Discover the Top 100 Audiobooks in Bios & Memoirs, Artists, Writers, & Musicians

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Title: Autobiography

Author: Morrissey

Narrator: David Morrissey

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 48 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-03-13

Publisher: Penguin Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 203 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Artists, Writers, & Musicians

Publisher's Summary:

"Practically every paragraph has a line or two that demands to be read aloud to the mirror, tattooed on foreheads, carved on tombstones."

Rolling Stone

"Morrissey is a pop star of unusual writing talent."

The New York Times

Autobiography covers Morrissey's life from his birth until the present day.

Members Reviews:

Morrissey by Morrissey read by (David) Morrissey

Where does Autobiography rank among all the audiobooks youve listened to so far?

Moz is the tops and in fine literary form in his autobiography. Covers his Irish heritage and upbringing in England and his severed alliance with Smiths co-founder and guitarist Johnny Marr. Also goes into his hatred of Margaret Thatcher.

What did you like best about this story?

Morrissey's strong opinion and point of view.

Have you listened to any of David Morrisseys other performances before? How does this one compare?

No. Just watched him on AMC's The Walking Dead

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Any additional comments?

Any fan of The Smiths or Morrissey will love this book.

Better than expected

What did you love best about Autobiography?

Being a voyeur.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The author of course, for obvious reasons.

What about David Morrisseys performance did you like?

Great timing and delivery.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Morrissey in the 70s was extremely interesting.

beautifully written

skip the legal stuff, you'll regret it if you don't. five more words remaining. whatever.

MOZ LOVE!

A must read for all Morrissey fans. Read the book and listening to it read by David Morrissey brought it to life again for me in a completely different way. Highly recommend listening to it.

Excellent performance by the narrator

I liked the story since he was very open about his life, but there were some things that I thought were overly dramatic. The way he repeated himself about Joyce and the judge made me want to skip ahead after awhile. It sounds like he was treated unfairly though, and I can imagine his anger about the foolish way that was handled. I enjoyed the book overall, and the highlight is the narration by David Morrissey. I could listen to him read just about anything.

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Title: Furious Cool

Subtitle: Richard Pryor and The World That Made Him

Author: David Henry, Joe Henry

Narrator: Dion Graham

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 3 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-05-13

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 158 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Artists, Writers, & Musicians

Publisher's Summary:

Audie Award, Non-Fiction, 2015

Richard Pryor was arguably the single most influential performer of the second half of the twentieth century, and certainly he was the most successful black actor/comedian ever. Controversial and somewhat enigmatic in his lifetime, Pryor's performances opened up a new world of possibilities, merging fantasy with angry reality in a way that wasn't just new - it was heretofore unthinkable.

His childhood in Peoria, Illinois, was spent just trying to survive. Yet the culture into which Richard Pryor was born - his mother was a prostitute; his grandmother ran the whorehouse - helped him evolve into one of the most innovative and outspoken performers ever, a man who attracted admiration and anger in equal parts. Both a brilliant comedian and a very astute judge of what he could get away with, Pryor was always pushing the envelope, combining anger and pathos, outrage and humor, into an art form, laying the groundwork for the generations of comedians who followed, including such outstanding performers as Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, and Louis C.K.

Now, in this groundbreaking and revelatory work, David and Joe Henry bring him to life both as a man and as an artist, providing an in-depth appreciation of his talent and his lasting influence, as well as an insightful examination of the world he lived in and the influences that shaped both his persona and his art.

Critic Reviews:

"A beautifully written account of the troubled life of a manic genius." (Booklist)

Members Reviews:

Great

The narrator is excellent and brings the story to life--one of the best narrated books I've listened to. A great biography. that provides context for many of the iconic performances that Pryor is known for. The reader walks away with a greater appreciation of his genius and understanding of his demons.

A very complex man

Great book for Richard Pryor fan... Genius or madman or maybe both.... Good book overall...

Unabridged Richard

I have seen a few documentaries oh Richard Pryor and read other books, but this one gets under the skin of it a little more than most. As someone who grew up with Pryor as an idol and having seen a majority of the entertainment discussed, I thoroughly enjoyed the book.

There were some things left out- like some of the stuff that Mel brooks said about Pryor writing all of Mongo's lines in Blazing Saddles or how he once was late and called in from Illinois.

Still... A very good book

Pryor(sic) experience a must.

Would you listen to Furious Cool again? Why?

No, I can only hear the "N" word so many times before I start feeling soiled. I got the picture in the first reading.

What did you like best about this story?

The author really did his home work on this but so much was take from his discs and television specials that run from time to time but the book helps bring this tragic story into perspective.

What did you like about the performance? What did you dislike?

I like relevant minutia in my Bios, and this had plenty.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Not extreme, but the head shaking tragedies leading up to his death screems out "where are the people who care about this man and why don't they help him".

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Title: The Death of Santini

Subtitle: The Story of a Father and His Son

Author: Pat Conroy

Narrator: Dick Hill

Format: Unabridged

Length: 15 hrs and 16 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-29-13

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 353 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Artists, Writers, & Musicians

Publisher's Summary:

In this powerful and intimate memoir, the beloved best-selling author of The Prince of Tides and his father, the inspiration for The Great Santini, find some common ground at long last.

Pat Conroy's father, Donald Patrick Conroy, was a towering figure in his son's life. The Marine Corps fighter pilot was often brutal, cruel, and violent; as Pat says, "I hated my father long before I knew there was an English word for 'hate.'" As the oldest of seven children who were dragged from military base to military base across the South, Pat bore witness to the toll his father's behavior took on his siblings, and especially on his mother, Peg. She was Pat's lifeline to a better world - that of books and culture. But eventually, despite repeated confrontations with his father, Pat managed to claw his way toward a life he could have only imagined as a child.

Pat's great success as a writer has always been intimately linked with the exploration of his family history. While the publication of The Great Santini brought Pat much acclaim, the rift it caused with his father brought even more attention. Their long-simmering conflict burst into the open, fracturing an already battered family. But as Pat tenderly chronicles here, even the oldest of wounds can heal. In the final years of Don Conroy's life, he and his son reached a rapprochement of sorts. Quite unexpectedly, the Santini who had freely doled out physical abuse to his wife and children refocused his ire on those who had turned on Pat over the years. He defended his son's honor.

The Death of Santini is at once a heart-wrenching account of personal and family struggle and a poignant lesson in how the ties of blood can both strangle and offer succor. It is an act of reckoning, an exorcism of demons, but one whose ultimate conclusion is that love can soften even the meanest of men, lending significance to one of the most-often quoted lines from Pat's best-selling novel The Prince of Tides: "In families there are no crimes beyond forgiveness."

Critic Reviews:

Listeners will be moved as they listen to Conroy's latest memoirThe humorous and gut wrenching prologue, read by Conroy himself, transitions perfectly to Dick Hill's delivery of the soul-searching memoir. Hill inhabits all the Conroy family members well, but his shifts between father and sonis where the story soars. (AudioFile)

"Despite the inherently bleak nature of so much of this material, Conroy has fashioned a memoir that is vital, large-hearted and often raucously funny. The result is an act of hard-won forgiveness, a deeply considered meditation on the impossibly complex nature of families and a valuable contribution to the literature of fathers and sons." (The Washington Post)

"The Death of Santini instantly reminded me of the decadent pleasures of [Conroy's] language, of his promiscuous gift for metaphor and of his ability, in the finest passages of his fiction, to make the love, hurt or terror a protagonist feels seem to be the only emotion the world could possibly have room for, the rightful center of the trembling universe. . . . Conroys conviction pulls you fleetly through the book, as does the potency of his bond with his family, no matter their sins, their discord, their shortcomings.

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Title: Little Girl Blue

Subtitle: The Life of Karen Carpenter

Author: Randy L. Schmidt

Narrator: Cheryl Bentyne

Format: Unabridged

Length: 11 hrs and 24 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-29-13

Publisher: Randy L. Schmidt / Chicago Review Press

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 158 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Artists, Writers, & Musicians

Publisher's Summary:

Little Girl Blue is an intimate profile of Karen Carpenter, a girl from a modest Connecticut upbringing who became a Southern California superstar.

Karen was the instantly recognizable lead singer of the Carpenters. The top-selling American musical act of the 1970's, they delivered the love songs that defined a generation. Little Girl Blue reveals Karen's heartbreaking struggles with her mother, brother, and husband; the intimate disclosures she made to her closest friends; her love for playing drums and her frustrated quest for solo stardom; and the ups and downs of her treatment for anorexia nervosa. After her shocking death at 32 years of age in 1983, she became the proverbial poster child for that disorder; but the other causes of her decline are laid bare for the first time in this moving account.

Little Girl Blue is Karen Carpenter's definitive biography, based on exclusive interviews with her innermost circle of girlfriends and nearly 100 others, including childhood friends, professional associates, and lovers.

Members Reviews:

Karen Carpenter's real story finally revealed!

If you love the Carpenters music, and consider Karen Carpenter's voice one of the most precious ever, you're going to enjoy learning more about her! Even those who don't care for the Carpenters music, this is a beautiful, nice, interesting, musical, but also sad and tragic story! But certainly one that will keep you interested from start to finish, and you will be longing to learn more and understand more about this life which was over way too soon! If you already know a lot about the Carpenters and what ultimately happened with Karen, you are going to learn much more, because this book tells this story in a way it's never been told before, with some of her closest friends thoroughly telling us new information for the first time! The more you read, the closer you get to her and her family! In the end, you feel like you know Karen very well, almost personally!

From a childhood in Connecticut, filled with records, sports, and dear friends, through an adolescence with a lot of music and the discovery of her great friend, the drum kit, to a youth full of gold records and awards! The personal conflicts, the struggle for true love and self control over her own life! The extensive touring and the attempt at a solo effort! The big admiration for a dear brother she looked up to and who loved her endlessly, and the unhappy, failed marriage! The depth of a beautiful, velvety, hevenly-sent voice, the disease, and the death!

Karen was a truly beautiful young woman, she was pretty! But, behind the golden voice, there were many layers of a life with which she was happy, but it was not yet close to a life she dreamed of.

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Title: Johnny Cash

Subtitle: The Life

Author: Robert Hilburn

Narrator: Charles Pittard

Format: Unabridged

Length: 21 hrs and 42 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-29-13

Publisher: Hachette Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 176 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Artists, Writers, & Musicians

Publisher's Summary:

The definitive, intimate, no-holds-barred biography of Johnny Cash.

People don't just listen to Johnny Cash - they believe in him.

Although part of his life has been told on film, there are many compelling layers to his story that have remained hidden - until now. Robert Hilburn tells the unvarnished truth about a musical icon whose personal life was far more troubled and his artistry much more profound than even his most devoted fans have realized. As music critic for the Los Angeles Times, Hilburn knew Cash well throughout his life - he was the only music journalist at the legendary Folsom Prison concert in 1968, and he interviewed him extensively just before Cash's death in 2003.

Drawing upon his personal experience with Cash and a trove of never-before seen material from the singer's inner circle, Hilburn gives us a compelling, human portrait of one of the most iconic figures in modern popular culture - not only a towering figure in country music, but also a seminal influence in rock.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

Members Reviews:

Awesome!

Because the movie Walk the Line is my all-time favorite movie I almost didn't listen to this book thinking I knew enough of the story. I didn't know a quarter of the story. I am 39 years old and even though I am a life long country music fan I didn't know much of what was in this very complete biography of Johnny Cash. Gonna start it again now and listen again but it's just sad that it's over. The narrator does a very good job unlike some of the reviews state. Easy to listen to and enjoy and learn. I now want to go back to Hendersonville and see the grave again and visit the House of Cash museum. Already a fan this book made me a fanatic!

Great but long

It was written very well. An insight we haven't had yet. The performance made it easy to listen to. I got this on audio book because it was taking me forever to read. It was easier to follow and listen to on audio but it was still long.

I'd recommend it to anyone who wants to know Cash

Great Book - Poor Narrator

Would you try another book from Robert Hilburn and/or Charles Pittard?

The story is well written. The Narrator was terrible. Did not sound interested In reading the story. Monotone and hesitating in many parts making the reading hard to understand.

Who would you have cast as narrator instead of Charles Pittard?

I would have liked to hear Grover Gardner reading this book.

Excellent Story, Horrible Narration

What did you like best about Johnny Cash? What did you like least?

The story was fantastic, and I learned a lot about Johnny Cash that I didn't know previously. On the down side, the narration was flat.

What did you like best about this story?

Details about Johnny Cash's personal life.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

The narration was flat and boring. This is the worst job of narration that I've ever heard, and I have over 200 audiobooks.

Could you see Johnny Cash being made into a movie or a TV series? Who should the stars be?

Yes. I don't have any idea who the stars should be.

A Genuine American Artist

What did you love best about Johnny Cash?

Hilburn presents an unvarnished yet heroic tale of one of America's most outstanding artists.

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Title: At Home in the World

Subtitle: A Memoir

Author: Joyce Maynard

Narrator: Joyce Maynard

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 46 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-03-13

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 73 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Artists, Writers, & Musicians

Publisher's Summary:

When it was first published in 1998, At Home in the World set off a furor in the literary world and beyond. Joyce Maynard's memoir broke a silence concerning her relationship - at age 18 - with J.D. Salinger, the famously reclusive author of The Catcher in the Rye, then age 53, who had read a story she wrote for The New York Times in her freshman year of college and sent her a letter that changed her life.

Reviewers called her book "shameless" and "powerful" and its author was simultaneously reviled and cheered. With what some have viewed as shocking honesty, Maynard explores her coming of age in an alcoholic family, her mother's dream to mold her into a writer, her self-imposed exile from the world of her peers when she left Yale to live with Salinger, and her struggle to reclaim her sense of self in the crushing aftermath of his dismissal of her not long after her 19th birthday. A quarter of a century later - having become a writer, survived the end of her marriage and the deaths of her parents, and with an eighteen-year-old daughter of her own - Maynard pays a visit to the man who broke her heart. The story she tells - of the girl she was and the woman she became - is at once devastating, inspiring, and triumphant.

Photograph by Richard Avedon © The Richard Avedon Foundation

Members Reviews:

Engaging history and good writing

What did you love best about At Home in the World?

Tales of J.D. Salinger. Also her writing ability seems to shine through, and best of all, she read the book she wrote.

Who was your favorite character and why?

J.D. Salinger features of course.

Have you listened to any of Joyce Maynards other performances before? How does this one compare?

No.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

They seem of a personal nature of hers. Her first night with Salinger, and when the paper rung Salinger's phone for her and he couldn't stop being angry with her, and when she returns to his house in the 90s. Also the revealing of the ex-husband behind Salinger's later partner.

Any additional comments?

I had never heard of Joyce Maynard before the recent Salinger documentary and book (audiobook in my case). Something never commented on by her but I couldn't help but notice, is the sense that Salinger was a mentor to her. He must have noticed something of himself in her writing that started his interest in her. His complete reason for being interested in her is something more debatable and might reveal itself in some way in this book. I couldn't help but notice something of Salinger's style in her writing.I had read somewhere that only one chapter in the book was about Salinger. Not so at all. Much of the book is about Salinger. There is a great deal about him for anyone interested in Salinger. Writing a book about Salinger is controversial in itself I suppose, but it was her story in this case as well. My feeling about Salinger from this story is that he was quite dense and should have expected a teenage girl to have a lot of change coming in her life.Here is something additional. The story of the wife who left her husband and child to live with Salinger reminded me of something similar. A woman did the same thing with T.

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Title: Shirley Jones

Subtitle: A Memoir

Author: Shirley Jones

Narrator: Shirley Jones

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 46 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-23-13

Publisher: Tantor Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 190 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Artists, Writers, & Musicians

Publisher's Summary:

Audie Award Finalist, Narration by the Author or Authors, 2014

Shirley Jones is an American film legend of the first order, having starred in Oklahoma!, Carousel, and The Music Man, as well as playing her Oscar-winning role as a prostitute in Elmer Gantry long before The Partridge Family. On that iconic show, she portrayed the epitome of American motherhood, a symbol to generations of families in the 1970s, and she remains a cult icon today.

But for those who only think of Shirley as the prim and proper Marion the librarian or the chaste and demure Mrs. Partridge, a massive surprise is in store. Here, in this candid memoir, the real flesh-and-blood Shirley Jones is revealed at last.

In this hilarious and heartwarming, shocking and intimate memoir, Shirley dishes the raw truth about her own highly charged sexuality, her two husbands - the charismatic and deeply troubled Broadway star Jack Cassidy and the wacky TV comic Marty Ingels - her legendary Hollywood costars, and her interactions with the cast of The Partridge Family, including her rock star stepson David Cassidy.

From smuggling marijuana across the Mexican border to infidelity and her wild sexual escapades, movie and television icon Shirley Jones gives us an unparalleled look beyond the America's sweetheart exterior.

Members Reviews:

A Tabloid in Book Form

I love Shirley Jones, but she is not a good writer, and her writing partner either was not allowed to edit much or she was also unskilled. This book is just badly written.

I enjoyed reading about the lucky break that got her started in show business; I liked reading about her favorite actors and directors; and I was interested to know how and why she stuck it out with Jack Cassidy.

But I didn't need to know that her sons are well-endowed nor her views on masturbation. I am confident that she wrote the book, in part, to shock people. In fact, she refers to this trait at one point, and more than once compared her real (shocking) life to Mrs. Partridge (goodie goodie).

All in all, not a good book.

Tasteless

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

This is a trashy, "tell all" type book. I was hoping for an autobiography.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Anything else

Would you listen to another book narrated by Shirley Jones?

Never

You didnt love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

The cover picture is OK.

Any additional comments?

I really don't care if she went to Sammy Davis Jr's house and he had "lines of cocaine on every table and porn playing on tv", or that amyl nitrates enhanced her orgasms, and I REALLY don't want to know how she knows her stepson's (David Cassidy) penis is bigger than his father's (Jack Cassidy). This is simply a narcissistic, salacious tale about a woman who was handed a career on a silver platter.

If the purpose of this book is to completely annihilate her reputation as an "American Sweetheart", then congratulations. Mission accomplished.

A Rare Gem!

Many entertainment autobiographies are boring and self-absorbed. Jerry Lewis comes to mind in that regard. Not so this book. Besides still being a knock-out beauty, Shirley gives us a heartfelt and boldly honest (and yes, at times bawdy) peek into her life, work and loves.

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Title: Caravaggio

Subtitle: A Life Sacred and Profane

Author: Andrew Graham-Dixon

Narrator: Edoardo Ballerini

Format: Unabridged

Length: 18 hrs and 24 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-16-13

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 175 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Artists, Writers, & Musicians

Publisher's Summary:

In the tradition of John Richardson's Picasso, a commanding new biography of the Italian master's tumultuous life and mysterious death. For four hundred years Caravaggio's (1571-1610) staggering artistic achievements have thrilled viewers, yet his volatile personal trajectory - the murder of Ranuccio Tomasini, the doubt surrounding Caravaggio's sexuality, the chain of events that began with his imprisonment on Malta and ended with his premature death - has long confounded historians. In a bravura performance, Andrew Graham-Dixon delves into the original Italian sources, presenting fresh details about Caravaggio's sex life, his many crimes and public brawls, and the most convincing account yet published of the painter's tragic death at the age of thirty-eight. With illuminating readings of Caravaggio's infamous religious paintings, which often depict prostitutes and poor people, Graham-Dixon immerses readers in the world of Italy at the height of the Counter-Reformation and creates a masterful profile of the mercurial painter's life and work.

Members Reviews:

Interesting life

It is obvious that Andrew Graham-Dixon has done a lot of research before writing this book. The book is well written and keeps one interested throughout the book. Graham-Dixon not only covers the life of Caravaggio but also provides the history of the catholic church and Italy during the life of the painter. This in-depth coverage made me feel as if I was there. Edoardo Ballerini did an excellent job with all the Italian names. Before reading this book I knew nothing about Caravaggio. Michelangelo Merisi Caravaggio was born in Milan on 27 September 1571 and died 18 July 1610 in Porto Ercole. He studied in Milan then in his twenties moved to Rome. He apparently had no problems obtaining commissions but he had a violent temper and was frequently in brawls and in jail. His style of painting had a formative influence on the Baroque School of Painting. He created the style of shadows that make his pictures unique. Graham-Dixon explains each of his major paintings in depth about his technique as well as who hired him and how he worked on the painting. I liked the fact that Graham-Dixon explained the findings of other authors about Caravaggio and if there was new evidence on the subject he explained the findings. This was most evident in his discussion about Caravaggio killing a man in Rome and then his flight to Naples and eventually Malta. Of course, Caravaggio produced paintings in all the cities he visited during his flight. He thought his patron had obtained clearance from the Pope to return to Rome but Caravaggio caught a fever on his trip to Rome from Malta and died at Porto Ercole. I wanted to see some of his painting and I found the Caravaggio foundation has them available on the web. I came into this book knowing nothing but I now feel I have a good understanding of the man and the times he lived in. If you are interested in art or history I am sure you will enjoy this book.

Listen to this with his art work in front of you

Would you listen to Caravaggio again? Why?

Yes I've listen to this twice, and find myself inspired to visit an art museum both times.

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Title: Wallflower at the Orgy

Author: Nora Ephron

Narrator: Kathe Mazur

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 14 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-09-13

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 57 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Artists, Writers, & Musicians

Publisher's Summary:

From her Academy Award-nominated screenplays to her best-selling fiction and essays, Nora Ephron is one of America's most gifted, prolific, and versatile writers. In this classic collection of magazine articles, Ephron does what she does best: embrace American culture with love, cynicism, and unmatched wit. From tracking down the beginnings of the self-help movement to dressing down the fashion world's most powerful publication to capturing a glimpse of a legendary movie in the making, these timeless pieces tap into our enduring obsessions with celebrity, food, romance, clothes, entertainment, and sex. Whether casting her ingenious eye on renowned director Mike Nichols, Cosmopolitan magazine founder Helen Gurley Brown - or herself, as she chronicles her own beauty makeover - Ephron deftly weaves her journalistic skill with the intimate style of an essayist and the incomparable talent of a great storyteller.

Members Reviews:

Not my favorite Nora Ephron

A few good stories in here but overall felt a little dated in terms of subjects in the various pieces.

Not for me.

What disappointed you about Wallflower at the Orgy?

I had higher expectations for this book and so I am disappointed. I don't find her writing has anything with wit or punch. I also found the material to be dated.

What was most disappointing about Nora Ephrons story?

Nora Ephron not a favorite of mine as I now know from trying this audiobook. I gave up about half way through.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Narration was fine. I found the content lacking.

Any additional comments?

I won't be bothering with Nora Ephron again.

I love Nora Ephron and had high hopes dashed!

Would you try another book from Nora Ephron and/or Kathe Mazur?

Yes, I loved Nora Ephron's other books.

What was most disappointing about Nora Ephrons story?

The stories were all from the 60's and 70's and I found them hard to follow. They were not interesting either. I kept thinking, what is this about?

Did the narration match the pace of the story?

I guess so.

What character would you cut from Wallflower at the Orgy?

They are stories and overall not very interesting ones.

Any additional comments?

Overall, maybe 1 or 2 stories were of interest, the others were boring and very unfamiliar, not sure who they are for.

Nora Ephron at her best

Would you consider the audio edition of Wallflower at the Orgy to be better than the print version?

I haven't read the print version

What did you like best about this story?

Very articulate and funny. Lots of interesting subjects too

Have you listened to any of Kathe Mazurs other performances? How does this one compare?

No

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Laugh

Always entertaining

These early magazine articles aren't earth shattering, but Ephron knows that and tells you in the preface. They are of their time and a precursor of the quick wit and razor sharp style of the more mature woman. Make sure you get "Crazy Salad and Scribble, Scribble", as it's full of the more mature Ephron's work, and fascinating insight into the early days of Women's Liberation.

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Title: The Lives and Works of the English Romantic Poets

Author: The Great Courses

Narrator: Professor Willard Spiegelman

Format: Original Recording

Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-08-13

Publisher: The Great Courses

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 44 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Artists, Writers, & Musicians

Publisher's Summary:

The verse of the English Romantic poets is as daunting in its scope and complexity as it is dazzling in its technique and beautiful in its language. Now, in a series of 24 incisive lectures by an honored and distinguished teacher, scholar, and author, you can grasp how England's finest Romantic voices created their masterpieces, as Professor Spiegelman illuminates poems by Byron, Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley, and Keats, as well as by female Romantic poets like Felicia Dorothea Hemans and Charlotte Turner Smith, who were, in their time, as admired as their male counterparts.

You'll learn how the generalizations so often applied to the Romantic poets - who never even identified themselves as "Romantic" - were misleading as a group description, but that there were some common concerns among them: they wrote about Man's relationship to nature, which, with the universe, they considered active, dynamic entities. There is, though, a counter-desire to escape from nature and to deny Man's connection to it. There is a concern with society and politics, and an idealistic notion that humanity can transcend its enslaving traditions. The Romantics were conscious of consciousness itself - of the power of the mind as a force for self-glorification and a seed of self-destruction.

Professor Spiegelman's emphasis on analyzing the poems is on technique - on how a poem accomplishes its objectives - and to this end he meticulously dissects them, directing you to points of interest that deserve close observation.

And though the lectures focus on the poems themselves, they also tell the story of these great poetic souls and their impact on their age.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your My Library section along with the audio.

Members Reviews:

Truly a Great Course

Many Great Courses have teachers who "talk down " as if they are teaching undergraduates. That is of course what professors do, teach young people. Nice to have this extremely knowledgeable man speak as a peer. Great teacher. Great course, Bravo!

nice refreaher from ehat I studied in college

refreaher from ehat I studied in college. i plan to look at the Professors other cpurses.

Very disappointing

I am a huge fan of the Great Courses lecture series and have listened to several in history, music and literature categories -- and liked them all so far. But I just could not get on with this one. The lecturer's style is not at all compelling and I just did not find the material at all compelling. I stuck with it as far as the lecture about the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner because I love this poem, but even this was uninteresting and did absolutely nothing to heighten my understanding or appreciation of the poem. I rarely write negative reviews but this courses deserves it.