-
The Painted Word
- A Treasure Chest of Remarkable Words and Their Origins
- Narrated by: Marlin May
- Length: 10 hrs and 19 mins
Failed to add items
Add to Cart failed.
Add to Wish List failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
Prime members: New to Audible?Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
The Painted Word
Buy for $24.95
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
The Poets' Corner
- The One-and-Only Poetry Book for the Whole Family
- By: John Lithgow
- Narrated by: Morgan Freeman, Susan Sarandon, Helen Mirren, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,140
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 985
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 953
John Lithgow has compiled an outstanding collection of memorable poems and has gathered his famous friends to read them. The wide variety of carefully selected poetry in this audiobook provides the perfect introduction to reel in those who are new to poetry, and for poetry lovers to experience beloved verses in a fresh, vivid way. Lithgow offers insightful and sometimes poignant commentary to accompany each poem. His essential criterion is that "each poem's light shines more brightly when read aloud".
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A Painless Crash Course in the Great Western Poets
- By Brazilgirl on 10-27-14
By: John Lithgow
-
How to Read Literature Like a Professor
- A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines
- By: Thomas C. Foster
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,125
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 967
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 955
What does it mean when a fictional hero takes a journey? Shares a meal? Gets drenched in a sudden rain shower? Often, there is much more going on in a novel or poem than is readily visible on the surface - a symbol, maybe, that remains elusive, or an unexpected twist on a character - and there's that sneaking suspicion that the deeper meaning of a literary text keeps escaping you. In this practical and amusing guide to literature, Thomas C. Foster shows how easy and gratifying it is to unlock those hidden truths.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Lives Up to Its Claims
- By Evelyn on 05-22-14
By: Thomas C. Foster
-
The Adventure of English
- The Biography of a Language
- By: Melvyn Bragg
- Narrated by: Robert Powell
- Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,922
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,628
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,632
This is the remarkable story of the English language; from its beginnings as a minor guttural Germanic dialect to its position today as a truly established global language. The Adventure of English is not only an enthralling story of power, religion, and trade, but also the story of people, and how their lives continue to change the extraordinary language that is English.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Many Of Course monments
- By Leigh A on 10-21-05
By: Melvyn Bragg
-
The Art of X-Ray Reading
- How the Secrets of 25 Great Works of Literature Will Improve Your Writing
- By: Roy Peter Clark
- Narrated by: Jefferson Mays
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 232
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 193
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 189
Where do writers learn their best moves? They use a technique that Roy Peter Clark calls X-ray reading, a form of reading that lets you penetrate beyond the surface of a text to see how meaning is actually being made. In The Art of X-Ray Reading, Clark invites you to don your X-ray reading glasses and join him on a guided tour through some of the most exquisite and masterful literary works of all time, from The Great Gatsby to Lolita to The Bluest Eye and many more.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
So Good I Bought the Print Version
- By Jan on 04-25-16
By: Roy Peter Clark
-
The Elements of Eloquence
- Secrets of the Perfect Turn of Phrase
- By: Mark Forsyth
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 5 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,718
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,542
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,514
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Who knew rhetoric could be so much fun?
- By Philo on 10-30-14
By: Mark Forsyth
-
The Etymologicon
- A Circular Stroll Through the Hidden Connections of the English Language
- By: Mark Forsyth
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 7 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,375
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,149
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,121
The Etymologicon is a completely unauthorized guide to the strange underpinnings of the English language. It explains: How you get from “gruntled” to “disgruntled”; why you are absolutely right to believe that your meager salary barely covers “money for salt”; how the biggest chain of coffee shops in the world (hint: Seattle) connects to whaling in Nantucket; and what precisely the Rolling Stones have to do with gardening.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Maddening! Does not work as an audiobook!
- By James on 01-05-16
By: Mark Forsyth
-
The Poets' Corner
- The One-and-Only Poetry Book for the Whole Family
- By: John Lithgow
- Narrated by: Morgan Freeman, Susan Sarandon, Helen Mirren, and others
- Length: 6 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,140
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 985
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 953
John Lithgow has compiled an outstanding collection of memorable poems and has gathered his famous friends to read them. The wide variety of carefully selected poetry in this audiobook provides the perfect introduction to reel in those who are new to poetry, and for poetry lovers to experience beloved verses in a fresh, vivid way. Lithgow offers insightful and sometimes poignant commentary to accompany each poem. His essential criterion is that "each poem's light shines more brightly when read aloud".
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A Painless Crash Course in the Great Western Poets
- By Brazilgirl on 10-27-14
By: John Lithgow
-
How to Read Literature Like a Professor
- A Lively and Entertaining Guide to Reading Between the Lines
- By: Thomas C. Foster
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 1,125
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 967
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 955
What does it mean when a fictional hero takes a journey? Shares a meal? Gets drenched in a sudden rain shower? Often, there is much more going on in a novel or poem than is readily visible on the surface - a symbol, maybe, that remains elusive, or an unexpected twist on a character - and there's that sneaking suspicion that the deeper meaning of a literary text keeps escaping you. In this practical and amusing guide to literature, Thomas C. Foster shows how easy and gratifying it is to unlock those hidden truths.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Lives Up to Its Claims
- By Evelyn on 05-22-14
By: Thomas C. Foster
-
The Adventure of English
- The Biography of a Language
- By: Melvyn Bragg
- Narrated by: Robert Powell
- Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 2,922
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,628
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,632
This is the remarkable story of the English language; from its beginnings as a minor guttural Germanic dialect to its position today as a truly established global language. The Adventure of English is not only an enthralling story of power, religion, and trade, but also the story of people, and how their lives continue to change the extraordinary language that is English.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Many Of Course monments
- By Leigh A on 10-21-05
By: Melvyn Bragg
-
The Art of X-Ray Reading
- How the Secrets of 25 Great Works of Literature Will Improve Your Writing
- By: Roy Peter Clark
- Narrated by: Jefferson Mays
- Length: 8 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 232
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 193
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 189
Where do writers learn their best moves? They use a technique that Roy Peter Clark calls X-ray reading, a form of reading that lets you penetrate beyond the surface of a text to see how meaning is actually being made. In The Art of X-Ray Reading, Clark invites you to don your X-ray reading glasses and join him on a guided tour through some of the most exquisite and masterful literary works of all time, from The Great Gatsby to Lolita to The Bluest Eye and many more.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
So Good I Bought the Print Version
- By Jan on 04-25-16
By: Roy Peter Clark
-
The Elements of Eloquence
- Secrets of the Perfect Turn of Phrase
- By: Mark Forsyth
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 5 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,718
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,542
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,514
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Who knew rhetoric could be so much fun?
- By Philo on 10-30-14
By: Mark Forsyth
-
The Etymologicon
- A Circular Stroll Through the Hidden Connections of the English Language
- By: Mark Forsyth
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 7 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,375
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,149
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,121
The Etymologicon is a completely unauthorized guide to the strange underpinnings of the English language. It explains: How you get from “gruntled” to “disgruntled”; why you are absolutely right to believe that your meager salary barely covers “money for salt”; how the biggest chain of coffee shops in the world (hint: Seattle) connects to whaling in Nantucket; and what precisely the Rolling Stones have to do with gardening.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Maddening! Does not work as an audiobook!
- By James on 01-05-16
By: Mark Forsyth
-
In My Own Way
- By: Alan Watts
- Narrated by: Jeremy Arthur
- Length: 13 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 380
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 319
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 316
Macmillan Audio presents In My Own Way, Alan Watts' acclaimed autobiography, published for the first time in audio.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
This is Alan Watts at his very best, as a free spirit.
- By Gene Levinson on 03-20-19
By: Alan Watts
-
How to Live
- Or a Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer
- By: Sarah Bakewell
- Narrated by: Davina Porter
- Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 614
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 523
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 524
This question obsessed Renaissance writers, none more than Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, perhaps the first recognizably modern individual. A nobleman, public official, and winegrower, he wrote free-roaming explorations of his thought and experience, unlike anything written before. He called them essays, meaning “attempts” or “tries.” He put whatever was in his head into them: his tastes in wine and food, his childhood memories, the way his dog’s ears twitched when it was dreaming, as well as the religious wars....
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Interesting and in parts Inspired.
- By Darwin8u on 05-21-12
By: Sarah Bakewell
-
The Fiery Angel
- Art, Culture, Sex, Politics, and the Struggle for the Soul of the West
- By: Michael Walsh
- Narrated by: Michael Walsh
- Length: 8 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 54
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 46
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 46
Without an understanding and appreciation of the culture we seek to preserve and protect, the defense of Western civilization is fundamentally futile; a culture that believes in nothing cannot defend itself, because it has nothing to defend. In this profound and wide-ranging historical survey, Michael Walsh illuminates the ways that the narrative and visual arts both reflect and affect the course of political history, outlining the way forward by arguing for the restoration of the heroic narrative that forms the basis of all Western cultural and religious traditions.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great cultural criticism
- By miasarx on 08-06-18
By: Michael Walsh
-
The Art of Memoir
- By: Mary Karr
- Narrated by: Mary Karr
- Length: 7 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 702
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 599
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 583
Anchored by excerpts from her favorite memoirs and anecdotes from fellow writers' experience, The Art of Memoir lays bare Karr's own process. (Plus all those inside stories about how she dealt with family and friends get told - and the dark spaces in her own skull probed in depth.)
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Brilliant!
- By A. Potter on 01-18-16
By: Mary Karr
-
Foucault's Pendulum
- By: Umberto Eco
- Narrated by: Tim Curry
- Length: 6 hrs and 34 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 701
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 533
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 525
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.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
too much missing
- By Kenneth on 01-29-07
By: Umberto Eco
-
Poetry in Person
- Twenty-five Years of Conversation with America's Poets
- By: Lucille Clifton, Alexander Neubauer - editor, Eamon Grennan, and others
- Narrated by: Alexander Neubauer
- Length: 5 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 48
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 42
This first audio edition of Poetry in Person: 25 Years of Conversation with America’s Poets (Knopf, 2010), invites listeners into an intimate classroom with eight acclaimed poets. Full of compelling, in-depth conversation about manuscripts and drafts by the poets themselves, plus readings of the finished poems, these historic recordings offer one of the most detailed portraits ever produced of how poems are actually made.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating
- By d on 08-28-16
By: Lucille Clifton, and others
-
La Bella Lingua
- My Love Affair with Italian, the World's Most Enchanting Language
- By: Dianne Hales
- Narrated by: Suzanne Toren
- Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 91
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 81
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 78
A celebration of the language and culture of Italy, La Bella Lingua is the story of how a language shaped a nation, told against the backdrop of one woman's personal quest to speak fluent Italian. For anyone who has been to Italy, the fantasy of living the Italian life is powerfully seductive. But to truly become Italian, one must learn the language. This is how Dianne Hales began her journey. In La Bella Lingua, she brings the story of her decades-long experience with "the world's most loved and lovable language" together with explorations of Italy's history.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Highly Recomended!!!
- By Ciro Silva on 09-21-16
By: Dianne Hales
-
Artful
- By: Ali Smith
- Narrated by: Ali Smith
- Length: 4 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 31
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 28
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 29
In 2012, Ali Smith delivered the Weidenfeld lectures on European comparative literature at St. Anne’s College, Oxford. Those lectures, presented here, took the shape of discursive stories that refused to be tied down to either fiction or the essay form. Thus, Artful is narrated by a character who is haunted - literally - by a former lover, the writer of a series of lectures about art and literature. A hypnotic dialogue unfolds between storytelling and a meditation on art that encompasses love, grief, memory, and revitalization.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
#Reality/Loss/Mythology
- By Ellen K. on 11-14-18
By: Ali Smith
-
Dancing at the Edge of the World
- Thoughts on Words, Women, Places
- By: Ursula K. Le Guin
- Narrated by: Gabrielle de Cuir
- Length: 14 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 95
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 82
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 81
From modern literature to menopause, from utopian thought to rodeos - in this classic collection of essays, Ursula K. Le Guin roves with her customary audacity over the intersecting arenas of literature, feminism, and social responsibility, exploding any received notions she comes across and revealing visionary possibilities in their stead.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Not my favorite Le Guin collection, but...
- By Cameron on 05-11-19
-
How Fiction Works
- By: James Wood
- Narrated by: James Adams
- Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 129
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 83
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 85
Ranging widely from Homer to David Foster Wallace, from What Maisie Knew to Make Way for Ducklings, Wood takes the reader through the basic elements of the art, step by step. He sums up two decades of insight with wit and concision, resulting in nothing less than a philosophy of the novel, which has won critical acclaim nationwide, from the San Francisco Chronicle to the New York Times Book Review.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Educational!
- By Don on 05-04-09
By: James Wood
-
History, Homages and the Highlands
- An Outlander Guide
- By: Valerie Estelle Frankel
- Narrated by: Fiona Thraille
- Length: 8 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 80
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 70
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 67
With oodles of steamy romance, paranormal time travel, adventure, and much more, Outlander is sweeping the nation. From over a dozen volumes to its newest incarnation as a breathtaking Starz show, it continues to delight, even with subtle, clever changes. But what was life really like then - from kilts and bagpipes to selkies and the fair folk? Who was Bonnie Prince Charlie and why was his campaign so disastrous for the Highlanders?
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Super great and timely info for Outlander fiends!
- By Karen on 04-07-15
-
Greek to Me
- Adventures of the Comma Queen
- By: Mary Norris
- Narrated by: Mary Norris
- Length: 7 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 64
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 57
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 57
Greek to Me is a charming account of Norris’s lifelong love affair with words and her solo adventures in the land of olive trees and ouzo. Along the way, Norris explains how the alphabet originated in Greece, makes the case for Athena as a feminist icon, seeks the fabled Baths of Aphrodite, and reveals the surprising ways Greek helped form English. Filled with Norris’s memorable encounters with Greek words, Greek gods, Greek wine - and more than a few Greek men - Greek to Me is the Comma Queen’s fresh take on Greece and its exotic yet strangely familiar language.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Love!
- By Syd Young on 07-01-19
By: Mary Norris
Publisher's summary
To untangle the knot of interlocking meanings of these painted words, logophile and mythologist Phil Cousineau begins each fascinating word entry with his own brief definition. He then fills it in with a tint of etymology and a smattering of quotes that show how the word is used, ending with a list of companion words. The words themselves range from commonplace - like "biscuit", a twice-baked cake for Roman soldiers - to loanwords including "chaparral", from the Basque shepherds who came to the American West; words from myths, such as hector; metamorphosis words, like "silly", which evolved from "holy" to "goofy" in a mere thousand years; and words well worthy of revival, such as "carrytale", a wandering storyteller. Whether old-fangled or brand new, all the words included in The Painted Word possess an ineffable quality that makes them luminous.
Related to this topic
-
Artful
- By: Ali Smith
- Narrated by: Ali Smith
- Length: 4 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 31
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 28
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 29
In 2012, Ali Smith delivered the Weidenfeld lectures on European comparative literature at St. Anne’s College, Oxford. Those lectures, presented here, took the shape of discursive stories that refused to be tied down to either fiction or the essay form. Thus, Artful is narrated by a character who is haunted - literally - by a former lover, the writer of a series of lectures about art and literature. A hypnotic dialogue unfolds between storytelling and a meditation on art that encompasses love, grief, memory, and revitalization.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
#Reality/Loss/Mythology
- By Ellen K. on 11-14-18
By: Ali Smith
-
How Fiction Works
- By: James Wood
- Narrated by: James Adams
- Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 129
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 83
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 85
Ranging widely from Homer to David Foster Wallace, from What Maisie Knew to Make Way for Ducklings, Wood takes the reader through the basic elements of the art, step by step. He sums up two decades of insight with wit and concision, resulting in nothing less than a philosophy of the novel, which has won critical acclaim nationwide, from the San Francisco Chronicle to the New York Times Book Review.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Educational!
- By Don on 05-04-09
By: James Wood
-
Keats
- A Brief Life in Nine Poems and One Epitaph
- By: Lucasta Miller
- Narrated by: Sally Scott
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 37
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 36
Miller, through Keats’s poetry, brilliantly resurrects and brings vividly to life, the man, the poet in all his complexity and spirit, living dangerously, disdaining respectability and cultural norms, and embracing subversive politics. Keats was a lower-middle-class outsider from a tragic and fractured family, whose extraordinary energy and love of language allowed him to pummel his way into the heart of English literature; a freethinker and a liberal at a time of repression, who delighted in the sensation of the moment.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Romantic Life
- By David on 05-03-22
By: Lucasta Miller
-
The Glamour of Grammar
- By: Roy Peter Clark
- Narrated by: Roy Peter Clark
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 56
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 37
Early in the history of English, glamour and grammar were the same word, linked to enchantment and magical spells. Now grammar brings to mind language bullies and bored-out-of-their-skulls students. Roy Peter Clark, one of America’s most influential writing teachers, wants to change that by putting the glamour back into grammar.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Wasteful
- By ABID on 12-05-13
By: Roy Peter Clark
-
The Elements of Eloquence
- Secrets of the Perfect Turn of Phrase
- By: Mark Forsyth
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 5 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,718
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,542
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,514
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Who knew rhetoric could be so much fun?
- By Philo on 10-30-14
By: Mark Forsyth
-
Ted Hughes
- The Unauthorized Life
- By: Jonathan Bate
- Narrated by: Mike Grady
- Length: 25 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 32
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 32
Ted Hughes, poet laureate, was one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. With an equal gift for poetry and prose, and with a soul as capacious as any poet in history, he was also a prolific children's writer and has been hailed as the greatest English letter writer since John Keats. His magnetic personality and insatiable appetite for friendship, love, and life also attracted more scandal than any poet since Lord Byron.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Phenomenal thanks to narrator!
- By equinox14 on 06-26-16
By: Jonathan Bate
-
Artful
- By: Ali Smith
- Narrated by: Ali Smith
- Length: 4 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 31
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 28
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 29
In 2012, Ali Smith delivered the Weidenfeld lectures on European comparative literature at St. Anne’s College, Oxford. Those lectures, presented here, took the shape of discursive stories that refused to be tied down to either fiction or the essay form. Thus, Artful is narrated by a character who is haunted - literally - by a former lover, the writer of a series of lectures about art and literature. A hypnotic dialogue unfolds between storytelling and a meditation on art that encompasses love, grief, memory, and revitalization.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
#Reality/Loss/Mythology
- By Ellen K. on 11-14-18
By: Ali Smith
-
How Fiction Works
- By: James Wood
- Narrated by: James Adams
- Length: 5 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 129
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 83
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 85
Ranging widely from Homer to David Foster Wallace, from What Maisie Knew to Make Way for Ducklings, Wood takes the reader through the basic elements of the art, step by step. He sums up two decades of insight with wit and concision, resulting in nothing less than a philosophy of the novel, which has won critical acclaim nationwide, from the San Francisco Chronicle to the New York Times Book Review.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Educational!
- By Don on 05-04-09
By: James Wood
-
Keats
- A Brief Life in Nine Poems and One Epitaph
- By: Lucasta Miller
- Narrated by: Sally Scott
- Length: 10 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 37
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 36
Miller, through Keats’s poetry, brilliantly resurrects and brings vividly to life, the man, the poet in all his complexity and spirit, living dangerously, disdaining respectability and cultural norms, and embracing subversive politics. Keats was a lower-middle-class outsider from a tragic and fractured family, whose extraordinary energy and love of language allowed him to pummel his way into the heart of English literature; a freethinker and a liberal at a time of repression, who delighted in the sensation of the moment.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Romantic Life
- By David on 05-03-22
By: Lucasta Miller
-
The Glamour of Grammar
- By: Roy Peter Clark
- Narrated by: Roy Peter Clark
- Length: 8 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 56
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 39
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 37
Early in the history of English, glamour and grammar were the same word, linked to enchantment and magical spells. Now grammar brings to mind language bullies and bored-out-of-their-skulls students. Roy Peter Clark, one of America’s most influential writing teachers, wants to change that by putting the glamour back into grammar.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Wasteful
- By ABID on 12-05-13
By: Roy Peter Clark
-
The Elements of Eloquence
- Secrets of the Perfect Turn of Phrase
- By: Mark Forsyth
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 5 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,718
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,542
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,514
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Who knew rhetoric could be so much fun?
- By Philo on 10-30-14
By: Mark Forsyth
-
Ted Hughes
- The Unauthorized Life
- By: Jonathan Bate
- Narrated by: Mike Grady
- Length: 25 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 34
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 32
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 32
Ted Hughes, poet laureate, was one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. With an equal gift for poetry and prose, and with a soul as capacious as any poet in history, he was also a prolific children's writer and has been hailed as the greatest English letter writer since John Keats. His magnetic personality and insatiable appetite for friendship, love, and life also attracted more scandal than any poet since Lord Byron.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Phenomenal thanks to narrator!
- By equinox14 on 06-26-16
By: Jonathan Bate
-
How to Write Short
- Word Craft for Fast Times
- By: Roy Peter Clark
- Narrated by: Roy Peter Clark
- Length: 5 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 77
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 69
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 68
In How to Write Short , Roy Peter Clark turns his attention to the art of painting a thousand pictures with just a few words. Short forms of writing have always existed - from ship logs and telegrams to prayers and haikus. But in this ever-changing Internet age, short-form writing has become an essential skill. Clark covers how to write effective and powerful titles, headlines, essays, sales pitches, Tweets, letters, and even self-descriptions for online dating services.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Ironically long
- By Amazon Customer on 03-14-16
By: Roy Peter Clark
-
Foucault's Pendulum
- By: Umberto Eco
- Narrated by: Tim Curry
- Length: 6 hrs and 34 mins
- Abridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 701
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 533
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 525
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.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
too much missing
- By Kenneth on 01-29-07
By: Umberto Eco
-
Why Homer Matters
- By: Adam Nicolson
- Narrated by: John Lee
- Length: 9 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 107
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 97
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 95
Adam Nicolson sees the Iliad and the Odyssey as the foundation myths of Greek - and our - consciousness, collapsing the passage of 4,000 years and making the distant past of the Mediterranean world as immediate to us as the events of our own time.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating
- By Jean on 05-04-15
By: Adam Nicolson
-
The Iliad & The Odyssey
- By: Homer
- Narrated by: John Lescault
- Length: 28 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 909
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 528
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 529
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.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Worth the price, worth the time
- By Sam on 12-31-04
By: Homer
-
Ask a Historian
- 50 Surprising Answers to Things You Always Wanted to Know
- By: Greg Jenner
- Narrated by: Dan Schreiber, Greg Jenner, Janina Ramirez, and others
- Length: 11 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 46
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 44
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 44
Responding to fifty genuine questions from the public, Greg Jenner takes you on an entertaining tour through history from the Stone Age to the Swinging Sixties, revealing the best and most surprising stories, facts and historical characters from the past. From ancient joke books, African empires and the invention of meringues, to mummies, mirrors and menstrual pads—Ask A Historian is a deliciously amusing and informative smorgasbord of historical curiosities.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
best bonus content ever!
- By Matthew K Wendelken on 03-24-22
By: Greg Jenner
-
On Elizabeth Bishop
- By: Colm Tóibín
- Narrated by: John Keating
- Length: 5 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 31
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 32
In this book novelist Colm Tóibín offers a deeply personal introduction to the work and life of one of his most important literary influences - the American poet Elizabeth Bishop. Ranging across her poetry, prose, letters, and biography, Tóibín creates a vivid picture of Bishop while also revealing how her work has helped shape his sensibility as a novelist and how her experiences of loss and exile resonate with his own.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
ELIZABETH BISHOP
- By chetyarbrough.blog on 05-19-16
By: Colm Tóibín
-
The Possessed
- Adventures with Russian Books and the People Who Read Them
- By: Elif Batuman
- Narrated by: Elif Batuman
- Length: 9 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 69
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 55
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 56
In The Possessed we watch Elif Batuman investigate a possible murder at Tolstoy's ancestral estate. We go with her to Stanford, Switzerland, and St. Petersburg; retrace Pushkin's wanderings in the Caucasus; learn why Old Uzbek has 100 different words for crying; and see an 18th-century ice palace reconstructed on the Neva. Love and the novel, the individual in history, the existential plight of the graduate student: all find their places in The Possessed.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Dear Russian Literary Diary...
- By Darwin8u on 08-29-17
By: Elif Batuman
-
The Pun Also Rises
- How the Humble Pun Revolutionized Language, Changed History, and Made Wordplay More Than Some Antics
- By: John Pollack
- Narrated by: Pete Larkin
- Length: 4 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 60
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 55
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 53
The Pun Also Rises is an authoritative yet playful exploration of a practice that is common, in one form or another, to virtually every language on earth. At once entertaining and educational, this engaging book answers fundamental questions: Just what is a pun, and why do people make them? How did punning impact the development of human language, and how did that drive creativity and progress? And why, after centuries of decline, does the pun still matter?
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Punderful Little Book
- By B. Lane on 01-10-13
By: John Pollack
-
I Am Dynamite!
- A Life of Nietzsche
- By: Sue Prideaux
- Narrated by: Nicholas Guy Smith
- Length: 17 hrs and 19 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 328
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 286
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 284
Nietzsche wrote that all philosophy is autobiographical, and in this vividly compelling, myth-shattering biography, Sue Prideaux brings listeners into the world of this brilliant, eccentric, and deeply troubled man, illuminating the events and people that shaped his life and work. I Am Dynamite! is the essential biography for anyone seeking to understand history's most misunderstood philosopher.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating; tragic
- By Cineaste21 on 12-30-18
By: Sue Prideaux
-
The Book of Yokai
- Mysterious Creatures of Japanese Folklore
- By: Michael Dylan Foster
- Narrated by: Tim Campbell
- Length: 8 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 254
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 215
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 215
Drawing on years of research in Japan, Michael Dylan Foster unpacks the history and cultural context of yokai, tracing their roots, interpreting their meanings, and introducing people who have hunted them through the ages. In this delightful and accessible narrative, listeners will explore the roles played by these mysterious beings within Japanese culture and will also learn of their abundance and variety through detailed entries on more than 50 individual creatures.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Pt 2 was delightful (+no cringey pronunciations!!)
- By Julieanne on 06-04-19
-
Red
- A History of the Redhead
- By: Jacky Colliss Harvey
- Narrated by: Jacky Colliss Harvey
- Length: 6 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 162
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 146
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 148
Red is a brilliantly told, captivating history of red hair throughout the ages. An audiobook that breaks new ground, dispels myths, and reinforces the special nature of being a redhead, with a look at multiple disciplines, including science, religion, politics, feminism and sexuality, literature, and art. With an obsessive fascination that is as contagious as it is compelling, author Jacky Colliss Harvey (herself a redhead) begins her exploration of red hair in prehistory and traces the redhead gene as it made its way out of Africa with the early human diaspora.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Pushing Past Stereotypes
- By Troy on 06-09-15
-
Reading Like a Writer
- By: Francine Prose
- Narrated by: Nanette Savard
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 230
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 147
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 142
In her entertaining and edifying New York Times bestseller, acclaimed author Francine Prose invites you to sit by her side and take a guided tour of the tools and the tricks of the masters and discover why their work has endured. Written with passion, humor, and wisdom, Reading Like a Writer will inspire listeners to return to literature with a fresh eye and an eager heart.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Practical, literate, generous
- By Gare on 04-13-08
By: Francine Prose