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

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Title: Drama

Subtitle: An Actor's Education

Author: John Lithgow

Narrator: John Lithgow

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 17 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-27-11

Publisher: HarperAudio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 370 votes

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

Publisher's Summary:

In this riveting and surprising personal history, John Lithgow shares a backstage view of his own struggle, crisis, and discovery, revealing the early life and career that took place out of the public eye.

Above all Lithgows memoir is a tribute to his most important influence: his father, Arthur Lithgow, who, as an actor, director, producer, and great lover of Shakespeare, brought theater to Johns boyhood. From bedtime stories to Arthurs illustrious productions, performance and storytelling were constant and cherished parts of family life. Drama details with poignancy and sharp recollection the moments that introduced a budding young actor to the undeniable power of theater.

Before Lithgow gained fame with films like The World According to Garp and television shows like 3rd Rock from the Sun, his early years were full of scenes both hilarious and bittersweet. His ruminations on the nature of theater, film acting, and storytelling cut to the heart of why actors are driven to perform, and why people are driven to watch them do it.

Lithgow chronicles the harrowing moments of his past, reflecting with moving candor on friends made and lost, mistakes large and small, and the powerful love of a father who set him on the road to a life onstage. Illuminating, funny, affecting, and thoroughly engrossing, Drama raises the curtain on the making of one of our most beloved actors.

Members Reviews:

Superb

Any additional comments?

John Lithgow is an actor I've long admired, but knew little about. In this book, he shares his life with the listener, both professional and personal. I now feel I know the man well. And I also have more to admire about him -- he's an excellent writer. As an actor myself, I learned much about his attitudes toward his craft and his life in the theater, in film, and much of it helpful. His particular career path was a winding one, his experiences, successes and failures, his self discovery -- how he learns from all of it. But it is his relationship with his father that takes center stage. Those are the moments most moving in the book, when he talks about his aging father and literature, drama, the love of words they shared. By book's end, it feels more like a fascinating conversation you've had with John Lithgow over after dinner drinks. Then you suddenly realize, you haven't said a word.

Fantastic!

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

top of the list

What did you like best about this story?

As a theatre professional myself it was so very refreshing and inspiring to hear a seasoned member of our

I've always liked John Lithgow...

Now I absolutely love him! This book was honest, inspiring, fascinating. He was unsparing about his flaws and mistakes, had no false modesty about his many achievements, and generous to his colleagues. When there was criticism, he gentlemanly changed the names of the characters involved. Although I was moved to do a little research to discover the identity of "Mr. Pleasant" in one story. His is a life well lived and well told.

Very pleased I bought this wonderful book

Having been familiar with John Lithgow's performances in Third Rock and a couple of movies, I was interested in this autobio. It's a life more dedicated to the stage than the screen that makes up the bulk of this fascinating book.

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Title: How to Live

Subtitle: Or a Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer

Author: Sarah Bakewell

Narrator: Davina Porter

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 26 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-05-11

Publisher: Brilliance Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 264 votes

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

Publisher's Summary:

National Book Critics Circle Award, Biography, 2011

This question obsessed Renaissance writers, none more than Michel Eyquem de Montaigne, perhaps the first recognizably modern individual. A nobleman, public official, and winegrower, he wrote free-roaming explorations of his thought and experience, unlike anything written before. He called them essays, meaning attempts or tries. He put whatever was in his head into them: his tastes in wine and food, his childhood memories, the way his dogs ears twitched when it was dreaming, as well as the appalling events of the religious civil wars raging around him. The Essays was an instant best seller and, over four hundred years later, Montaignes honesty and charm still draw readers to him. They come in search of companionship, wisdom, and entertainment - and in search of themselves.This book, a spirited and singular biography, relates the story of Montaignes life by way of the questions he posed and the answers he explored. It traces his bizarre upbringing, his youthful career and sexual adventures, his travels, and his friendships with the scholar and poet Étienne de La Boétie and with his adopted daughter, Marie de Gournay. And we also meet his readers - who for centuries have found in Montaigne an inexhaustible source of answers to the haunting question, How to live?

Critic Reviews:

Lively and fascinating . . . How to Live takes its place as the most enjoyable introduction to Montaigne in the English language. (Times Literary Supplement)

Splendidly conceived and exquisitely written . . . enormously absorbing. (Sunday Times)

[Bakewell reveals] one of literatures enduring figures as an idiosyncratic, humane, and surprisingly modern force. (Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

Interesting and in parts Inspired.

An interesting and in parts inspired take on Montaigne's essays, life, and times. I liked the Montaigne-inspired structure and the book's many insights, but alas, it still just wasn't Montaigne. I think this would be a good introduction to someone before reading Essays and for me was a good re-visit after I read (it gave me a lot of information about the region and people Montaigne dealt with consistently). But please people, don't read/listen to this to better understand Montaigne, there is a whole book he wrote that helps with that. So, use this book for pre/post Montaigne, but avoid using it as a replacement. Narration was appropriate for book.

Perfect summer beach book

Who amongst us doesn't love books about French thought from the 16th century? This book is not really a biography. The biographical parts are mostly to put Montaigne's writings and thoughts in to the context of the time period so that the contingent meanings for his essays come through in the narrative.

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Title: Three Cups of Deceit

Subtitle: How Greg Mortenson, Humanitarian Hero, Lost His Way

Author: Jon Krakauer

Narrator: Mark Bramhall

Format: Unabridged

Length: 2 hrs and 57 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-03-11

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 288 votes

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

Publisher's Summary:

Greg Mortenson has built a global reputation as a selfless humanitarian and children's crusader, and he's been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. He is also not what he appears to be. As acclaimed author Jon Krakauer discovered, Mortenson has not only fabricated substantial parts of his best-selling books Three Cups of Tea and Stones into Schools, but has also misused millions of dollars donated by unsuspecting admirers like Krakauer himself.

This is the tragic tale of good intentions gone very wrong.

100% of Jon Krakauer's proceeds from the sale of Three Cups of Deceit will be donated to the "Stop Girl Trafficking" project at the American Himalayan Foundation (www.himalayan-foundation.org/live/project/stopgirltrafficking).

Members Reviews:

A great piece of journalism

Any additional comments?

The story is excellent as Krakauer demolishes but always respectfully Greg Mortensen's fictions. Krakauer really goes above and beyond with his reporting to the point it's devastating. One great tidbit involves Mortensen's frequent claims of being kidnapped, held at gunpoint and in fear of being executed and Mortensen even offers a photo of his scary Arab captors surrounding him with guns. Only Krakauer learns the people in the photo were actually his bodyguards and he finds other photos from the same session showing Mortensen clowning around with them.

The narrator is excellent.

I love when (good) Kindle singles are given the Audible treatment, but sometimes the price is too high. That's the case here, but if you wait for a big sale, I think the price better matches the length, but it's so good that the standard price is worth paying.

Interesting at the right length

Krakauer is one of my favorite authors. His best book is, Into Thin Air, which is an extremely exciting adventure. After writing several books on Mountain Climbing, JK got into investigating reporting. Often he goes into political incorrect areas that other journalist will not touch. I was amazed by his book, Under The Banner of Heaven, a report about the Mormons. It is very informative and you will not believe what is going on still today in the name of this religion. Where Men Win Glory, is a bio on Pat Tillman and a look at the amount of friendly fire that kills many of our soliders.

Three Cups is not as good as these others, but still it is a good informative read on how good people go bad. It is not near as long as his other books, it is just the right size for the subject matter. If you give to charities then you will want to listen to this short book.

How Greg Mortenson F**ked w/ the Wrong Journalist!

Would you listen to Three Cups of Deceit again? Why?

Would I? Already did. It's a small masterpiece. An unrelenting methodical, clear-eyed exposé of the flaws, lies, and criminal activities of the fraudster that personally robbed Krakauer of over $75,000 and has taken tens of millions from the rest of us.

This is not Krakauer's finest work (as a narrative piece it's probably his weakest) but it doesn't aim to compete with Krakauer's prior work. Krakauer simply aims to deconstruct, not explain, the fraud that is Greg Mortenson and in that mission the book is an unequivocal success. The read is at times unpleasant, as the truth is sometimes, but someone had to write this book.

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Title: Life on the Mississippi [Blackstone]

Author: Mark Twain

Narrator: Grover Gardner

Format: Unabridged

Length: 13 hrs and 35 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-21-10

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 313 votes

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

Publisher's Summary:

The Mississippi River, known as Americas River and Mark Twain are practically synonymous in American culture. The popularity of Twains steamboat and steamboat pilot on the ever-changing Mississippi has endured for over a century.

A brilliant amalgam of remembrance and reportage, by turns satiric, celebratory, nostalgic, and melancholy, Life on the Mississippi evokes the great river that Mark Twain knew as a boy and young man and the one he revisited as a mature and successful author. Written between the publication of his two greatest novels, Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn, Twains rich portrait of the Mississippi marks a distinctive transition in the life of the river and the nation, from the boom years preceding the Civil War to the sober times that followed it.

Samuel Clemens became a licensed river pilot at the age of twenty-four under the apprenticeship of Horace Bixby, pilot of the Paul Jones. His name, Mark Twain, was derived from the river pilot term describing safe navigating conditions, or mark two fathoms. This term was shortened to mark twain by the leadsmen whose job it was to monitor the waters depth and report it to the pilot.

Although Mark Twain used his childhood experiences growing up along the Mississippi in numerous works, nowhere is the river and the pilots life more thoroughly described than in Life on the Mississippi.

MARK TWAIN (18351910) was born Samuel L. Clemens in the town of Florida, Missouri. One of the most popular and influential authors our nation has ever produced, his keen wit and incisive satire earned him praise from both critics and peers. He has been called not only the greatest humorist of his age but the father of American literature.

Critic Reviews:

Mark Twain was the first truly American writer, and all of us since are his heirs. (William Faulkner)

I believe that Mark Twain had a clearer vision of lifethan any other AmericanI believe that he was the true father of our national literature, the first genuinely American artist of the royal blood. (H. L. Mencken)

Members Reviews:

Whispersync deal

Anyone considering this Daily Deal--there are two Kindle editions available, one for a dollar and one for free. Buy the free one, add the Whispersync narration for a dollar, and you get this $5 Daily Deal for $1 =)

(I'll get rid of this review tomorrow until after I have a chance to listen to the book)

Fantastic!

Fantastic read, the best narrator yet!! Rates as high as Huck Finn narrated by Elijah Wood and Autobiography of Mark Twain, Volume one.

A meandering tour of the Mississippi River

Of the first fifteen chapters of the book, twelve are reprinted from The Atlantic. In the three introductory ones which precede these, the physical character of the river is sketched. The book was published in 1883. The book begins with a brief history of the river beginning with the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto then on the French Marquette and La Salle.

The most engrossing section describes the authors education as a steamboat pilot. Vivid details and anecdotes link the story of life on the River. He tells of the odd habits of the steamboat pilots. There is a section on how to read the river including the conformation of the banks, sandbanks, islands and inlets as well as sudden cut outs of the river after storms.

The rest of the book is an account of Twains trip down the Mississippi decades later as an old man.

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Title: Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself

Subtitle: A Road Trip with David Foster Wallace

Author: David Lipsky

Narrator: Mike Chamberlain, Danny Campbell

Format: Unabridged

Length: 10 hrs and 41 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-13-10

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 225 votes

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

Publisher's Summary:

An indelible portrait of David Foster Wallace, by turns funny and inspiring, based on a five-day trip with award-winning writer David Lipsky during Wallace's Infinite Jest tour.

In David Lipsky's view, David Foster Wallace was the best young writer in America. Wallace's pieces for Harper's magazine in the '90s were, according to Lipsky, like hearing for the first time the brain voice of everybody I knew: Here was how we all talked, experienced, thought. It was like smelling the damp in the air, seeing the first flash from a storm a mile away. You knew something gigantic was coming.

Then Rolling Stone sent Lipsky to join Wallace on the last leg of his book tour for Infinite Jest, the novel that made him internationally famous. They lose to each other at chess. They get iced-in at an airport. They dash to Chicago to catch a make-up flight. They endure a terrible reader's escort in Minneapolis. Wallace does a reading, a signing, an NPR appearance. Wallace gives in and imbibes titanic amounts of hotel television (what he calls an orgy of spectation). They fly back to Illinois, drive home, walk Wallace's dogs.

Amid these everyday events, Wallace tells Lipsky remarkable things: everything he can about his life, how he feels, what he thinks, what terrifies and fascinates and confounds him, in the writing voice Lipsky had come to love. Lipsky took notes, stopped envying him, and came to feel about him that grateful, awake feeling the same way he felt about Infinite Jest. Then Lipsky heads to the airport, and Wallace goes to a dance at a Baptist church.

A biography in five days, Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself is David Foster Wallace as few experienced this great American writer.

Critic Reviews:

"Lipsky vividly and incisively sets the before-and-after scenes for this revelatory oral history....Wallace is radiantly present in this intimate portrait, a generous and refined work that will sustain Wallace's masterful and innovative books long into the future." (Booklist)

Members Reviews:

Leapin' Over That Wall of Self

At first, I thought Lipsky was kind of operating in that opportunist zone (and I'm sure there is a little of that, b/c journalism never can claim to be opportunisticly free). Lipsky had, packed away, tapes and tapes of unused RS interviews with DFW. DFW has just killed himself, wow, a perfect time to rush it to press. The more I read and listened, however, the more I realized in many ways I preferred the rough, transcription-like, quality of the book AND that it wasn't as simple as it first appeared.

The dialogue between Lipsky and Wallace provided an interesting, unfiltered look into Wallace's method and a peek into his head (even though ultimately, I think Wallace was guarding that sanctum sanctorum pretty well). Wallace, during the road-trip interview, once remarked that writing was an intimate connection of the writer's brain voice with the reader's brain voice. Later, he expanded this theme when talking about how there are things that really good fiction can do that other forms of art can't do as well --

"And the big thing, the big thing seems to be, sort of leapin' over that wall of self, and portraying inner experience.

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Title: The Noonday Demon

Subtitle: An Atlas of Depression

Author: Andrew Solomon

Narrator: Andrew Solomon

Format: Abridged

Length: 6 hrs and 38 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-07-10

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 147 votes

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

Publisher's Summary:

With uncommon humanity, candor, wit, and erudition, National Book Award-winner Andrew Solomon takes the listener on a journey of incomparable range and resonance into the most pervasive of family secrets.

The Noonday Demon examines depression in personal, cultural, and scientific terms. Drawing on his own struggles with the illness and interviews wit fellow sufferers, doctors and scientists, policymakers and politicians, drug designers and philosophers, Solomon reveals the subtle complexities and sheer agony of the disease. He confronts the challenge of defining the illness and describes the vast range of available medications, the efficacy of alternative treatments, and the impact the malady has had on various demographic populations around the world and throughout history. He also explores the thorny patch of moral and ethical questions posed by emerging biological explanations for mental illness.

The depth of human experience Solomon chronicles, the range of his intelligence, and his boundless curiosity and compassion will change the listener's view of the world.

Members Reviews:

It's a good audiobook, but

It's a good audiobook, but it's abridged. It is well researched and well written, but abridged books always leave you feeling like you missed something that may have been important. Honestly, if you are going to produce an audiobook why not just produce the unabridged version?

ESSENTIAL READ FOR THOSE IN NEED

While I very much wish an unabridged version was available, this is perhaps one case where an abridged version of a book is a good Idea for some. While I'm not suffering a terrible level of depression now, I certainly have- and know how difficult it would be to listen to a 30hr version of this, or any book for that matter while being depressed. Hopefully the abridgement was a good one and an uncut version of this multiple award winning book is in the works.

Before this book I read/ listened to the author's other non-fiction masterpiece FAR FROM THE TREE. That book blew me away and my review of it is in these reviews. Andrew Solomons writing is just incredible!

Solomon uses his own life experiences in this book as he did in Far from the tree. Having battled severe depression himself he's able to write from the vantage point of a fellow sufferer. Solomon is remarkably forthcoming with all the intimate details of his story and others who have suffered terribly. There is much more here than biography though, All treatments I've ever heard of and then some are explained in detail, along with all the other related aspects of this disease. What sets this book apart is Solomons remarkable writing. His honesty, empathy, intellect, erudition and magnitude of research provide a uniquely readable and helpful tool to help those who need help or those who want to understand and help others deal with this dreadful all too common illness. Regardless of severity, this book covers it all. If you are depressed or want to help someone who is depressed I would encourage you to get the book format after listening to this.This is a heavy abridgement, the full book is over 500 pages and by sheer volume must contain important points left out here.

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Title: Lift

Author: Kelly Corrigan

Narrator: Kelly Corrigan

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 34 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-02-10

Publisher: Random House Audio

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 35 votes

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

Publisher's Summary:

Written as a letter to her children, Kelly Corrigan's Lift is a tender, intimate, and robust portrait of risk and love; a touchstone for anyone who wants to live more fully. In Lift, Corrigan weaves together three true and unforgettable stories of adults willing to experience emotional hazards in exchange for the gratifications of raising children.

Lift takes its name from hang gliding, a pursuit that requires flying directly into rough air, because turbulence saves a glider from sinking out. For Corrigan, this wisdom becomes a metaphor for all of life's most meaningful endeavors, particularly the great flight that is parenting.

Corrigan serves it up straight: how mundanely and fiercely her children have been loved, how close most lives occasionally come to disaster, and how often we fall short as mothers and fathers. Lift is for everyone who has been caught off guard by the pace and vulnerability of raising children, to remind us that our work is important and our time limited.

Like Anne Morrow Lindbergh's Gift from the Sea, Lift is a meditation on the complexities of a woman's life, and like Corrigan's memoir The Middle Place, Lift is boisterous and generous, a book readers and listeners cant wait to share.

Members Reviews:

Listened to it twice! Great quick listen!

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

This is a book I always have on my iphone. Great to share with others on a long car ride or 2 hour flight...I love the stories she tells. Not sure it would mean as much if I had not read her first book prior, which I highly recommend..another great story.

What did you like best about this story?

This story is so real...she can tell it like it is! It makes you laugh, and cry!

Have you listened to any of Kelly Corrigans other performances before? How does this one compare?

Yes...love all of them!

Any additional comments?

If you are a mom...take the time to read...and reflect on your own kids!

Weird mom venting

Have a conversation with your friends instead of reading this strange book. You will get much more out of it.

Severely disappointed

What would have made Lift better?

This was terrible! I read "The Middle Place," Kelly Corrigan's first book and loved it. I was sadly disappointed with this read...and it was only an hour and a half long??? The author basically discusses her daughter's viral meningitis and her best friend's experience with artificial insemination...and that's about it! The book finished, and I swore I had only gotten through one chapter. I was shocked to learn it had ended. Very strange! I would not recommend this.

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Title: Last Words

Author: George Carlin

Narrator: Tony Hendra, Patrick Carlin

Format: Abridged

Length: 6 hrs and 23 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-10-09

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 313 votes

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

Publisher's Summary:

In 1993 George Carlin asked his friend and best-selling author Tony Hendra to help him write his autobiography. For almost 15 years, in scores of conversations, many of them recorded, the two discussed Carlin's life, times, and evolution as a major artist. When Carlin died at age 71 in June 2008 with the book still unpublished, Hendra set out to assemble it as his friend would have wanted. Last Words is the result, the rollicking, wrenching story of Carlin's life from birth - literally - to his final years, as well as a parting gift of laughter to the world of comedy he helped create.

George Carlin's journey to stardom began in the rough-and-tumble neighborhood of New York's Upper West Side in the 1940s, where class and culture wars planted the seeds for some of his best-known material, including the notorious "Seven Words You Can Never Say on Television".

His early conflicts, his long struggle with substance abuse, his turbulent relationships with his family, and his triumphs over catastrophic setbacks all fueled the unique comedic worldview he brought to the stage. From the heights of stardom to the low points few knew about, Last Words is told with the same razor-sharp honesty that made Carlin one of the best loved comedians in American history.

Members Reviews:

Very good stuff.

What did you love best about Last Words?

It was interesting and informative, although not as funny as I was expecting. It really gave a clear picture about where George Carlin came from and what his life was all about, mostly in his own words.

Outstanding insight... Well read

George Carlin was a national treasure and this book does a great job of putting his life in perspective. Even if you thought you knew everything there was to know about George Carlin, your understanding expands when you get to know the inner thoughts behind his public and private life.

His brother Patrick does an outstanding job with the narration largely because he shares a lot of George's phrasing and inflection.

Still the best!

Carlin might be gone but his work will be live on forever. A comic genius, an incredible writer and one of the greatest thinkers this world has ever known. Some people believe in God, I believe in George!!! As for this work, his last, it is truly touching and having his brother as the narrator gives the listener almost a surreal feel that George himself, came back to life, to be the narrator. A great piece of work and a real fun listen. Even in death, Carlin once again proves that he's still the best.

Different from other George's books

Any additional comments?

This is narrated by Patrick Carlin, who is a good performer, but not as good as George. Since I wanted to hear more from George and not really about George, I was disappointed. So the book is great and performance is amazing, but this may not be for you if you came to listen more of George's humor and wisdom.

Appearing in a Graveyard Soon...

Tony Hendra is a magical author.. look for his other books especially "Father Joe"..

So Carlin devoted to the art up to and after death leaves us this material. I still feel sad when I think that this genius is gone , Zappa too. Leaving us to survive without a sidebar or a punchline or a riff. If you don't know the genius of G. Carlin you should read his other books first, putting each book in as complete a historical venue as you can.

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Title: Véra

Author: Stacy Schiff

Narrator: Anna Fields

Format: Unabridged

Length: 18 hrs and 16 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-05-09

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 34 votes

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

Publisher's Summary:

Pulitzer Prize, Biography/Autobiography, 2000

Set in prewar Europe and postwar America and spanning much of the 20th century, this telling of the Nabokov's 52-year marriage reads as vividly as a novel. Véra, both beautiful and brilliant, is its outsized heroine, a woman who loves as deeply and intelligently as did the great romantic heroines of Austen and Tolstoy. Stacy Schiff's Véra is a triumph of the biographical form.

Critic Reviews:

"A riveting portrait....Anna Fields' intelligent narration is necessary to convey the life of such a woman adequately. Highly recommended." (Library Journal)

Members Reviews:

Author & narrator combine talents

If you could sum up Véra in three words, what would they be?

Capacity for life

What was one of the most memorable moments of Véra?

Giving publishers a hard time and winning.

Which scene was your favorite?

Too many to single one out.

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

Oh, yes!

Any additional comments?

I highly recommend this biography to anybody who loves a great story, a lively writer and an experienced narrator.

Fascinating Life Story

I'm often fascinated by the woman behind the creative genius, and this book was no exception.

Wife and literary partner/agent of Vladimir Nabokov, Vera's life story and the portrait of their marriage was fascinating, even if a little tough to believe at times.

Wish to return this!

I really did not get on with this book. Disliked the readers voice and found the story slow and uninteresting. I would like to return it but I cannot work out how to!

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Title: Ayn Rand and the World She Made

Author: Anne C. Heller

Narrator: Bernadette Dunne

Format: Unabridged

Length: 19 hrs and 36 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-27-09

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 300 votes

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

Publisher's Summary:

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.

©2009 Anne C. Heller; (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic Reviews:

"This objective account of the Objectivist Rand will interest her still large and devoted readership." (Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

Good Premises with Contradictions

I wanted to read a comprehensive, candid biography of Ayn Rand so looked at several. When you face a controversial personality like Ayn Rand's there are a few things to consider: I did not want to read a negative critique of Objectivism masquerading as a biography. I did not want to read a hatchet job of the author by someone who doesn't understand her ideas. Neither did I want to read a paean to Rand nor a whitewash of all her negative characteristics. I settled on Anne C. Heller's book because it sounded as though Heller had read Rand's books and enjoyed their ideas but that she had not drunk Objectivist flavored Cool Aid.

On completing the book, it seems to me that Heller admires Rand's ideals while maintaining the objective view that one cannot expect ideals to translate empirically exactly as outlined. I was most interested in Rand's method of plotting and writing her work. Heller does her best to address these issues by quoting from many of Rand's journals, character sketches and outlines for The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged, and to some extent for We The Living. Although all my questions were not answered, I did get a basic understanding of how the author worked and how she maintained her specific theme focus through two works of unwieldy length.

The most interesting part of the books, though, were Rand's personal interactions and relationships. Her absolute rejection of any idea that is not in complete agreement with her own does not come across in her many television interviews during which she is polite if mildly sarcastic when she encounters challenges. In public it seemed to me she was more often attacked than attacking. In her personal life very much the opposite was apparently true. She had no problem dropping people from her society for simply questioning the absolute certainty of her opinions. As I became more and more interested in the book it was quite easy via Google, YouTube, and my public library to verify Ms. Heller's conclusions.

I enjoyed the book immensely. I found that it addressed the dichotomy at the root of modern conservative thought which prevents conservatives from making any progress toward their own agendas, while attempts to slow the implementation of liberal agendas serve only to strengthen and even empower their counterparts.