Prime member exclusive:
pick 2 free titles with trial.
Pick 1 title (2 titles for Prime members) from our collection of bestsellers and new releases.
Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks and podcasts.
Your Premium Plus plan will continue for $14.95 a month after 30-day trial. Cancel anytime.
The Memory Librarian  By  cover art

The Memory Librarian

By: Janelle Monáe
Narrated by: Janelle Monáe,Bahni Turpin
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $20.45

Buy for $20.45

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's Summary

In The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer, singer-songwriter, actor, fashion icon, activist, and worldwide superstar Janelle Monáe once again brings her voice to the Afrofuturistic world of one of her critically acclaimed albums, helping narrate these new stories which explore how different threads of liberation—queerness, race, gender plurality, and love—become tangled with future possibilities of memory and time in such a totalitarian landscape...and what the costs might be when trying to unravel and weave them into freedoms.

Whoever controls our memories controls the future.

Janelle Monáe and an incredible array of talented collaborating creators have written a collection of tales comprising the bold vision and powerful themes that have made Monáe such a compelling and celebrated storyteller. Dirty Computer introduced a world in which thoughts—as a means of self-conception—could be controlled or erased by a select few. And whether human, A.I., or other, your life and sentience was dictated by those who’d convinced themselves they had the right to decide your fate.

That was until Jane 57821 decided to remember and break free.

Expanding from that mythos, these stories fully explore what it’s like to live in such a totalitarian existence…and what it takes to get out of it. Building off the traditions of speculative writers such as Octavia Butler, Ted Chiang, Becky Chambers, and Nnedi Okorafor—and filled with the artistic genius and powerful themes that have made Monáe a worldwide icon in the first place—The Memory Librarian serves listeners tales grounded in the human trials of identity expression, technology, and love, but also reaching through to the worlds of memory and time within, and the stakes and power that exists there.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio. 

©2022 Janelle Monáe (P)2022 HarperCollins Publishers
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: LGBTQ+

Editor's Pick

That’s just the way she makes me feel
Every time I listen to ''Make Me Feel'' by Janelle Monáe, I’m transported back to the moment I first heard it. I was with close friends, driving with our windows down on the first day of the year when we could leave our coats behind. Spring scented the air, and when we parked at home, I rushed inside to listen to the rest of Dirty Computer. That’s when I realized this album would define more than just my 2018. Surely, it was bound to usher in our next era. I mean, seriously. What song equates femininity with power more artistically or subversively than ''Pynk''? Four years ago, Monáe asserted, ''I am not America’s nightmare, I am the American dream.'' And now, The Memory Librarian is skyrocketing her dystopian vision to its next dimension of Afrofuturistic transcendence. It’s queer, it’s collaborative, and it’s time to get on board. —Haley H., Audible Editor

More from the same

What listeners say about The Memory Librarian

Average Customer Ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    106
  • 4 Stars
    32
  • 3 Stars
    11
  • 2 Stars
    7
  • 1 Stars
    7
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    113
  • 4 Stars
    19
  • 3 Stars
    7
  • 2 Stars
    5
  • 1 Stars
    3
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    96
  • 4 Stars
    34
  • 3 Stars
    6
  • 2 Stars
    3
  • 1 Stars
    7

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Hard to follow

I couldn’t finish this book. I wanted to like it and I really wanted to support one of my favorite artists, but the book is a slow twisting burn, probably best made into an artistic film. I’ll find a YouTube summary in hopes I need to invest in the long game.

11 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Surpriseing Storytelling

At first, I had to get use to Janelle Monàe's voice. The craft of voice-overs/narration is under-appreciated talent. And writing a novel is a different talent from narration. All-in-all The Memory Librarian is a very interesting and entertaining tale.

4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

narration makes it hard to follow

Monet is a captivating narrator. Unfortunately, she only narrates the first story. The rest of the book was hard to follow for that reason, which was a shame bacause the stories were so substantial.

I loved the first story!

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars

BORING!!! HOW DO I GET A REFUND???

Definitely struggled to finish the first chapter. I couldn't bare the monotone narration. I just want my money back.

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

66 year old Dirty Computer

I loved it! it was so much more than I ever could have expected thank you so much to Janelle monae for expanding the dirty computer EP. hard for you to know that I lived it but you must have been in my memory, LOL. PERIOD

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

The Memory Librarian

I’m glad I purchased the audio and book. It has help me bring out the story even more. Janelle shows her true self. I’m so proud of her. Glad to see what else she has in store.

3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Thank you for hope…

We get to see the future in a new way. It feels beautiful and complicated, but these writers make the beautiful complications feel like a true commentary on what can be.It’s a collection of hopeful tales!

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Intricate and Enthralling

A range of stories in a shared universe with impeccable worldbuilding, fascinating characters, and very firm perspectives on the joy and dystopia technology like time distortion and memory augmentation can bring

2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Make a movie

The stories are u n believable. A must read. I will go through it again

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

loooooove

very much like lemony snicket's adult novels. one moment you're in the past, the next you're in the future. it's layered but it works. I've never read a cyber punk novel before but this was a good introduction.

1 person found this helpful