-
Trip of the Tongue
- Cross-Country Travels in Search of America's Languages
- Narrated by: Mark Ashby
- Length: 10 hrs and 41 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.
Trip of the Tongue
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...
-
Futureface
- A Family Mystery, an Epic Quest, and the Secret to Belonging
- By: Alex Wagner
- Narrated by: Alex Wagner
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 93
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 88
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 87
The daughter of a Burmese mother and a white American father, Alex Wagner grew up thinking of herself as a "futureface" - an avatar of a mixed-race future when all races would merge into a brown singularity. But when one family mystery leads to another, Wagner's postracial ideals fray as she becomes obsessed with the specifics of her own family's racial and ethnic history. Drawn into the wild world of ancestry, she embarks upon a quest around the world - and into her own DNA - to answer the ultimate questions of who she really is and where she belongs.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
fun story
- By Michael Cook on 06-10-18
By: Alex Wagner
-
Shortest Way Home
- One Mayor's Challenge and a Model for America's Future
- By: Pete Buttigieg
- Narrated by: Pete Buttigieg
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 5,086
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 4,571
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,548
Once described by The Washington Post as "the most interesting mayor you've never heard of", Pete Buttigieg, the 36-year-old Democratic mayor of South Bend, Indiana, has improbably emerged as one of the nation's most visionary politicians. First elected in 2011, Buttigieg left a successful business career to move back to his hometown, previously tagged by Newsweek as a "dying city", and transformed it into a shining model of urban reinvention.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Reveals a Person Wise & Experienced & Literate
- By dbbks3 on 03-17-19
By: Pete Buttigieg
-
Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue
- The Untold History of English
- By: John McWhorter
- Narrated by: John McWhorter
- Length: 5 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 3,995
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,375
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 3,351
A survey of the quirks and quandaries of the English language, focusing on our strange and wonderful grammar. Why do we say "I am reading a catalog" instead of "I read a catalog"? Why do we say "do" at all? Is the way we speak a reflection of our cultural values? Delving into these provocative topics and more, Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue distills hundreds of years of fascinating lore into one lively history.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great for casual linguists
- By Bertie on 01-11-10
By: John McWhorter
-
Made in America
- By: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: William Roberts
- Length: 18 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,489
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,231
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,230
In Made in America, Bryson de-mythologizes his native land, explaining how a dusty hamlet with neither woods nor holly became Hollywood, how the Wild West wasn't won, why Americans say 'lootenant' and 'Toosday', how Americans were eating junk food long before the word itself was cooked up, as well as exposing the true origins of the G-string, the original $64,000 question, and Dr Kellogg of cornflakes fame.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Bryson Not Reading Makes For a Rare Fail
- By John on 02-28-14
By: Bill Bryson
-
My Life on the Road
- By: Gloria Steinem
- Narrated by: Debra Winger, Gloria Steinem
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,311
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,058
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,047
Gloria Steinem - writer, activist, organizer, and one of the most inspiring leaders in the world - now tells a story she has never told before, a candid account of how her early years led her to live an on-the-road kind of life, traveling, listening to people, learning, and creating change. She reveals the story of her own growth in tandem with the growth of an ongoing movement for equality. This is the story at the heart of My Life on the Road.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Completely Changed Me
- By Angel Adams on 11-05-15
By: Gloria Steinem
-
The Mother Tongue
- By: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: Stephen McLaughlin
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,260
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,093
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,087
With dazzling wit and astonishing insight, Bill Bryson - the acclaimed author of The Lost Continent - brilliantly explores the remarkable history, eccentricities, resilience, and sheer fun of the English language. From the first descent of the larynx into the throat (why you can talk but your dog can't) to the fine lost art of swearing, Bryson tells the fascinating, often uproarious story of an inadequate, second-rate tongue of peasants that developed into one of the world's largest growth industries.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
More satire than history
- By Barbara Kindle Customer on 12-18-15
By: Bill Bryson
-
Futureface
- A Family Mystery, an Epic Quest, and the Secret to Belonging
- By: Alex Wagner
- Narrated by: Alex Wagner
- Length: 9 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 93
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 88
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 87
The daughter of a Burmese mother and a white American father, Alex Wagner grew up thinking of herself as a "futureface" - an avatar of a mixed-race future when all races would merge into a brown singularity. But when one family mystery leads to another, Wagner's postracial ideals fray as she becomes obsessed with the specifics of her own family's racial and ethnic history. Drawn into the wild world of ancestry, she embarks upon a quest around the world - and into her own DNA - to answer the ultimate questions of who she really is and where she belongs.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
fun story
- By Michael Cook on 06-10-18
By: Alex Wagner
-
Shortest Way Home
- One Mayor's Challenge and a Model for America's Future
- By: Pete Buttigieg
- Narrated by: Pete Buttigieg
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 5,086
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 4,571
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,548
Once described by The Washington Post as "the most interesting mayor you've never heard of", Pete Buttigieg, the 36-year-old Democratic mayor of South Bend, Indiana, has improbably emerged as one of the nation's most visionary politicians. First elected in 2011, Buttigieg left a successful business career to move back to his hometown, previously tagged by Newsweek as a "dying city", and transformed it into a shining model of urban reinvention.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Reveals a Person Wise & Experienced & Literate
- By dbbks3 on 03-17-19
By: Pete Buttigieg
-
Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue
- The Untold History of English
- By: John McWhorter
- Narrated by: John McWhorter
- Length: 5 hrs and 22 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 3,995
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 3,375
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 3,351
A survey of the quirks and quandaries of the English language, focusing on our strange and wonderful grammar. Why do we say "I am reading a catalog" instead of "I read a catalog"? Why do we say "do" at all? Is the way we speak a reflection of our cultural values? Delving into these provocative topics and more, Our Magnificent Bastard Tongue distills hundreds of years of fascinating lore into one lively history.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great for casual linguists
- By Bertie on 01-11-10
By: John McWhorter
-
Made in America
- By: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: William Roberts
- Length: 18 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,489
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,231
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,230
In Made in America, Bryson de-mythologizes his native land, explaining how a dusty hamlet with neither woods nor holly became Hollywood, how the Wild West wasn't won, why Americans say 'lootenant' and 'Toosday', how Americans were eating junk food long before the word itself was cooked up, as well as exposing the true origins of the G-string, the original $64,000 question, and Dr Kellogg of cornflakes fame.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Bryson Not Reading Makes For a Rare Fail
- By John on 02-28-14
By: Bill Bryson
-
My Life on the Road
- By: Gloria Steinem
- Narrated by: Debra Winger, Gloria Steinem
- Length: 9 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 2,311
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 2,058
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 2,047
Gloria Steinem - writer, activist, organizer, and one of the most inspiring leaders in the world - now tells a story she has never told before, a candid account of how her early years led her to live an on-the-road kind of life, traveling, listening to people, learning, and creating change. She reveals the story of her own growth in tandem with the growth of an ongoing movement for equality. This is the story at the heart of My Life on the Road.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Completely Changed Me
- By Angel Adams on 11-05-15
By: Gloria Steinem
-
The Mother Tongue
- By: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: Stephen McLaughlin
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,260
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,093
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,087
With dazzling wit and astonishing insight, Bill Bryson - the acclaimed author of The Lost Continent - brilliantly explores the remarkable history, eccentricities, resilience, and sheer fun of the English language. From the first descent of the larynx into the throat (why you can talk but your dog can't) to the fine lost art of swearing, Bryson tells the fascinating, often uproarious story of an inadequate, second-rate tongue of peasants that developed into one of the world's largest growth industries.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
More satire than history
- By Barbara Kindle Customer on 12-18-15
By: Bill Bryson
-
The Vanishing American Adult
- Our Coming-of-Age Crisis - and How to Rebuild a Culture of Self-Reliance
- By: Ben Sasse
- Narrated by: Ben Sasse
- Length: 11 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,800
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,582
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,573
From these disparate phenomena: Nebraska Senator Ben Sasse who as president of a Midwestern college observed the trials of this generation up close, sees an existential threat to the American way of life. In The Vanishing American Adult, Sasse diagnoses the causes of a generation that can't grow up and offers a path for raising children to become active and engaged citizens. He identifies core formative experiences that all young people should pursue.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A truly non-partisan essay on being an American
- By Anne on 07-06-17
By: Ben Sasse
-
Brit(ish)
- On Race, Identity and Belonging
- By: Afua Hirsch
- Narrated by: Afua Hirsch
- Length: 11 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 33
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 25
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 25
Afua Hirsch is British. Her parents are British. She was raised, educated and socialised in Britain. Her partner, her daughter, her sister and the vast majority of her friends are British. So why is her identity and sense of belonging a subject of debate? The reason is simply because of the colour of her skin. Blending history, memoir and individual experiences, Afua Hirsch reveals the identity crisis at the heart of Britain today. Far from affecting only minority people, Britain is a nation in denial about its past and its present.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Important read
- By L. Ingarfield on 01-04-23
By: Afua Hirsch
-
The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee
- Native America from 1890 to the Present
- By: David Treuer
- Narrated by: Tanis Parenteau
- Length: 17 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 439
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 368
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 367
The received idea of Native American history - as promulgated by books like Dee Brown's mega-bestselling 1970 Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee - has been that American Indian history essentially ended with the 1890 massacre at Wounded Knee. Not only did 150 Sioux die at the hands of the US Cavalry, the sense was, but Native civilization did as well. Growing up Ojibwe on a reservation in Minnesota, training as an anthropologist, and researching Native life past and present for his nonfiction and novels, David Treuer has uncovered a different narrative.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
excellent text, awful narrator
- By D. Rubinstein on 12-01-19
By: David Treuer
-
The Almost Nearly Perfect People
- Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia
- By: Michael Booth
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 13 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 656
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 579
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 569
Journalist Michael Booth has lived among the Scandinavians for more than 10 years, and he has grown increasingly frustrated with the rose-tinted view of this part of the world offered up by the Western media. In this timely audiobook, he leaves his adopted home of Denmark and embarks on a journey through all five of the Nordic countries to discover who these curious tribes are, the secrets of their success, and, most intriguing of all, what they think of one another.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Obsessed with bad politics
- By Erik on 09-07-20
By: Michael Booth
-
South to America
- A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation
- By: Imani Perry
- Narrated by: Imani Perry
- Length: 16 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 411
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 362
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 361
We all think we know the South. Even those who have never lived there can rattle off a list of signifiers: the Civil War, Gone with the Wind, the Ku Klux Klan, plantations, football, Jim Crow, slavery. But the idiosyncrasies, dispositions, and habits of the region are stranger and more complex than much of the country tends to acknowledge. In South to America, Imani Perry shows that the meaning of American is inextricably linked with the South, and that our understanding of its history and culture is the key to understanding the nation as a whole.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An incredible achievement
- By Tom on 02-16-22
By: Imani Perry
-
The Bonjour Effect
- The Secret Codes of French Conversation Revealed
- By: Julie Barlow, Jean-Benoit Nadeau
- Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 116
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 98
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 97
Jean-Benoît Nadeau and Julie Barlow spent a decade traveling back and forth to Paris as well as living there. Yet one important lesson never seemed to sink in: how to communicate comfortably with the French, even when you speak their language. In The Bonjour Effect, Jean-Benoît and Julie chronicle the lessons they learned after they returned to France to live, for a year, with their twin daughters. They offer up all the lessons they learned and explain the most important aspect of all: the French don't communicate, they converse.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Terrible French pronunciation
- By CA on 01-24-19
By: Julie Barlow, and others
-
Yiddish
- A Nation of Words
- By: Miriam Weinstein
- Narrated by: J. L. Glick
- Length: 9 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 37
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 34
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 34
Here is the remarkable story of how this humble language took vigorous root in Eastern European shtetls and in the Jewish quarters of cities across Europe; how it achieved a rich literary flowering between the wars in Europe and America; how it was rejected by emancipated Jews; and how it fell victim to the Holocaust. And also how, in yet another twist of destiny, Yiddish today is becoming the darling of academia. Yiddish is a history as story; a tale of flesh-and-blood people with manic humor.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Incredible book. Wonderful narration.
- By Andy on 08-27-21
By: Miriam Weinstein
-
The Not-Quite States of America
- Dispatches from the Territories and Other Far-Flung Outposts of the USA
- By: Doug Mack
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 50
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 41
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 40
Everyone knows that the United States of America is made up of 50 states and, uh...some other stuff. The territories of American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the US Virgin Islands are often neglected, but they are filled with American flags and national parks and US post offices and some four million people, many of whom are as proudly red-white-and-blue as any Daughter of the American Revolution.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Worthwhile Learning
- By Bessie Mae on 05-02-23
By: Doug Mack
-
Oracle Bones
- A Journey Through Time in China
- By: Peter Hessler
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 18 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 367
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 284
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 283
A century ago, outsiders saw China as a place where nothing ever changes. Today, the country has become one of the most dynamic regions on earth. In Oracle Bones, Peter Hessler explores the human side of China's transformation, viewing modern-day China and its growing links to the Western world through the lives of a handful of ordinary people.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great Book, except for the narration.
- By Daniel on 11-09-10
By: Peter Hessler
-
Maphead
- Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks
- By: Ken Jennings
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 229
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 191
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 191
It comes as no surprise that, as a kid, Jeopardy! legend Ken Jennings slept with a bulky Hammond world atlas by his pillow every night. Maphead recounts his lifelong love affair with geography and explores why maps have always been so fascinating to him and to fellow enthusiasts everywhere.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A Romp through Maps
- By Lynn on 01-27-12
By: Ken Jennings
-
DNA USA
- A Genetic Portrait of America
- By: Bryan Sykes
- Narrated by: John Curless
- Length: 13 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 71
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 58
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 56
Having worked on numerous high-profile genetic investigations, including one focused on the famed Iceman of the Italian Alps, Bryan Sykes has become a premier authority on human genetics. In DNA USA, Sykes examines the unique fabric of the population of the United States - one of the world’s most genetically variegated countries. His fascinating discoveries offer new insights into the biological profile of the great melting pot.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
For me, the narrator ruined this (good!) audiobook
- By Boom Depleter on 08-20-16
By: Bryan Sykes
-
A Singular Woman
- The Untold Story of Barack Obama's Mother
- By: Janny Scott
- Narrated by: January LaVoy
- Length: 10 hrs and 18 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 120
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 79
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 76
Barack Obama has written extensively about his father, but little is known about Stanley Ann Dunham, the fiercely independent woman who raised him, the person he credits for, as he says, "what is best in me." Here is the missing piece of the story.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
What a Woman!
- By darswords on 10-11-11
By: Janny Scott
Publisher's summary
Though we're known as a nation of English speakers, the linguistic map of the United States is hardly monochromatic. While much ado has been made about the role that Spanish may play in our national future, it would be a gross misrepresentation to label America a bilingual country. On the contrary, our languages are as varied as our origins. There is Basque in Nevada, Arabic in Detroit, Gullah in South Carolina. We speak European, Asian, and American Indian languages; we speak creoles, jargons, and pidgins.
As a resident of Queens - among the most ethnically, culturally, and linguistically diverse places on the planet - Elizabeth Little first began to wonder how this host of tongues had shaped the American experience. It was only a matter of time before she decided to take her questions on the road.
In Trip of the Tongue, Little explores our nation's many cultures and languages in search of what they say about who we are individually, socially, and politically. This book is both a celebration of American multiculturalism and a reflection on what we value, what we fight for, and what we allow ourselves to forget. Elizabeth Little is a witty and endearing tour guide for this memorable and original trip.
More from the same
Related to this topic
-
The Almost Nearly Perfect People
- Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia
- By: Michael Booth
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 13 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 656
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 579
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 569
Journalist Michael Booth has lived among the Scandinavians for more than 10 years, and he has grown increasingly frustrated with the rose-tinted view of this part of the world offered up by the Western media. In this timely audiobook, he leaves his adopted home of Denmark and embarks on a journey through all five of the Nordic countries to discover who these curious tribes are, the secrets of their success, and, most intriguing of all, what they think of one another.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Obsessed with bad politics
- By Erik on 09-07-20
By: Michael Booth
-
The Bonjour Effect
- The Secret Codes of French Conversation Revealed
- By: Julie Barlow, Jean-Benoit Nadeau
- Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 116
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 98
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 97
Jean-Benoît Nadeau and Julie Barlow spent a decade traveling back and forth to Paris as well as living there. Yet one important lesson never seemed to sink in: how to communicate comfortably with the French, even when you speak their language. In The Bonjour Effect, Jean-Benoît and Julie chronicle the lessons they learned after they returned to France to live, for a year, with their twin daughters. They offer up all the lessons they learned and explain the most important aspect of all: the French don't communicate, they converse.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Terrible French pronunciation
- By CA on 01-24-19
By: Julie Barlow, and others
-
The Mother Tongue
- By: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: Stephen McLaughlin
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,260
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,093
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,087
With dazzling wit and astonishing insight, Bill Bryson - the acclaimed author of The Lost Continent - brilliantly explores the remarkable history, eccentricities, resilience, and sheer fun of the English language. From the first descent of the larynx into the throat (why you can talk but your dog can't) to the fine lost art of swearing, Bryson tells the fascinating, often uproarious story of an inadequate, second-rate tongue of peasants that developed into one of the world's largest growth industries.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
More satire than history
- By Barbara Kindle Customer on 12-18-15
By: Bill Bryson
-
The Not-Quite States of America
- Dispatches from the Territories and Other Far-Flung Outposts of the USA
- By: Doug Mack
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 50
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 41
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 40
Everyone knows that the United States of America is made up of 50 states and, uh...some other stuff. The territories of American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the US Virgin Islands are often neglected, but they are filled with American flags and national parks and US post offices and some four million people, many of whom are as proudly red-white-and-blue as any Daughter of the American Revolution.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Worthwhile Learning
- By Bessie Mae on 05-02-23
By: Doug Mack
-
Oracle Bones
- A Journey Through Time in China
- By: Peter Hessler
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 18 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 367
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 284
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 283
A century ago, outsiders saw China as a place where nothing ever changes. Today, the country has become one of the most dynamic regions on earth. In Oracle Bones, Peter Hessler explores the human side of China's transformation, viewing modern-day China and its growing links to the Western world through the lives of a handful of ordinary people.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great Book, except for the narration.
- By Daniel on 11-09-10
By: Peter Hessler
-
Maphead
- Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks
- By: Ken Jennings
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 229
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 191
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 191
It comes as no surprise that, as a kid, Jeopardy! legend Ken Jennings slept with a bulky Hammond world atlas by his pillow every night. Maphead recounts his lifelong love affair with geography and explores why maps have always been so fascinating to him and to fellow enthusiasts everywhere.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A Romp through Maps
- By Lynn on 01-27-12
By: Ken Jennings
-
The Almost Nearly Perfect People
- Behind the Myth of the Scandinavian Utopia
- By: Michael Booth
- Narrated by: Ralph Lister
- Length: 13 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 656
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 579
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 569
Journalist Michael Booth has lived among the Scandinavians for more than 10 years, and he has grown increasingly frustrated with the rose-tinted view of this part of the world offered up by the Western media. In this timely audiobook, he leaves his adopted home of Denmark and embarks on a journey through all five of the Nordic countries to discover who these curious tribes are, the secrets of their success, and, most intriguing of all, what they think of one another.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Obsessed with bad politics
- By Erik on 09-07-20
By: Michael Booth
-
The Bonjour Effect
- The Secret Codes of French Conversation Revealed
- By: Julie Barlow, Jean-Benoit Nadeau
- Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt
- Length: 8 hrs and 37 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 116
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 98
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 97
Jean-Benoît Nadeau and Julie Barlow spent a decade traveling back and forth to Paris as well as living there. Yet one important lesson never seemed to sink in: how to communicate comfortably with the French, even when you speak their language. In The Bonjour Effect, Jean-Benoît and Julie chronicle the lessons they learned after they returned to France to live, for a year, with their twin daughters. They offer up all the lessons they learned and explain the most important aspect of all: the French don't communicate, they converse.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Terrible French pronunciation
- By CA on 01-24-19
By: Julie Barlow, and others
-
The Mother Tongue
- By: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: Stephen McLaughlin
- Length: 10 hrs and 44 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,260
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,093
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 1,087
With dazzling wit and astonishing insight, Bill Bryson - the acclaimed author of The Lost Continent - brilliantly explores the remarkable history, eccentricities, resilience, and sheer fun of the English language. From the first descent of the larynx into the throat (why you can talk but your dog can't) to the fine lost art of swearing, Bryson tells the fascinating, often uproarious story of an inadequate, second-rate tongue of peasants that developed into one of the world's largest growth industries.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
More satire than history
- By Barbara Kindle Customer on 12-18-15
By: Bill Bryson
-
The Not-Quite States of America
- Dispatches from the Territories and Other Far-Flung Outposts of the USA
- By: Doug Mack
- Narrated by: Jonathan Yen
- Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 50
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 41
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 40
Everyone knows that the United States of America is made up of 50 states and, uh...some other stuff. The territories of American Samoa, Guam, Puerto Rico, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the US Virgin Islands are often neglected, but they are filled with American flags and national parks and US post offices and some four million people, many of whom are as proudly red-white-and-blue as any Daughter of the American Revolution.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Worthwhile Learning
- By Bessie Mae on 05-02-23
By: Doug Mack
-
Oracle Bones
- A Journey Through Time in China
- By: Peter Hessler
- Narrated by: Peter Berkrot
- Length: 18 hrs and 32 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 367
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 284
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 283
A century ago, outsiders saw China as a place where nothing ever changes. Today, the country has become one of the most dynamic regions on earth. In Oracle Bones, Peter Hessler explores the human side of China's transformation, viewing modern-day China and its growing links to the Western world through the lives of a handful of ordinary people.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great Book, except for the narration.
- By Daniel on 11-09-10
By: Peter Hessler
-
Maphead
- Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks
- By: Ken Jennings
- Narrated by: Kirby Heyborne
- Length: 10 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 229
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 191
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 191
It comes as no surprise that, as a kid, Jeopardy! legend Ken Jennings slept with a bulky Hammond world atlas by his pillow every night. Maphead recounts his lifelong love affair with geography and explores why maps have always been so fascinating to him and to fellow enthusiasts everywhere.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
A Romp through Maps
- By Lynn on 01-27-12
By: Ken Jennings
-
Sundown Towns
- A Hidden Dimension of American Racism
- By: James Loewen
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 26 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 227
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 187
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 181
Sundown Towns examines thousands of all-white American towns that were - and still are, in some instances - racially exclusive by design.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Honest Reportage on American Racial's Shame
- By Anonymous User on 12-26-08
By: James Loewen
-
Made in America
- By: Bill Bryson
- Narrated by: William Roberts
- Length: 18 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 1,489
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 1,231
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 1,230
In Made in America, Bryson de-mythologizes his native land, explaining how a dusty hamlet with neither woods nor holly became Hollywood, how the Wild West wasn't won, why Americans say 'lootenant' and 'Toosday', how Americans were eating junk food long before the word itself was cooked up, as well as exposing the true origins of the G-string, the original $64,000 question, and Dr Kellogg of cornflakes fame.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Bryson Not Reading Makes For a Rare Fail
- By John on 02-28-14
By: Bill Bryson
-
Where I Was From
- By: Joan Didion
- Narrated by: Gabrielle De Cuir
- Length: 6 hrs and 28 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 163
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 139
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 136
In her moving and insightful new book, Joan Didion reassesses parts of her life, her work, her history and ours. A native Californian, Didion applies her scalpel-like intelligence to the state’s ethic of ruthless self-sufficiency in order to examine that ethic’s often tenuous relationship to reality. Combining history and reportage, memoir and literary criticism, Where I Was From explores California’s romances with land and water; its unacknowledged debts to railroads, aerospace, and big government; the disjunction between its code of individualism and its fetish for prisons.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
California belongs to Joan Didion.
- By Darwin8u on 11-04-15
By: Joan Didion
-
Babel No More
- The Search for the World's Most Extraordinary Language Learners
- By: Michael Erard
- Narrated by: Robert Blumenfeld
- Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 47
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 44
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 45
We all learn at least one language as children. But what does it take to learn six languages...or seventy? In Babel No More, Michael Erard, "a monolingual with benefits," sets out on a quest to meet language superlearners and make sense of their mental powers. On the way he uncovers the secrets of historical figures like Italian cardinal Giuseppe Mezzofanti, who was said to speak seventy-two languages; Emil Krebs, a pugnacious German diplomat, who spoke sixty-eight languages; and Lomb Kat, a Hungarian who taught herself Russian by reading Russian romance novels.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Heavy on anecdote, light on science
- By S. Yates on 07-15-16
By: Michael Erard
-
Disintegration
- The Splintering of Black America
- By: Eugene Robinson
- Narrated by: Alan Bomar Jones
- Length: 7 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 121
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 103
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 101
The African American population in the United States has always been seen as a single entity: a "Black America" with unified interests and needs. In his groundbreaking book Disintegration, longtime Washington Post journalist Eugene Robinson argues that, through decades of desegregation, affirmative action, and immigration, the concept of Black America has shattered.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Written for Popular Consumption
- By Catherine S. Read on 06-03-11
By: Eugene Robinson
-
China Road
- A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power
- By: Rob Gifford
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 10 hrs and 34 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 603
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 332
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 329
National Public Radio's Beijing correspondent Rob Gifford recounts his travels along Route 312, the Chinese Mother Road, the longest route in the world's most populous nation. Based on his successful NPR radio series, China Road draws on Gifford's 20 years of observing first-hand this rapidly transforming country, as he travels east to west, from Shanghai to China's border with Kazakhstan. As he takes listeners on this journey, he also takes them through China's past and present while he tries to make sense of this complex nation's potential future.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An Outstanding Book on China
- By Sarda on 08-13-07
By: Rob Gifford
-
Strange Stones
- By: Peter Hessler
- Narrated by: George Backman
- Length: 13 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 157
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 135
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 138
Full of unforgettable figures and an unrelenting spirit of adventure, Strange Stones is a far-ranging, thought-provoking collection of Peter Hessler’s best reportage - a dazzling display of the powerful storytelling, shrewd cultural insight, and warm sense of humor that are the trademarks of his work. Over the last decade, as a staff writer for The New Yorker and the author of three books, Peter Hessler has lived in Asia and the United States, writing as both native and knowledgeable outsider in these two very different regions.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
funny, entertaining
- By Katherine on 08-02-13
By: Peter Hessler
-
The South
- Jim Crow and Its Afterlives
- By: Adolph L. Reed Jr., Barbara J. Fields - foreword
- Narrated by: Langston Darby
- Length: 4 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 24
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 23
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 23
The last generation of Americans with a living memory of Jim Crow will soon disappear. They leave behind a collective memory of segregation shaped increasingly by its horrors and heroic defeat, but not a nuanced understanding of everyday life in Jim Crow America. In The South, Adolph L. Reed Jr.—New Orleanian, political scientist, and according to Cornel West, "the greatest democratic theorist of his generation"—takes up the urgent task of recounting the granular realities of life in the last decades of the Jim Crow South.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Adolph Reed is a master.
- By Will Shogren on 06-07-22
By: Adolph L. Reed Jr., and others
-
The Italians
- By: John Hooper
- Narrated by: Gareth Armstrong
- Length: 9 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 137
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 122
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 122
John Hooper's marvelously entertaining and perceptive new book is ideal for anyone seeking to understand contemporary Italy and the unique character of the Italians. Looking at the facts that lie behind and often belie the stereotypes, his revealing book sheds new light on many aspects of Italian life: football and Freemasonry, sex, symbolism, and the reason Italian has twelve words for a coat hanger yet none for a hangover.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Mi piace molto!
- By Adeliese Baumann on 12-30-16
By: John Hooper
-
In Search of Our Roots
- How 19 Extraordinary African Americans Reclaimed Their Past
- By: Henry Louis Gates Jr.
- Narrated by: Dominic Hoffman
- Length: 16 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 45
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 33
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 33
Most African Americans, in tracing their family’s past, encounter a series of daunting obstacles. Slavery was a brutally efficient nullifier of identity, willfully denying Black men and women even their names. Here, scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr., backed by an elite team of geneticists and researchers, takes 19 extraordinary African Americans on a once unimaginable journey, tracing family sagas through US history and back to Africa.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Amazing
- By LadyC Speaks on 04-17-19
-
Shortest Way Home
- One Mayor's Challenge and a Model for America's Future
- By: Pete Buttigieg
- Narrated by: Pete Buttigieg
- Length: 9 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 5,086
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 4,571
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 4,548
Once described by The Washington Post as "the most interesting mayor you've never heard of", Pete Buttigieg, the 36-year-old Democratic mayor of South Bend, Indiana, has improbably emerged as one of the nation's most visionary politicians. First elected in 2011, Buttigieg left a successful business career to move back to his hometown, previously tagged by Newsweek as a "dying city", and transformed it into a shining model of urban reinvention.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Reveals a Person Wise & Experienced & Literate
- By dbbks3 on 03-17-19
By: Pete Buttigieg
-
The Invisible History of the Human Race
- How DNA and History Shape Our Identities and Our Futures
- By: Christine Kenneally
- Narrated by: Justine Eyre
- Length: 12 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 177
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 154
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 153
In The Invisible History of the Human Race, Christine Kenneally draws on cutting-edge research to reveal how both historical artifacts and DNA tell us where we come from and where we may be going. While some books explore our genetic inheritance and some popular television shows celebrate ancestry, this is the first book to explore how everything from DNA to emotions to names and the stories that form our lives are all part of our human legacy.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Who are you really. Who am I?
- By Annie M. on 10-28-14
What listeners say about Trip of the Tongue
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- JPALJ
- 12-03-16
well, that was fun . . .
learned quite a bit about different languages in the states, learned a good bit about history, and learned probably more than I wanted to know about the author.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Josh Wickham
- 02-20-15
Interesting, mildly dry narration
While fact-based, this book doesn't feel like it; it's more a story, a memoir. However, it seemed that the narrator wasn't very familiar with the book before reading. The performance wasn't smooth and was somewhat dey. Not impossible to listen to, but not riveting, either
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
1 person found this helpful