The Memory Librarian Audiobook By Janelle Monáe cover art

The Memory Librarian

And Other Stories of Dirty Computer

Preview

Try for $0.00
Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

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 $25.19

Buy for $25.19

Confirm purchase
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.
Cancel

About this listen

In The Memory Librarian: And Other Stories of Dirty Computer, singer-songwriter, actor, fashion icon, activist, and worldwide superstar Janelle Monáe brings to the written page the Afrofuturistic world of one of her critically acclaimed albums, exploring 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 readers 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.

From asexual and lesbian characters to non-binary and genderqueer individuals, The Memory Librarian features a diverse cast of characters that reflect the rich tapestry of human experience.

Supplemental enhancement PDF accompanies the audiobook.

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
African American Cyberpunk Fiction Science Fiction

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