-
Ben Hecht
- Fighting Words, Moving Pictures
- Narrated by: Adina Hoffman
- Length: 6 hrs and 17 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.
Ben Hecht
Buy for $17.19
No default payment method selected.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
-
Prequel
- An American Fight Against Fascism
- By: Rachel Maddow
- Narrated by: Rachel Maddow
- Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 2,575
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 2,361
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 2,358
Inspired by her research for the hit podcast Ultra, Rachel Maddow charts the rise of a wild American strain of authoritarianism that has been alive on the far-right edge of our politics for the better part of a century. Before and even after our troops had begun fighting abroad in World War II, a clandestine network flooded the country with disinformation aimed at sapping the strength of the U.S. war effort and persuading Americans that our natural alliance was with the Axis, not against it.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The fight to keep democracy alive
- By Rex on 10-19-23
By: Rachel Maddow
-
Tom Stoppard
- A Life
- By: Hermione Lee
- Narrated by: Stephen Crossley
- Length: 37 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 35
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 36
Tom Stoppard is a towering and beloved literary figure. Known for his dizzying narrative inventiveness and intense attention to language, he deftly deploys art, science, history, politics, and philosophy in works that span a remarkable spectrum of literary genres: theater, radio, film, TV, journalism, and fiction. His most acclaimed creations - Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, The Real Thing, Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia, Shakespeare in Love - remain as fresh and moving as when they entranced their first audiences.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
great biography
- By Aidan O'Reilly on 03-11-21
By: Hermione Lee
-
The Brothers Mankiewicz
- Hope, Heartbreak, and Hollywood Classics
- By: Sydney Ladensohn Stern
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 15 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 63
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 51
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 51
Herman J. (1897-1953) and Joseph L. Mankiewicz (1909-1993) wrote, produced, and directed over 150 pictures. With Orson Welles, Herman wrote the screenplay for Citizen Kane and shared the picture's only Academy Award. Joe earned the second pair of his four Oscars for writing and directing All About Eve, which also won Best Picture.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Golden age Hollywood comes alive.
- By Morton on 04-02-20
-
True Believer
- The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee
- By: Abraham Riesman
- Narrated by: Vikas Adam
- Length: 14 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 210
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 183
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 184
Stan Lee was one of the most famous and beloved entertainers to emerge from the twentieth century. He served as head editor of Marvel Comics for three decades and, in that time, became known as the creator of more pieces of internationally recognizable intellectual property than nearly anyone: Spider-Man, the Avengers, the X-Men, Black Panther, the Incredible Hulk . . . the list goes on. His carnival-barker marketing prowess helped save the comic-book industry and superhero fiction.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Bizarre compilation of imagined sleights
- By Dumbfounded consumer on 02-24-21
By: Abraham Riesman
-
A Marvelous Life
- The Amazing Story of Stan Lee
- By: Danny Fingeroth
- Narrated by: Danny Fingeroth
- Length: 14 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 77
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 68
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 68
Danny Fingeroth’s A Marvelous Life: The Amazing Story of Stan Lee is the first comprehensive biography of this powerhouse of ideas, who, with his invention of Marvel Comics, changed the world’s ideas of what a hero is and how a story should be told. With exclusive interviews with Lee himself, as well as with colleagues, relatives, friends - and detractors - Fingeroth makes a doubly remarkable case for Lee’s achievements, while not ignoring the controversies that dogged him his entire life - and even past his death.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Detailed and Personal Look at Stan the Man
- By G. Hernandez on 07-29-20
By: Danny Fingeroth
-
Philip Roth
- The Biography
- By: Blake Bailey
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 31 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 33
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 26
"I don't want you to rehabilitate me," Philip Roth said to his only authorized biographer, Blake Bailey. "Just make me interesting." Granted complete independence and access, Bailey spent almost 10 years poring over Roth's personal archive, interviewing his friends, lovers, and colleagues, and listening to Roth's own breathtakingly candid confessions. Tracing Roth's path from realism to farce to metafiction to the tragic masterpieces of the American Trilogy, Bailey explores Roth's engagement with nearly every aspect of postwar American culture.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
moved
- By Michael on 08-18-21
By: Blake Bailey
-
Prequel
- An American Fight Against Fascism
- By: Rachel Maddow
- Narrated by: Rachel Maddow
- Length: 13 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars 2,575
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 2,361
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 2,358
Inspired by her research for the hit podcast Ultra, Rachel Maddow charts the rise of a wild American strain of authoritarianism that has been alive on the far-right edge of our politics for the better part of a century. Before and even after our troops had begun fighting abroad in World War II, a clandestine network flooded the country with disinformation aimed at sapping the strength of the U.S. war effort and persuading Americans that our natural alliance was with the Axis, not against it.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The fight to keep democracy alive
- By Rex on 10-19-23
By: Rachel Maddow
-
Tom Stoppard
- A Life
- By: Hermione Lee
- Narrated by: Stephen Crossley
- Length: 37 hrs and 47 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 42
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 35
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 36
Tom Stoppard is a towering and beloved literary figure. Known for his dizzying narrative inventiveness and intense attention to language, he deftly deploys art, science, history, politics, and philosophy in works that span a remarkable spectrum of literary genres: theater, radio, film, TV, journalism, and fiction. His most acclaimed creations - Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead, The Real Thing, Arcadia, The Coast of Utopia, Shakespeare in Love - remain as fresh and moving as when they entranced their first audiences.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
great biography
- By Aidan O'Reilly on 03-11-21
By: Hermione Lee
-
The Brothers Mankiewicz
- Hope, Heartbreak, and Hollywood Classics
- By: Sydney Ladensohn Stern
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 15 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 63
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 51
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 51
Herman J. (1897-1953) and Joseph L. Mankiewicz (1909-1993) wrote, produced, and directed over 150 pictures. With Orson Welles, Herman wrote the screenplay for Citizen Kane and shared the picture's only Academy Award. Joe earned the second pair of his four Oscars for writing and directing All About Eve, which also won Best Picture.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Golden age Hollywood comes alive.
- By Morton on 04-02-20
-
True Believer
- The Rise and Fall of Stan Lee
- By: Abraham Riesman
- Narrated by: Vikas Adam
- Length: 14 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 210
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 183
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 184
Stan Lee was one of the most famous and beloved entertainers to emerge from the twentieth century. He served as head editor of Marvel Comics for three decades and, in that time, became known as the creator of more pieces of internationally recognizable intellectual property than nearly anyone: Spider-Man, the Avengers, the X-Men, Black Panther, the Incredible Hulk . . . the list goes on. His carnival-barker marketing prowess helped save the comic-book industry and superhero fiction.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Bizarre compilation of imagined sleights
- By Dumbfounded consumer on 02-24-21
By: Abraham Riesman
-
A Marvelous Life
- The Amazing Story of Stan Lee
- By: Danny Fingeroth
- Narrated by: Danny Fingeroth
- Length: 14 hrs and 42 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 77
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 68
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 68
Danny Fingeroth’s A Marvelous Life: The Amazing Story of Stan Lee is the first comprehensive biography of this powerhouse of ideas, who, with his invention of Marvel Comics, changed the world’s ideas of what a hero is and how a story should be told. With exclusive interviews with Lee himself, as well as with colleagues, relatives, friends - and detractors - Fingeroth makes a doubly remarkable case for Lee’s achievements, while not ignoring the controversies that dogged him his entire life - and even past his death.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
A Detailed and Personal Look at Stan the Man
- By G. Hernandez on 07-29-20
By: Danny Fingeroth
-
Philip Roth
- The Biography
- By: Blake Bailey
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 31 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 33
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 26
"I don't want you to rehabilitate me," Philip Roth said to his only authorized biographer, Blake Bailey. "Just make me interesting." Granted complete independence and access, Bailey spent almost 10 years poring over Roth's personal archive, interviewing his friends, lovers, and colleagues, and listening to Roth's own breathtakingly candid confessions. Tracing Roth's path from realism to farce to metafiction to the tragic masterpieces of the American Trilogy, Bailey explores Roth's engagement with nearly every aspect of postwar American culture.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
moved
- By Michael on 08-18-21
By: Blake Bailey
-
Becoming Dr. Seuss
- Theodor Geisel and the Making of an American Imagination
- By: Brian Jay Jones
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 18 hrs
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 207
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 176
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 176
The definitive, fascinating, all-reaching biography of Dr. Seuss. Dr. Seuss is a classic American icon. Whimsical and wonderful, his work has defined our childhoods and the childhoods of our own children. The silly, simple rhymes are a bottomless well of magic, his illustrations timeless favorites because, quite simply, he makes us laugh. The Grinch, the Cat in the Hat, Horton, and so many more are his troupe of beloved and uniquely Seussian creations.
-
2 out of 5 stars
-
Good enough to read but not listen to.
- By Vetbo on 05-21-19
By: Brian Jay Jones
-
Capote
- A Biography
- By: Gerald Clarke
- Narrated by: Paul Boehmer
- Length: 25 hrs and 16 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 67
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 49
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 49
First published in 1988 - just four years after Capote's death - Clarke paints a vivid behind-the-scenes picture of the author's life, based on hundreds of hours of in-depth interviews with the man himself and the people close to him. From the glittering heights of notoriety and parties with the rich and famous to his later struggles with addiction, Capote emerges as a richly multidimensional person - both brilliant and flawed.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
the brightest stars can self destruct
- By Placeholder on 09-22-21
By: Gerald Clarke
-
The Contender
- The Story of Marlon Brando
- By: William J. Mann
- Narrated by: Will Damron
- Length: 21 hrs and 57 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 120
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 103
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 103
The award-winning film biographer presents a deeply-textured, ambitious, and definitive portrait of the greatest movie actor of the 20th century, the elusive Marlon Brando, bringing his extraordinarily complex life into view as never before. The most influential movie actor of his era, Marlon Brando changed the way other actors perceived their craft. His approach was natural, honest, and deeply personal, resulting in performances - most notably in A Streetcar Named Desire and On the Waterfront - that are without parallel.
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Psychobabble run amok
- By Dr. Susan Tice-Alicke on 06-07-20
By: William J. Mann
-
Empire of Self
- A Life of Gore Vidal
- By: Jay Parini
- Narrated by: John Lescault
- Length: 16 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 100
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 89
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 89
The product of 30 years of friendship and conversation, Jay Parini's Empire of Self probes behind the glittering surface of Gore Vidal's colorful life to reveal the complex emotional and sexual truth underlying his celebrity-strewn life. But there is plenty of glittering surface as well - a virtual who's who of the American Century, from Eleanor Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart through the Kennedys, Princess Margaret, and the creme de la creme of Hollywood.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Well done!
- By Christopher on 03-22-16
By: Jay Parini
-
Oscar Wilde
- A Life
- By: Matthew Sturgis
- Narrated by: John Pirkis
- Length: 34 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 57
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 49
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 49
The fullest, most textural, most accurate - most human - account of Oscar Wilde's unique and dazzling life - based on extensive new research and newly discovered materials, from Wilde's personal letters and transcripts of his first trial to newly uncovered papers of his early romantic (and dangerous) escapades and the two-year prison term that shattered his soul and his life.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Wilde Made Tame
- By Secutor on 11-21-21
By: Matthew Sturgis
-
Cast of Characters
- Wolcott Gibbs, E. B. White, James Thurber, and the Golden Age of the New Yorker
- By: Thomas Vinciguerra
- Narrated by: Tony Pasqualini
- Length: 13 hrs and 29 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 68
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 57
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 56
From its birth in 1925 to the early days of the Cold War, The New Yorker slowly but surely took hold as the country's most prestigious, entertaining, and informative general-interest periodical. In Cast of Characters, Thomas Vinciguerra paints a portrait of the magazine's cadre of charming, wisecracking, driven, troubled, and brilliant writers and editors. He introduces us to Wolcott Gibbs, theater critic, all-around wit, and author of an infamous 1936 parody of Time magazine.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
But...Where's Dorothy Parker
- By Constant Reader on 06-05-18
-
The View from the Bridge
- Memories of Star Trek and a Life in Hollywood
- By: Nicholas Meyer
- Narrated by: Nicholas Meyer
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 59
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 49
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 49
When Nicholas Meyer was asked to direct the troubled second Star Trek film, he was something less than a true believer. A best-selling author and successful director, he had never been a fan of the TV series. But as he began to ponder the appeal of Kirk, Spock, et al., he realized that their story was a classical nautical adventure yarn transplanted into space and - armed with that insight - set out on his mission: to revitalize Trek.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Anyone interested in film or Star Trek
- By Nick C Simon on 05-24-21
By: Nicholas Meyer
-
The Dark Side of Genius
- The Life of Alfred Hitchcock
- By: Donald Spoto
- Narrated by: Jeff Riggenbach
- Length: 23 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 280
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 245
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 249
Acclaimed biographer Donald Spoto explores the roots of Hitchcock’s obsessions - with food, murder, and idealized love, among others - and traces the origins of his incomparable, bizarre genius, from his childhood and education to the golden years of his career. Based on interviews with his writers, actors, and longtime associates, and on exhaustive research, The Dark Side of Genius is the definitive biography of Alfred Hitchcock.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
The Last Word
- By Erik on 09-22-13
By: Donald Spoto
-
Stanley Kubrick
- American Filmmaker (Jewish Lives Series)
- By: David Mikics
- Narrated by: Steven Jay Cohen
- Length: 7 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 49
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 43
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 43
Stanley Kubrick revolutionized Hollywood with movies like Dr. Strangelove, 2001: A Space Odyssey, and A Clockwork Orange, and electrified audiences with The Shining and Full Metal Jacket. David Mikics takes listeners on a deep dive into Kubrick's life and work, illustrating his intense commitment to each of his films.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Brief but Satisfying Analysis of Kubrick's Work
- By Christopher B. Murray on 09-23-20
By: David Mikics
-
Shooting Midnight Cowboy
- Art, Sex, Loneliness, Liberation, and the Making of a Dark Classic
- By: Glenn Frankel
- Narrated by: John Pruden
- Length: 13 hrs and 53 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 90
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 77
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 77
Shooting Midnight Cowboy is not only the definitive account of the film that unleashed a new wave of innovation in American cinema but also the story of a country (and an industry) beginning to break free from decades of cultural and sexual repression.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Well done. Good insight into all aspects
- By S. Adam Bernstein on 07-29-21
By: Glenn Frankel
-
Zora and Langston
- A Story of Friendship and Betrayal
- By: Yuval Taylor
- Narrated by: Bahni Turpin
- Length: 8 hrs and 39 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 61
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 48
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 49
They were best friends. They were collaborators, literary gadflies, and champions of the common people. They were the leading lights of the Harlem Renaissance. Zora Neale Hurston, the author of Their Eyes Were Watching God, and Langston Hughes, the author of "The Negro Speaks of Rivers" and "Let America Be America Again", first met in 1925, at a great gathering of black and white literati, and they fascinated each other.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating Story
- By Amazon Customer on 08-19-19
By: Yuval Taylor
-
The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock
- An Anatomy of the Master of Suspense
- By: Edward White
- Narrated by: Qarie Marshall
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 78
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 63
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 62
Author Edward White explores the Hitchcock phenomenon - what defines it, how it was invented, what it reveals about the man at its core, and how its legacy continues to shape our cultural world. Illuminating different aspects of Hitchcock's life and work, the book's 12 chapters reveal something fundamental about the man he was and the mythological creature he has become, presenting not just the life Hitchcock lived, but also the various versions of himself that he projected and those projected on his behalf.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Very Good History of Hitch
- By aaron on 07-31-21
By: Edward White
Publisher's summary
A vibrant portrait of one of the most accomplished and prolific American screenwriters, by an award-winning biographer and essayist.
He was, according to Pauline Kael, "the greatest American screenwriter." Jean-Luc Godard called him "a genius" who "invented eighty percent of what is used in Hollywood movies today." Besides tossing off dozens of now-classic scripts - including Scarface, Twentieth Century, and Notorious - Ben Hecht was known in his day as ace reporter, celebrated playwright, taboo-busting novelist, and the most quick-witted of provocateurs. During World War II, he also emerged as an outspoken crusader for the imperiled Jews of Europe, and later he became a fierce propagandist for pre-1948 Palestine's Jewish terrorist underground. Whatever the outrage he stirred, this self-declared "child of the century" came to embody much that defined America - especially Jewish America - in his time.
Hecht's fame has dimmed with the decades, but Adina Hoffman's vivid portrait brings this charismatic and contradictory figure back to life. Hecht was a renaissance man of dazzling sorts, and Hoffman - critically acclaimed biographer, former film critic, and eloquent commentator on Middle Eastern culture and politics - is uniquely suited to capture him in all his modes.
Related to this topic
-
Philip Roth
- The Biography
- By: Blake Bailey
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 31 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 33
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 26
"I don't want you to rehabilitate me," Philip Roth said to his only authorized biographer, Blake Bailey. "Just make me interesting." Granted complete independence and access, Bailey spent almost 10 years poring over Roth's personal archive, interviewing his friends, lovers, and colleagues, and listening to Roth's own breathtakingly candid confessions. Tracing Roth's path from realism to farce to metafiction to the tragic masterpieces of the American Trilogy, Bailey explores Roth's engagement with nearly every aspect of postwar American culture.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
moved
- By Michael on 08-18-21
By: Blake Bailey
-
Empire of Self
- A Life of Gore Vidal
- By: Jay Parini
- Narrated by: John Lescault
- Length: 16 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 100
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 89
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 89
The product of 30 years of friendship and conversation, Jay Parini's Empire of Self probes behind the glittering surface of Gore Vidal's colorful life to reveal the complex emotional and sexual truth underlying his celebrity-strewn life. But there is plenty of glittering surface as well - a virtual who's who of the American Century, from Eleanor Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart through the Kennedys, Princess Margaret, and the creme de la creme of Hollywood.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Well done!
- By Christopher on 03-22-16
By: Jay Parini
-
The View from the Bridge
- Memories of Star Trek and a Life in Hollywood
- By: Nicholas Meyer
- Narrated by: Nicholas Meyer
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 59
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 49
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 49
When Nicholas Meyer was asked to direct the troubled second Star Trek film, he was something less than a true believer. A best-selling author and successful director, he had never been a fan of the TV series. But as he began to ponder the appeal of Kirk, Spock, et al., he realized that their story was a classical nautical adventure yarn transplanted into space and - armed with that insight - set out on his mission: to revitalize Trek.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Anyone interested in film or Star Trek
- By Nick C Simon on 05-24-21
By: Nicholas Meyer
-
The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock
- An Anatomy of the Master of Suspense
- By: Edward White
- Narrated by: Qarie Marshall
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 78
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 63
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 62
Author Edward White explores the Hitchcock phenomenon - what defines it, how it was invented, what it reveals about the man at its core, and how its legacy continues to shape our cultural world. Illuminating different aspects of Hitchcock's life and work, the book's 12 chapters reveal something fundamental about the man he was and the mythological creature he has become, presenting not just the life Hitchcock lived, but also the various versions of himself that he projected and those projected on his behalf.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Very Good History of Hitch
- By aaron on 07-31-21
By: Edward White
-
Shakespeare in a Divided America
- What His Plays Tell Us About Our Past and Future
- By: James Shapiro
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 324
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 280
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 277
The plays of William Shakespeare are rare common ground in the United States. For well over two centuries, Americans of all stripes—presidents and activists, soldiers and writers, conservatives and liberals alike—have turned to Shakespeare’s works to explore the nation’s fault lines. In a narrative arching from Revolutionary times to the present day, leading scholar James Shapiro traces the unparalleled role of Shakespeare’s four-hundred-year-old tragedies and comedies in illuminating the many concerns on which American identity has turned.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An Entertaining History Lesson
- By David on 08-17-20
By: James Shapiro
-
Sontag
- Her Life and Work
- By: Benjamin Moser
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 22 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 108
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 86
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 85
No writer is as emblematic of the American 20th century as Susan Sontag. Mythologized and misunderstood, lauded and loathed, a girl from the suburbs who became a proud symbol of cosmopolitanism, Sontag left a legacy of writing on art and politics, feminism and homosexuality, celebrity and style, medicine and drugs, radicalism and Fascism and Freudianism and Communism and Americanism, that forms an indispensable key to modern culture.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Cloying voice
- By Suzanne on 11-02-19
By: Benjamin Moser
-
Philip Roth
- The Biography
- By: Blake Bailey
- Narrated by: George Guidall
- Length: 31 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 33
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 26
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 26
"I don't want you to rehabilitate me," Philip Roth said to his only authorized biographer, Blake Bailey. "Just make me interesting." Granted complete independence and access, Bailey spent almost 10 years poring over Roth's personal archive, interviewing his friends, lovers, and colleagues, and listening to Roth's own breathtakingly candid confessions. Tracing Roth's path from realism to farce to metafiction to the tragic masterpieces of the American Trilogy, Bailey explores Roth's engagement with nearly every aspect of postwar American culture.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
moved
- By Michael on 08-18-21
By: Blake Bailey
-
Empire of Self
- A Life of Gore Vidal
- By: Jay Parini
- Narrated by: John Lescault
- Length: 16 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 100
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 89
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 89
The product of 30 years of friendship and conversation, Jay Parini's Empire of Self probes behind the glittering surface of Gore Vidal's colorful life to reveal the complex emotional and sexual truth underlying his celebrity-strewn life. But there is plenty of glittering surface as well - a virtual who's who of the American Century, from Eleanor Roosevelt and Amelia Earhart through the Kennedys, Princess Margaret, and the creme de la creme of Hollywood.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Well done!
- By Christopher on 03-22-16
By: Jay Parini
-
The View from the Bridge
- Memories of Star Trek and a Life in Hollywood
- By: Nicholas Meyer
- Narrated by: Nicholas Meyer
- Length: 10 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 59
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 49
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 49
When Nicholas Meyer was asked to direct the troubled second Star Trek film, he was something less than a true believer. A best-selling author and successful director, he had never been a fan of the TV series. But as he began to ponder the appeal of Kirk, Spock, et al., he realized that their story was a classical nautical adventure yarn transplanted into space and - armed with that insight - set out on his mission: to revitalize Trek.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Anyone interested in film or Star Trek
- By Nick C Simon on 05-24-21
By: Nicholas Meyer
-
The Twelve Lives of Alfred Hitchcock
- An Anatomy of the Master of Suspense
- By: Edward White
- Narrated by: Qarie Marshall
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 78
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 63
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 62
Author Edward White explores the Hitchcock phenomenon - what defines it, how it was invented, what it reveals about the man at its core, and how its legacy continues to shape our cultural world. Illuminating different aspects of Hitchcock's life and work, the book's 12 chapters reveal something fundamental about the man he was and the mythological creature he has become, presenting not just the life Hitchcock lived, but also the various versions of himself that he projected and those projected on his behalf.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Very Good History of Hitch
- By aaron on 07-31-21
By: Edward White
-
Shakespeare in a Divided America
- What His Plays Tell Us About Our Past and Future
- By: James Shapiro
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 9 hrs and 11 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 324
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 280
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 277
The plays of William Shakespeare are rare common ground in the United States. For well over two centuries, Americans of all stripes—presidents and activists, soldiers and writers, conservatives and liberals alike—have turned to Shakespeare’s works to explore the nation’s fault lines. In a narrative arching from Revolutionary times to the present day, leading scholar James Shapiro traces the unparalleled role of Shakespeare’s four-hundred-year-old tragedies and comedies in illuminating the many concerns on which American identity has turned.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
An Entertaining History Lesson
- By David on 08-17-20
By: James Shapiro
-
Sontag
- Her Life and Work
- By: Benjamin Moser
- Narrated by: Tavia Gilbert
- Length: 22 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 108
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 86
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 85
No writer is as emblematic of the American 20th century as Susan Sontag. Mythologized and misunderstood, lauded and loathed, a girl from the suburbs who became a proud symbol of cosmopolitanism, Sontag left a legacy of writing on art and politics, feminism and homosexuality, celebrity and style, medicine and drugs, radicalism and Fascism and Freudianism and Communism and Americanism, that forms an indispensable key to modern culture.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Cloying voice
- By Suzanne on 11-02-19
By: Benjamin Moser
-
Possessed
- The Life of Joan Crawford
- By: Donald Spoto
- Narrated by: Christina Delaine
- Length: 12 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 60
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 53
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 53
New York Times best-selling author Donald Spoto has brilliantly explored the lives and careers of numerous Hollywood stars and entertainment icons. In Possessed, his subject is the inimitable Joan Crawford, one of the most electrifying divas of the Golden Age of American film. A more thorough, revealing, and sympathetic portrait of the often maligned movie star - most notably lambasted, perhaps, in the scandalous best seller, Mommie Dearest - Possessed is a fascinating study of the real Joan Crawford, a remarkable actress, businesswoman, mother, and lover.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Waste of money
- By bkw74 on 07-19-21
By: Donald Spoto
-
Genius & Anxiety
- How Jews Changed the World, 1847-1947
- By: Norman Lebrecht
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 18 hrs and 1 min
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 77
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 66
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 65
Norman Lebrecht has devoted half of his life to pondering and researching the mindset of the Jewish intellectuals, writers, scientists, and thinkers who turned the tides of history and shaped the world today as we know it. In Genius & Anxiety, Lebrecht begins with the Communist Manifesto in 1847 and ends in 1947, when Israel was founded. This robust, magnificent volume, beautifully designed, is an urgent and necessary celebration of Jewish genius and contribution.
-
3 out of 5 stars
-
Post-anxiety
- By Amaze on 03-27-20
By: Norman Lebrecht
-
Chasing the Light
- Writing, Directing, and Surviving Platoon, Midnight Express, Scarface, Salvador, and the Movie Game
- By: Oliver Stone
- Narrated by: Oliver Stone
- Length: 14 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 302
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars 253
-
Story5 out of 5 stars 250
An intimate memoir by the controversial, Oscar-winning director and screenwriter about his rarefied New York childhood, volunteering for combat, and his struggles and triumphs making such films as Platoon, Midnight Express, and Scarface.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Impressive
- By Merle O. Tanner on 10-07-20
By: Oliver Stone
-
"The Rest of Us"
- The Rise of America's Eastern European Jews
- By: Stephen Birmingham
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 18 hrs and 2 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 36
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 33
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 31
The wave of Eastern European Jewish immigrants who swept into New York in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries by way of Ellis Island were not welcomed by the Jews who had arrived decades before. These refugees from czarist Russia and the Polish shtetls who came to America to escape pogroms and persecution were considered barbaric, uneducated, and too steeped in the traditions of the "old country" to be accepted by the more refined and already well-established German-Jewish community. But the new arrivals were tough, passionate, and determined.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Book 3 of 3
- By Etoile NEOhio on 11-15-22
-
Ayn Rand and the World She Made
- By: Anne C. Heller
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 19 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 337
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 201
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 207
Ayn Rand is the author of two phenomenally best-selling ideological novels, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, which have sold over 12 million copies in the United States alone. Through them, she built a right-wing cult following in the late 1950s and became the guiding light of Libertarianism and of White House economic policy in the 1960s and '70s. Her defenses of radical individualism and of selfishness as a "capitalist virtue" have permanently altered the American cultural landscape.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Great history of both Rand and her era
- By Mark on 08-07-10
By: Anne C. Heller
-
Gabriel Garcia Marquez: A Life
- By: Gerald Martin
- Narrated by: Sean Crisden
- Length: 22 hrs and 55 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 74
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 57
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 61
In his novels and short stories, Gabriel García Márquez has transformed the particulars of his own life and the lives of his fellow Colombians into wondrous fiction. While telling the story of the sloppily dressed, skinny young man who rose from obscurity as a provincial journalist to international fame as the progenitor of a new literature, Gerald Martin also considers the tensions in García Márquez's life between celebrity and the personal quest for literary quality, between politics and writing, and between the seductions of power, solitude, and love.
-
4 out of 5 stars
-
Great content, somewhat disappointing narrator.
- By Paola Herrington on 01-08-13
By: Gerald Martin
-
So We Read On
- How the Great Gatsby Came to Be and Why It Endures
- By: Maureen Corrigan
- Narrated by: Maureen Corrigan
- Length: 10 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 238
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 199
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 198
Conceived nearly a century ago by a man who died believing himself a failure, it's now a revered classic and a rite of passage in the reading lives of millions. But how well do we really know The Great Gatsby? As Maureen Corrigan, Gatsby lover extraordinaire, points out, while Fitzgerald's masterpiece may be one of the most popular novels in America, many of us first read it when we were too young to fully comprehend its power.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Reading Gatsby as an adult reveals its greatness!
- By Mark on 10-06-14
By: Maureen Corrigan
-
Nazi Literature in the Americas
- By: Roberto Bolaño, Chris Andrews - translator
- Narrated by: Jonathan Davis
- Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 72
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 61
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 60
A tour de force of black humor and imaginary erudition, Nazi Literature in the Americas presents itself as a biographical dictionary of writers who espoused extreme right-wing ideologies in the 20th and 21st centuries.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Eerie and fascinating
- By Jikai Zenshin on 03-19-21
By: Roberto Bolaño, and others
-
She Made Me Laugh
- My Friend Nora Ephron
- By: Richard Cohen
- Narrated by: Christopher Lane
- Length: 10 hrs and 26 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 114
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 93
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 94
Award-winning journalist Richard Cohen, wrote this about his "third-person memoir": "I call this book a third-person memoir. It is about my closest friend, Nora Ephron, and the lives we lived together and how her life got to be bigger until, finally, she wrote her last work, the play, Lucky Guy, about a newspaper columnist dying of cancer while she herself was dying of cancer. I have interviewed many of her other friends - Mike Nichols, Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, Meryl Streep, Arianna Huffington.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Loved it!
- By Leigh Lerro on 10-27-17
By: Richard Cohen
-
The Last Love Song
- A Biography of Joan Didion
- By: Tracy Daugherty
- Narrated by: Bernadette Dunne
- Length: 26 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 78
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 66
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 66
Joan Didion lived a life in the public and private eye with her late husband, writer John Gregory Dunne, whom she met while the two were working in New York City, when Didion was at Vogue and Dunne was writing for Time. They became wildly successful writing partners when they moved to Los Angeles and cowrote screenplays and adaptations together. Didion is well known for her literary journalistic style in both fiction and nonfiction.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Riveted for 1591 miles
- By Kaysi12 on 04-11-16
By: Tracy Daugherty
-
The Man in the Red Coat
- By: Julian Barnes
- Narrated by: Saul Reichlin
- Length: 9 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars 71
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars 62
-
Story4 out of 5 stars 60
In the summer of 1885, three Frenchmen arrived in London for a few days' intellectual shopping: a prince, a count, and a commoner with an Italian name. In time, each of these men would achieve a certain level of renown, but who were they then and what was the significance of their sojourn to England? Answering these questions, Julian Barnes unfurls the stories of their lives which play out against the backdrop of the Belle Epoque in Paris. Our guide through this world is Samuel Pozzi, the society doctor, free-thinker, and man of science with a famously complicated private life....
-
1 out of 5 stars
-
Pathetic narration makes this title unbearable
- By Chris Quigg on 02-27-20
By: Julian Barnes
-
Author in Chief
- The Untold Story of Our Presidents and the Books They Wrote
- By: Craig Fehrman
- Narrated by: Fred Sanders
- Length: 15 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
-
Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 31
-
Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 28
-
Story4.5 out of 5 stars 28
In Craig Fehrman’s groundbreaking work of history, Author in Chief, the story of America’s presidents and their books opens a rich new window into presidential biography. From volumes lost to history - Calvin Coolidge’s Autobiography, which was one of the most widely discussed titles of 1929 - to ones we know and love - Barack Obama’s Dreams From My Father, which was very nearly never published - Fehrman unearths countless insights about the presidents through their literary works.
-
5 out of 5 stars
-
Fascinating
- By Jean on 03-12-20
By: Craig Fehrman
Love Books? You'll Love Audible.
Transform your day
Replace endless scrolling with endless listening. Chores can be fun.
Listen everywhere
Download titles to listen offline, wherever you are in the world.
Carry your entire Library
Your stories go where you go. Audiobooks don’t weigh a thing.
Listen and learn
Discover stories that can change your mind, your well-being, and your life.
Reach your reading goals
You can’t turn pages while you drive—but you can press play.
Find your niche
WIth thousands of titles to explore, there’s something for everyone.
What listeners say about Ben Hecht
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance1 out of 5 stars
-
Story2 out of 5 stars
- Christopher McCue
- 02-25-21
Huh
Feel like I know less about Ben Hecht after listening to this. The narration feels like a speed reading session.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- j
- 09-20-21
Succinct and informative
I found this book to be a concise and informative account of Hecht’s life and career. The author’s performance in the reading was vigorous and clear.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!