-hungry and tyrannical Phil, setting off a chain of injustice and mass hysteria.
An Animal Farm for the 21st century, this is an incendiary political satire of unprecedented imagination, spiky humor, and cautionary appreciation for the hysteric in everyone. Over six years in the writing, this novella is Saunders' first stand-alone, book-length work - and his first book for adults in five years.
Includes an original song by the author.
“The Phil Stomp” was written and performed by George Saunders and recorded, mixed, and mastered by Peter Coleman at Indigital Studios in Santa Cruz, California.
More from the same
What listeners say about The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil
Average Customer RatingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- james
- 06-04-19
4.02 stars
This is a funny and entertaining novella. It’s probably fine for kids too. Saunders also narrates this audiobook, and he’s a really good narrator. It’s hard to believe he wrote this in back 2005. This novel is probably more relevant today than when he first released it. It's a quirky tale, but it's also brief and frightening at the same time.
Overall rating: 4.02 stars
5 people found this helpful
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- Darwin8u
- 12-24-19
“Our country is big, let us be big.”
This novella is one part Animal Farm, one part Gulliver's Travels. Part parable, part satire, it is (not to give to much of too little away) a short novella about border disputes, leadership, the media, and standing up to oppression. It was published in 2005 under the GWB administration, but feels (because of global border disputes) more relevant today in 2019 than even it was in 2005.
It is cute, at times funny, quick, and narratively interesting. It just isn't Saunders great. It is a minor moon and not even a planet in his solar system. But still, it is a "lush, full moon" at that.
2 people found this helpful