The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating

By: Elisabeth Tova Bailey

Narrated by: Renee Raudman

Elisabeth Tova Bailey tells the intimate and inspiring story of her year-long encounter with a snail. While an illness keeps her bedridden, she becomes an astute and amused observer of the snail's surprising nocturnal adventures as it lives in a flowerpot on her nightstand. Intrigued by the snail’s clear decision making abilities, hydraulic locomotion, mysterious courtship, and molluscan anatomy, Bailey takes the listener deep into the life of this tiny amazing animal. With wit and grace, The Sound of a Wild Snail Eating recounts a remarkable journey of human and gastropod survival and resilience, and shows how the natural world illuminates our own human existence. Winner of the William Saroyan International Prize for Nonfiction, the John Burrough Medal Award for Natural History, and a National Outdoor Book Award. If you enjoyed Wesley the Owl, The Guest Cat, and Marley & Me, you'll enjoy this unique interspecies audiobook listen.©2010 Elisabeth Tova Bailey (P)2014 Audible Inc.

Critic reviews

"Exquisite." ( The Huffington Post)

"Brilliant." ( The New York Review of Books)

"How interesting can a snail be? Entirely captivating, as it turns out. [Bailey] is a marvelous writer, and the marriage of science and poetic mysticism that characterizes this small volume is magical." ( Star Tribune)

"Renee Raudman's slow, gentle, almost hypnotic narration matches the meditative quality of this brief memoir." ( AudioFile)

best descriptive book I’ve ever read

foot someone that’s had a crippling virus - so many similar descriptive feelings before back to normal life

A rich, slow, informative meditation

This gently read story is not a quick listen. I fell asleep to it for many nights. However, a replay (for the parts I'd missed) proved to be worthy of my time and attention. The story is sprinkled with entertaining quotes that span hundreds of years and the author, unable to initially move, eventually recovers enough to become a thorough scientific observer; adding minute detail to the surprisingly rich field of life beneath our feet.

Great Book

Great for people who like snails, as it has some interesting information from the perspective of a snail keeper. Great for those who want to understand chronic illness from the perspective of someone going through it. The recording is slow, clear, and methodical. No fancy sound effects or distracting elements.

Pure Fascination

Ok. So I’m a nature geek of the purest form, but anyone would enjoy this lovely story of hope. You will learn a few things as well!

Beautiful, Magical and Informative

As a person who has been keeping snails for the past year I found is book touched me personally, in so many ways. The writing is beautiful and she includes snail "facts" in a tactful and interesting fashion. I didn't want the book to be over! The reader has the most calming voice and it was just a beautiful story overall.
It made me feel better that I'm not the only one out there who finds snails so fascinating!

Slow, but in a wonderfully relatable way

I feel like this is the type of book that anyone who has had, or someone whose close family member has had, a debilitating chronic illness would love and greatly appreciate. Like the author, I have a form of dysautonomia, although a non-life threatening and milder form. I spent a few months bed bound, and a year and a half where I could hardly do much more than walk a block or two.
I wish I had read this book when I was initially bed bound. I was too sick to follow the plot lines of TV shows and could not read at all, so the slow-moving pace of this book would have been perfect. I would have found so much comfort and solace in it, and probably would have someone go out and get a snail for me.
It is beautifully written and poignantly relatable. I will definitely be sending it on to my other chronically ill friends.

Wonderful, touching, educational. A joy!

Beautiful, insightful, observant appreciation of big souls in tiny bodies who, though different, are equal to us, with their own intricate, complex lives of emotion, intelligence and value.

Loved it! :)

I loved every second of it!
I had a pet snail:) A beautiful large yellow aquatic snail that shared a lot of the same enjoyable traits and activities spoken about in this book. I also was bed ridden from 2007 to 2009 with the same symptoms that in 2008 was realized as Lyme disease and took a number of more years to recover from.
The narration, content, and detail of this book was very peaceful, positive and reassuring.., all carried with a tone of hopefulness.

This is an unexpected wonder. The quiet virtues of the snail reflect the quiet voyage of the author.

I am so sick of being required to write a longer review than I wish. Why should people either write or read unnecessary verbiage.

Mandatory reading for the nature lover!

If you love the books Walden, or Braiding Sweetgrass...then this gem will be right up your alley!

This book helped me to more fully appreciate my health, nature's infinite details, and lessons waiting to be uncovered.