Discover the Libray of Best Audiobooks in Fiction, Literary

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Title: The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit

Author: Sloan Wilson

Narrator: Patrick Lawlor

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 2 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-11-10

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 37 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

Universally acclaimed when first published in 1955, The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit captured the mood of a generation. It was a national best seller that was made into an award-winning film; it was translated into 26 languages; and its title has become a permanent part of our cultural vocabulary. Today, it is more relevant than ever.

Here is the story of Tom and Betsy Rath, a young couple with everything going for them: three healthy children, a nice home, a steady income. They have every reason to be happy, but for some reason they are not. Like so many young men of the day, Tom finds himself caught up in the corporate rat race - what he encounters there propels him on a voyage of self-discovery that will turn his world inside out. At once a searing indictment of corporate culture, a story of a young man confronting his past and future with honesty, and a testament to the enduring power of family, The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit is a deeply rewarding novel about the importance of taking responsibility for one's own life.

Members Reviews:

great read/listen

I feel close to Tom despite the fact I haven't experienced anything nearly close to his situation. the book is very entertaining and gives first hand perspective on life in the 1950s

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Title: Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi

Subtitle: A Novel

Author: Geoff Dyer

Narrator: Simon Vance

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 25 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-23-10

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 40 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

Every two years the international art world descends on Venice for the opening of the Biennale. Among them is Jeff Atman, a jaded and dissolute journalist, whose dedication to the cause of Bellini-fuelled party-going is only intermittently disturbed by the obligation to file a story. When he meets the spellbinding Laura, he is rejuvenated, ecstatic. Their romance blossoms quickly, but is it destined to disappear just as rapidly?

Every day thousands of pilgrims head to the banks of the Ganges at Varanasi, the holiest Hindu city in India. Among their number is a narrator who may or may not be the Atman previously seen in Venice. Intending to visit only for a few days, he ends up staying for months, and suddenly finds a hitherto unexamined idea of himself, the self. In a romance he can only observe, he sees a reflection of the kind of pleasures that, willingly or not, he has renounced. In the process, two ancient and watery cities become versions of each other. Could two stories, in two different cities, actually be one and the same story?

An irrepressible and wildly original novel of erotic fulfillment and spiritual yearning, Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi is dead-on in its evocation of place, longing, and the possibility of neurotic enlightenment.

Critic Reviews:

A vigorous mash-up of satire, romance, travelogue and existential treatisehis best yet. (Time magazine, The Top 10 Everything of 2009)

A raucous delightVery funny, full of nerve, gutsy and delicious. Venice will never be the same again! (Michael Ondaatje, author of The English Patient)

Members Reviews:

Hate Jeff in Venice, Love Death in Varanasi

I've been a Geoff Dyer fan for years and I hit a wall of disappointment listening to "Jeff in Venice". I couldn't figure out why the text even existed. Who could care about the sex life and gorged ego of the lead character? There is little reason to read this first half of the book although I forced myself to finish it.

"Death in Varanasi" is a fresh start with the same, or similar, character. Only one problem with "Varanasi." The narrator doesn't know how to pronounce the name of the city. It drove me wacky listening to him mispronounce it over and over again. Finally, I learned to ignore his pronunciation and fell deeply into the story. This is a great tale of "neurotic enlightenment." I started listening to "Venice" again after finishing "Varanasi," but it still wasn't worth the time. I listened "Varanasi" again and fell into it with a new level of comprehension. This is a great short novel. Five stars for "Death in Varanasi" minus one star for pronunciation. No stars for "Jeff in Venice." Simply ignore it.

A Great Contemporary Novel

I am so surprised at some of these reviews. This is a real thought piece, not something to be taken at face value. To the reviewer who "hated Jeff in Venice", you were supposed to hate him. Here the Biennale represents the height of contemporary decadence. It is one long string of vacuous conversations, holding together a narrative of sex and drugs that make up the contemporary art scene. It's easy to make fun of contemporary art. Dyer takes it one step further and has written a scathing critique of the entire art world. Anyone picking this up and hoping for Thomas Mann will be disappointed.

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Title: The Breast

Author: Philip Roth

Narrator: David Colacci

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 49 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-29-09

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 18 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

Like a latter-day Gregor Smasa, Professor David Kepesh wakes up one morning to find that he has been transformed. But where Kafka's protagonist turned into a giant beetle, the narrator of Philip Roth's richly conceived fantasy has become a 155-pound female breast. What follows is a deliriously funny yet touching exploration of the full implications of Kepesh's metamorphosis - a daring, heretical book that brings us face to face with the intrinsic strangeness of sex and subjectivity.

Critic Reviews:

"A new shock world of sensual possibility.... Need one say again that Roth is an admirable novelist who never steps twice into the same river?" (Anthony Burgess)

"A radical, complex, and moving book...the best example yet of Roth's astonishing prowess when he is at the top of his talent and control." (Esquire)

"Hilarious, serious, visionary, logical, sexual-philosophical; the ending amazes - the joke takes three steps beyond savagery and satire and turns into a sublimeness of pity. One knows when one is reading something that will permanently enter the culture." (Cynthia Ozick)

Members Reviews:

Why this book is not on college reading lists

It hits too close to home. This may be the most hilarious book I've ever read. Certainly one of my favs from Philip Roth.

Read the experience of a boob academic manifest all of his greatest fears as he transforms into a human, female breast. Sweet justice if you've ever been to college and came across at least one (probably more than one) boob professor.

Highly recommend this book. Be forewarned: I lost a friend over this book because they couldn't understand why I thought it was funny. Might want to keep your opinions to yourself after reading it, if you think it's a funny book.

painfully funny--I almost felt that I should be reading this only when my wife wasn't around

The allusions to Kafka's "Metamorphosis" in comparison to this work seem a little easy and not altogether reliable--yes, there is a transformation, but the result of the transformation goes a little more in the way of Gogol's "The Nose," how the aftermath becomes more comical and grounded in social satire, than through the family exploration of Kafka. Roth, no doubt, had some sense of this when he referenced Gogol in the work itself, but I tend to look at this work a light closer to Trumbo's _Johnny Got His Gun_, with the subject matter exploring more of the sexual revolution than war. Trumbo may be a little more heavy-handed, but the lack of limbs in Kepesh when he transforms into a gigantic mammory gland, and his limited perception of and contact with the outside world, make this work more akin to Trumbo with a sprinkling of Gogol.

But one thing is never in doubt--and that this book is FUNNY. Roth has an amazing handle of comedy on the page--a tough craft to master, mind you. This read is very short and quick, but it sure gives you some images to haunt and humor you for a long time. Kepesh's sudden sexual voraciousness and his lapses into hysteria and out-and-out psychosis, all while burbling about as a giant breast in a makeshift bra in a hospital bed, are the very stuff of sexual revolution, the sensual and boundlessness of desire overtaking the stuffy life of the mind that Kepesh had allowed himself to fall into.

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Title: Vipers' Tangle

Author: Francois Mauriac

Narrator: Geoffrey Howard

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 42 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-04-09

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 34 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

Louis, a wretchedly unhappy multi-millionaire, all but personifies evil. Toward the end of his life, seeking to uncover the cause of his unhappiness, he commits to paper his whole bitter story: his indulgent but affection-starved childhood; his first love; the trivial misunderstanding that festered until it poisoned their entire married life and the lives of their children; the old miser's struggle to disinherit his family; and finally, the powerful climax, with divine grace vying to the very end to pierce the evil encrusting Louis' soul.

Critic Reviews:

"A modern masterpiece." (St. Louis Star-Times)

"Mauriac develops a character from the inside out....The listener is able to move into Louis's mind, to feel and understand his motivation." (Library Journal)

Members Reviews:

those nasty rich men

i am always amazed when i read what this book is about, since the main character always seems to me like the only half decent person in the book. it is mostly about religious hypocrisy, how religion is fitted into chaotic lives in neat little pockets of piety. it is also about pride, misunderstanding, family relations being allowed to sour with no attempt at retrieving what has been lost. but it is also full of excitement and little cliff hangers as this man tries to decide what to do with his fortune.

the writing is superb, the man could write and deserved the nobel prize he won. the reader is also excellent.

altogether it was a trip into another world, the inner workings of a french landowning family. i had read it before, many years ago, and was curious to see if my reaction would be the same. it was. a good investment of my money as i will listen to it again and again through the years.

Superb

Geoffrey Howard he also does audio books under the name Ralph Cosham) does a superb job of narrating this book. He is able to communicate emotion without being overly sentimental. I would also recommend his reading of Beau Geste.

The book is excellent. It sounds unappealing, I must admit - almost the entire work consists of the reminiscences of a spiteful rich lawyer who knows he will soon be dead. However it is quite fascinating to see how his life developed and why he has ended up so miserable despite being so successful. It is a wonderful warning to not spend one's short life wrapped up in petty resentments and jealousies.

Engrossing!

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

This is an entangling, fascinating story--unpredictable and moving.

What does Geoffrey Howard bring to the story that you wouldnt experience if you just read the book?

Howard is great! Clear diction; nice pauses and just the right amount of emotion.

Excellent Read

Well written. Excellent story. Wonderful narration. I highly recommend French novelist Francois Mauriac's book too you.

Suspenseful Character Study

Any additional comments?

"Viper's Tangle" is an "prison escape" story of sorts--only in this case the prison is the human heart. Louis, the dying anti-hero of the piece, is cut off from love by a lifetime of disappointment and resentment. Can he find his way to freedom before it's too late? The plot keeps you guessing, and the narrator's understated delivery never gets in the way of the action.

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Title: The Brigadier and the Golf Widow

Subtitle: The John Cheever Audio Collection

Author: John Cheever

Narrator: Peter Gallagher

Format: Unabridged

Length: 38 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-22-09

Publisher: HarperAudio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 10 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

Here is one of twelve magnificent stories, originally part of The John Cheever Audio Collection, in which John Cheever celebrates with unequaled grace and tenderness the deepest feelings we have.

As Cheever writes in his preface, "These stories seem at times to be stories of a long-lost world when the city of New York was still filled with a river light, when you heard the Benny Goodman quartets from a radio in the corner stationery store, and when almost everybody wore a hat."

Members Reviews:

Great condition

Great condition for an old hardcover. Dustjacket good, pages clean and tight, binding good. Thank you for a great find by a Cheever/American lit. fan.

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Title: The Sorrows of Gin

Subtitle: The John Cheever Audio Collection

Author: John Cheever

Narrator: Meryl Streep

Format: Unabridged

Length: 38 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-22-09

Publisher: HarperAudio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 25 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

Here is one of twelve magnificent stories, originally part of The John Cheever Audio Collection, in which John Cheever celebrates with unequaled grace and tenderness the deepest feelings we have.

As Cheever writes in his preface, "These stories seem at times to be stories of a long-lost world when the city of New York was still filled with a river light, when you heard the Benny Goodman quartets from a radio in the corner stationery store, and when almost everybody wore a hat."

Editorial Reviews:

Oscar-winning actress Meryl Streep draws on her varied experience and affects the flat, sorrowful tones of two characters of the affluent Northeast: Amy, the young daughter of a couple in the midst of hosting late night revelries, and the household cook. Inhabiting these characters, Streep dramatizes the tragedy of alcoholism with a self-righteous tone that evokes sorrow in the listener for Amy's plight and her eventual heartbreaking decision on what do about her parents. Streep uses her acting and vocal range to add new layers of emotional insight to the polished prose of this master storyteller.

Members Reviews:

The demoralization and destruction of alcoholism

This short story is outstanding. Meryl Streep as narrator makes it even better.

First, it should be noted that John Cheever could write this from the heart. He was a lifelong alcoholic whose relationships were decimated by alcohol abuse. His story is told from the point of view of Amy, the daughter of 2 society-type alcoholics.

Never have I read anything, or watched anything, that could so distill the negative effects of alcoholism on a family. I did Not say alcohol, which most people can drink in moderation and from time to time. An alcoholic, for whatever reason, cannot.

In Sorrow, the parents steal time and love and care from Amy. Their alcoholism diminishes Amy's respect for them and for herself and, in one way so excellently illustrated in the story, leads to the unexpected demoralization of the family as a unit.

This should probably be required reading for Al-Anon or children of alcoholics suffering psychological problems (though I'm no psych... person).

For a short story of decent length by such a good writer as well as pitch-perfect narration, it's certainly worth a few bucks. I highly recommend it.

A child's view of the world of adults.

These days children seem to segue into adulthood quite seemlessly. The transition was far more remarkable in the mid 20th Century, as this story illustrates.

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Title: O City of Broken Dreams

Subtitle: The John Cheever Audio Collection

Author: John Cheever

Narrator: Blythe Danner

Format: Unabridged

Length: 47 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-22-09

Publisher: HarperAudio

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 8 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

Here is one of twelve magnificent stories, originally part of The John Cheever Audio Collection, in which John Cheever celebrates with unequaled grace and tenderness the deepest feelings we have.

As Cheever writes in his preface, "These stories seem at times to be stories of a long-lost world when the city of New York was still filled with a river light, when you heard the Benny Goodman quartets from a radio in the corner stationery store, and when almost everybody wore a hat."

Editorial Reviews:

Actress Blythe Danner brings all of her experience and training to make this classic Cheever story come to life. Her enunciation, with just a tinge of a classic Southern accent, raises the enjoyment level and helps the listener better engage emotionally with the trials and tribulations of the story's aspiring playwright. Danner's rhythmic intonations and her rendition of the poetic alliterations enhance the beautifully structured sentences from this master storyteller. This is a perfect pairing of two artists, both at the top of their games.

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Title: The Road Home

Author: Rose Tremain

Narrator: Juliet Stevenson

Format: Abridged

Length: 7 hrs and 59 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-18-09

Publisher: Naxos Audiobooks

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 59 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

Winner of the Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction 2008, The Road Home is the best-selling story of Lev, a middle-aged migrant from Eastern Europe, who moves to London in search of work after losing his wife and job. Lev's London is awash with money, celebrity and complacency. The world Tremain creates is both convincing and poignant.

Members Reviews:

OK - nice narration - good characters

NOt great - not an ear-turner, but interesting, great character development, and excellent narration. I am finding that excellent narration is hard to come by...

Best narration

I must remember the name Juliet Stevenson. She is a wonderful storyteller who acts out the characters in believable voices that I really enjoyed hearing. It was a fine enhancement of an already well told tale. Thank you to everyone who is involved in writing, editing, publishing, reading, and selling this book.

Very absorbing

The story flows well - a journey of one man learning to live after loss and build a new reason to live The dialogue makes this an entertaining listen and I related sympathetically to main character - Lev who is quite pathetic but also very funny.

Story interesting but for me it had too much sexi and strong language

Story interesting but for me it had too much sexi and strong language. Wish there were notes given for books mentioning WHY something might not be suitable for many. (?) readers

A poignant story beautifully narrated

My listening experience turned tragically ironic insofar as during it a Rumpelstiltskin bigotry against migration made itself manifest in the 2016 election in the USA, making the sad plight of the other more woeful than it already was.

As usual, Juliet Stevenson delivers a wonderful narration.

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Title: Delicate Edible Birds and Other Stories

Author: Lauren Groff

Narrator: Susan Ericksen

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 35 mins

Language: English

Release date: 02-03-09

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 33 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

In "Sir Fleeting", a Midwestern farm girl on her honeymoon in Argentina falls into lifelong lust for a French playboy. In "Blythe", an attorney who has become a stay-at-home mother takes a night class in poetry and meets another full-time mother, one whose charismatic brilliance changes everything. In "The Wife of the Dictator", that eponymous wife ("brought back...from [the dictator's] last visit to America") grows more desperately, menacingly isolated every day.

In "Delicate Edible Birds", a group of war correspondents - a lone, high-spirited woman among them - falls prey to a brutal farmer while fleeing Nazis in the French countryside. And in "Lucky Chow Fun", Groff returns to Templeton, the setting of her first book, for revelations about the darkness within even that idyllic small town.

In some of these stories, enormous changes happen in an instant. In others, transformations occur across a lifetime - or several lifetimes. Throughout the collection, Groff displays particular and vivid preoccupations. Crime is a motif - sex crimes, a possible murder, crimes of the heart. Love troubles occur in every story - love in alcoholism, in adultery, in a flood, even in the great flu epidemic of 1918. Some of the love has depths that are understood too late; some of the love is shallow and also understood too late.

And mastery is a theme. Groff's women swim and twirl batons, become poets, or try and try again to achieve the inner strength to exercise personal freedom. Overall, these stories announce a notable new literary master. Dazzlingly original and confident, Delicate Edible Birds will further Groff's growing reputation as one of the foremost talents of her generation.

Editorial Reviews:

These literary stories try to range far and wide, but are often unconvincing, contrived, even mannered. Details ring false, betraying the stories as palpably "made up"; they're best when they stick to the mundane. But Susan Ericksen's narration is better than the material. Her voice is strong, flexible, and likable. She indicates different voices almost effortlessly, and her emotional touch is both subtle and effective. Further, her pacing is excellent. From time to time, she delivers a phrase with the wrong emphasis. Otherwise, for the most part, her narration is a pleasure. If only more of the stories were.

Critic Reviews:

"Groff's skill makes commonplace occurrences seem compelling." (Kirkus)

"Nine wildly unique, exquisitely symphonic tales, full of beauty, tragedy, and the sudden horror of shocking images - this is Groff's gift." (Library Journal Starred Review)

Members Reviews:

Lauren Groff is amazing!

I totally heart Susan Ericksen for her wonderful reading of each of Groff's stories. They were all amazing to hear and listen and read along and what a journey Ericken can take one with her voice. Lauren Groff's stories truly come to life! Just so wonderful and the best audio version of a book that I've purchased so far. I hope she ends up narrating more short story collections... appreciative fan for life!!! Thank you, thank you, thank you :)

Some stories great, others so-so

I liked the first story best, when the author stretches away from this time period her stories become a bit too theatrical. I did enjoy the story about the Olympic swimmers however, and I love the writing.

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Title: First Love

Author: Ivan Turgenev

Narrator: David Troughton

Format: Unabridged

Length: 2 hrs and 40 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-04-08

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 43 votes

Genres: Fiction, Literary

Publisher's Summary:

At the end of a dinner party, the remaining guests drink wine and tell stories of their first love. For one of them, it will be a dark journey into his past, reawakening unbearable memories of his obsession with the beautiful Zinaida.

©2008 BBC Audiobooks Ltd;

Members Reviews:

Turgenev's Famous Novel...

Fathers And Sons is one of my favorite Russian novels, and this lesser known work, First Love, now becomes another of my top-ranking volumes of east European literature. Like Tolstoy and Dostoyevsky, Turgenev is the literary precursor of the psychologist, teasing out the inner thoughts and motivations of his characters, painting them in umber scenes, often melancholy and reflecting on the past. First Love is about remembrance, hope, regret, and the full oeuvre of human emotion, a moving and compelling work of art.

Near perfection.

Among the great 19th century Russian novelists, Turgenev is counted among the greatest but nevertheless seems to find himself in the shadows of the Titans, Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, perhaps because Turgenev's works are shorter by comparison. But his novella , "First Love," is the equal of any piece of fiction ever written. I can't say too much more in detail or I'll give away the ending--which is absolutely electrifying. And, accompanying this superb work of fiction, the book is narrated by a no less superb reader, David Troughten.

Passion is stronger than logic

Any additional comments?

The final image of the novel, of the old lady in rags and dying on a hard floor with a sack under her head as she fights to stay alive despite a lifetime of misery gives the novel a greater perspective than just a young man sadly in love with a woman he won't have. The novel speaks to a greater need for people to live, at all costs and at any price, no matter the amount of pain it inflicts.

I have to admit to not feeling as close to Vladimir as I would have liked. Not because I didn't share any of his experiences - what young man hasn't - but there was a strange formality in him that seemed at odds with his age. I understand he was well bred and that his manners contrast beautifully with the situation of his love, but even when he was most mad, in the garden at midnight, I never really felt like I was with him. Had this been a slightly more modern novel - say written in the 1910's or 20's - there might have been a needed sexual undercurrent that is sorely missing here. I can't blame Turgenev since we have to consider when the novel was written, but still it's an element of human nature that is important.

Zinaida, however, though we never get the novel from her point of view, I felt much closer to. Her character is the real strength of the novel because we learn so much about her through her actions and the actions of everyone around her. She is a flirt, she is manipulative, she is poor (having once been wealthy), but she is not a bad person. In fact I felt more empathy to her than I did towards Tolstoy's Anna - they were similar women, but Zinaida felt more ... within reach. She wanted to be in love, not just be loved. And who doesn't want that? All her suitors were dolts, except for the one man who did have her.

I liked the image of his father's horse, the near wild Electric.