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The Cheaper the Crook, the Gaudier the Patter
- Forgotten Hipster Lines, Tough Guy Talk, and Jive Gems
- Narrated by: Rod Tienken
- Length: 4 hrs and 27 mins
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Publisher's Summary
Calling all Dapper Dans and Oomph Girls - take a ride through the American lexicon at its most inventive.
The Cheaper the Crook, the Gaudier the Patter: Forgotten Hipster Lines, Tough Guy Talk, and Jive Gems explores the rich vocabulary of gangsters, hipsters, jazz musicians, and military personnel of the 1930s and ’40s. Entries include definitions, etymology, and examples of usage. This delightful compendium celebrates the linguistic gems cut and polished during the Great Depression, World War I, and the postwar '50s - now forgotten or in danger of being forgotten.
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A fast, fun listen. (The movie is better.)
- By David P on 12-06-18
By: Lee Israel
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The United States of Absurdity
- Untold Stories from American History
- By: Dave Anthony, Gareth Reynolds, Patton Oswalt - foreword
- Narrated by: Dave Anthony, Gareth Reynolds
- Length: 2 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
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The creators of the podcast The Dollop present profiles of the weird, outrageous, NSFW, and downright absurd tales from American history that you weren't taught in school. The United States of Absurdity presents short, informative, and hilarious stories of the most outlandish (but true) people, events, and more from United States history.
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Fun With Useless Facts
- By Keith on 05-21-17
By: Dave Anthony, and others
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Paddy Whacked
- The Untold Story of the Irish American Gangster
- By: T. J. English
- Narrated by: David Colacci
- Length: 21 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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In Paddy Whacked, best-selling author and organized crime expert T. J. English brings to life nearly two centuries of Irish American gangsterism, which spawned such unforgettable characters as Mike "King Mike" McDonald, Chicago's subterranean godfather; Big Bill Dwyer, New York's most notorious rumrunner during Prohibition; Mickey Featherstone, troubled Vietnam vet turned Westies gang leader; and James "Whitey" Bulger, the ruthless and seemingly untouchable Southie legend.
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First Half - 4 Stars - Second Half - 2 Stars
- By Lulu on 08-29-16
By: T. J. English
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Gangsters vs. Nazis
- How Jewish Mobsters Battled Nazis in Wartime America
- By: Michael Benson
- Narrated by: Gabriel Vaughan
- Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
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As Adolph Hitler rose to power in 1930s Germany, a growing wave of fascism began to take root on American soil. Nazi activists started to gather in major American cities, and by 1933, there were more than one hundred anti-Semitic groups operating openly in the United States. Few Americans dared to speak out or fight back—until an organized resistance of notorious mobsters waged their own personal war against the Nazis in their midst. Gangland-style.
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What, you couldn’t find one culturally Jewish narrator?
- By Deborah Bancroft on 12-29-22
By: Michael Benson
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Ranting Again
- By: Dennis Miller
- Narrated by: Dennis Miller
- Length: 3 hrs and 3 mins
- Abridged
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Dennis Miller is back, and he is Ranting Again in this hilarious compendium of wit, wisdom, and righteous outrage. This is good news for all of us who fume at the country's lack of common sense, and seethe at the absurdity of the daily headlines. Setting his sights higher and wider than ever before, Dennis Miller is at the top of his game in a biting and rowdy performance that unleashes his unique brand of scathing wit on anything and everything.
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Pre Fox News Dennis
- By Lifeisshort on 05-07-15
By: Dennis Miller
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City of Devils
- The Two Men Who Ruled the Underworld of Old Shanghai
- By: Paul French
- Narrated by: Paul Chan
- Length: 9 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Shanghai, 1930s; it was a haven for outlaws from all over the world: a place where pasts could be forgotten, fascism and communism outrun, names invented, and fortunes made - and lost. “Lucky” Jack Riley was the most notorious of those outlaws. An ex-US Navy boxing champion, he escaped from prison and rose to become the Slots King of Shanghai. “Dapper” Joe Farren - a Jewish boy who fled Vienna’s ghetto - ruled the nightclubs. This is the story of their rise to power, their downfall, and the trail of destruction left in their wake.
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Very hard to listen to
- By Terrance D. Harps on 07-26-18
By: Paul French
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Dave Barry's Greatest Hits
- By: Dave Barry
- Narrated by: John Ritter, Dave Barry - introduction
- Length: 2 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Tupperware ladies, eighties people, and leisure concept salesmen beware: Dave Barry is on the loose and no one is safe! Tune in for the latest hilarious update on American culture. This collection of anecdotes includes sound-offs on gambling ("Off-Track Betting parlors are the kinds of places where you never see signs that say, 'Thank you for not smoking.' The best you could hope for is, 'Thank you for not spitting pieces of your cigar on my neck'"), the Big Apple ("New York has more commissioners than Des Moines, Iowa, has residents"), and more.
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Don't miss this one.
- By Steve on 12-17-03
By: Dave Barry
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The Undocumented Mark Steyn
- Don't Say You Weren't Warned
- By: Mark Steyn
- Narrated by: Mark Steyn
- Length: 13 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
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He's brash, brilliant, and drawn to controversy like a moth to a flame. For decades, Mark Steyn has dazzled audiences around the world with his raucous wit and brutal honesty. Whether he's sounding off on the tyranny of political correctness, the existential threat of Islamic extremism, the "nationalization" of the family, or the "near suicidal stupidity" of America's immigration regime, Steyn is always provocative - and often laugh-out-loud hilarious.
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The great Steyn
- By J. Olson on 07-12-16
By: Mark Steyn
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Tibetan Peach Pie
- A True Account of an Imaginative Life
- By: Tom Robbins
- Narrated by: Keith Szarabajka
- Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Internationally best-selling novelist and American icon Tom Robbins delivers the long-awaited tale of his wild life and times, both at home and around the globe. The grandchild of Baptist preachers, Robbins would become over the course of half a century a poet-interruptus, an air force weatherman, a radio DJ, an art-critic-turned-psychedelic-journeyman, a world-famous novelist, and a counter-culture hero, leading a life as unlikely, magical, and bizarre as those of his quixotic characters.
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This isn't a book, it's a complete experience
- By David Shear on 05-31-14
By: Tom Robbins
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400 Things Cops Know: Street-Smart Lessons From a Veteran Patrolman
- By: Adam Plantinga
- Narrated by: Mark Boyett
- Length: 7 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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400 Things Cops Know shows police work on the inside, from the viewpoint of the regular cop on the beat - a profession that can range from rewarding to bizarre to terrifying, all within the course of an eight-hour shift. Written by veteran police sergeant Adam Plantinga, 400 Things Cops Know brings the listener into life the way cops experience it - a life of danger, frustration, occasional triumph, and plenty of grindingly hard routine work.
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Between Good and Evil is Where I Walk
- By Cynthia on 05-26-16
By: Adam Plantinga
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Bop Apocalypse
- Jazz, Race, the Beats, and Drugs
- By: Martin Torgoff
- Narrated by: Roger Wayne
- Length: 13 hrs and 17 mins
- Unabridged
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Martin Torgoff details the rise of early drug culture in America by weaving together the disparate elements that formed this new segment of the American fabric. Channeling his decades of writing experience, Torgoff connects the birth of jazz in New Orleans, the first drug laws, Louis Armstrong, the Federal Bureau of Narcotics, swing, Lester Young, Billie Holiday, the Savoy Ballroom, Charlie Parker, the birth of bebop, the rise of the Beat Generation, and the launch of heroin in Harlem.
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fascinating read
- By Ryan on 06-27-17
By: Martin Torgoff