Get Best Sellers Audiobooks in Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs Top Rated

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Title: Whipping Boy

Subtitle: The Forty-Year Search for My Twelve-Year-Old Bully

Author: Allen Kurzweil

Narrator: Allen Kurzweil

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 53 mins

Language: English

Release date: 01-20-15

Publisher: HarperAudio

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 38 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

The true account of one man's lifelong search for his boarding-school bully.

Equal parts childhood memoir and literary thriller, Whipping Boy chronicles Allen Kurzweil's search for his 12-year-old nemesis, a bully named Cesar Augustus. The obsessive inquiry, which spans some 40 years, takes Kurzweil all over the world, from a Swiss boarding school (where he endures horrifying cruelty) to the slums of Manila, from the Park Avenue boardroom of the world's largest law firm to a federal prison camp in Southern California. While tracking down his tormentor, the author encounters an improbable cast of characters that includes an elocution teacher with ill-fitting dentures, a gang of faux-royal swindlers, a crime investigator with "paper in his blood", and a monocled grand master of the Knights of Malta. Yet for all its global exoticism and comic exuberance, Kurzweil's riveting account is, at its core, a heartfelt and suspenseful narrative about the "parallel lives" of a victim and his abuser.

A scrupulously researched and richly illustrated work of nonfiction that renders a childhood menace into an unlikely muse, Whipping Boy is much more than a tale of karmic retribution; it is a poignant meditation on loss, memory, and mourning, a surreal odyssey born out of suffering, nourished by rancor, tempered by wit, and resolved, unexpectedly, in a breathtaking act of personal courage.

Members Reviews:

Tedious

Not at all what I was expecting.

The ending was a let down.

The book title should have been "looking for myself a boring journey", I would have then saved myself the cost of the book.

Pretty good book. Narrator kind of annoying.

Narrator laughs too much, as though he's trying to ingratiate himself. I would have preferred if he just stuck to the text.

Slow stroll through a story about a bully

It was one of those stories that grab your attention because you identify with the author but he reads it so slowly you try speeding up the playback but his words aren't slow like a Southerner it is the pauses between words that it too slow, so the speedup doesn't help much. I found myself enlightened a bit about bully mentality which was worth the listen but just barely.

Barely made it to the end

I had high hopes that this book would be an interesting memoir about surviving an experience that has become all too common, bullying. What I found it to be instead was an underwhelming story of a guy who was at the receiving end of some nasty treatment for a year at boarding school, then moved on with his life to become a successful writer with a nice little family. Yet, for some reason he is still dragging his obsession over the roommate's mistreatment around, and has managed to stretch it into an eight hour audiobook with bland narration. Nothing is really revealed to indicate that the author learns from or resolves anything by chasing down his school-days arch nemesis, there is no solid connection to a larger theme, and honestly I barely made it to the end of the book. I would not recommend this book.

Everyone Needs a Hobby...I guess

Whipping Boy was totally different than what I was anticipating. I foresaw more a story about 10 year old boys and how they matured, or didn't. I was not expecting a book that is largely in-depth legalese about a financial crime.

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Title: The Last Rescue

Subtitle: How Faith and Love Saved a Navy SEAL Sniper

Author: Howard Wasdin

Narrator: Daniel Butler

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 45 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-28-14

Publisher: Thomas Nelson Publishers

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 29 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

In the aftermath of war, a Navy SEAL finds faith, hope, and love.

Howard Wasdin, author of SEAL Team Six: Memoirs of an Elite Navy SEAL Sniper (22 weeks on the New York Times best-seller list), survived the firestorm made famous in Black Hawk Down only to return to a world without support, without a mission, and soon without his family. Wounded in Mogadishu and facing a torturous journey of rehabilitation and recovery, he came home to find his marriage falling apart and his world upended. When he met Debbie, an accountant emerging from her own trial by fire, he realized this might be his last hope, and the two together began a journey of rediscovering their faith in God and their ability to trust in God's goodness.

The Last Rescue is an unforgettable tale of brokenness and healing, going deep into the firing line of modern warfare, through the agony of broken marriages, and onto a path of redemption and love. With a clear-eyed view of the inevitability of heartache and the power of God's faithfulness, Howard and Debbie remind us that no matter what our circumstances, we should never, ever, give up hope.

Members Reviews:

Narrators

The narrators of audio books should do some research before they read and publish so they can pronounce things correctly

After 60 audio books this is the worst narrator

What made the experience of listening to The Last Rescue the most enjoyable?

Having read Wasdin's first book

What didnt you like about Daniel Butlers performance?

Everything, the inflection, pace, deep breaths and mouth noises and tisks. Especially the way he pronounced "BUDS", it is written BUD/S not said BUD S

Any additional comments?

The only reason I listened all the way through was because I paid for it.....can youu return an audio book?

Great Live story Howard & Debbie... I loved it

Thank you for your sacrifices and service Howard. Only you know the true price paid . I think I love this book more then your first one Howard. Brother, you've got the talent for writing . Please don't stop now . Thank you Howard.

The Narrator ruined it for me

What would have made The Last Rescue better?

A different narrator. I tried on numerous times and just couldn't do it. It was impossible to listen to. I went out and purchased the book and read it rather than listening to another second. (Not trying to be mean, but it was that bad)

What didnt you like about Daniel Butlers performance?

Nothing.

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Title: The Hardest Peace

Subtitle: Expecting Grace in the Midst of Life's Hard

Author: Kara Tippetts

Narrator: Patty Fogarty

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 22 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-03-14

Publisher: Oasis Audio

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 97 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

Finding grace in the everydayKara Tippetts knows the ordinary days of mothering four kids, the joy of watching her children grow...and the devastating reality of stage IV cancer.

In The Hardest Peace, Kara doesnt offer answers for when living is hard, but rather she asks us to join her in moving away from fear and control and toward peace and grace. Most of all, she draws us back to the God who is with us in the mundane and the suffering, and who shapes even our unmet expectations and pain into beauty.

Members Reviews:

This is a story about living more than dying.

This is not, as I thought, a story about cancer. It's about growing up, and love, and marriage, and how life takes us places we could never imagine. It's a story of God meeting us all in all the hard places of our lives, and transforming us through the grace we meet there. Have ordered the book, because I want a hard copy on hand.

Inspiring and heart wrenching

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

Yes, it is easily engaging.

Any additional comments?

As an Oncology nurse and Christian with a best friend in the cancer battle, I found this book to be very near to my heart. This is an insightful account of a personal journey of faith, hope and love. Many thanks to the Author and her family for allowing others into her journey.

A must read for this side of Heaven

Heartfelt..,real...grace breathed...love drenched...My husband always said, "A message from the heart, reaches the heart.". My heart has been reached and has been made full with words I want to share with others. My prayers extend to this family whom Jesus has laid a special nearness to as they continue their walk through the shadow of the valley of death.

Living and loving in the hardest places

Imagine being able to tell those you love the important things before you die. Everyone who reads this will be touched not only by Kara's story but by how we can live our life to the best of our ability loving God with all our hearts

a must listen - trust me!

Darwin was the story fantastically described, but it was also very well written. not sure the current status for the author like no she God's grace and her eternity is set. those who have experienced trials or edges themselves and with Family and friends book change your life's perspective.

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Title: Live Nude Girl: My Life as an Object

Author: Kathleen Rooney

Narrator: Eva Hamilton

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-23-14

Publisher: University Press Audiobooks

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 13 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

Live Nude Girl: My Life as an Object is a lively meditation on the profession of art modeling as it has been practiced in history and as it is practiced today. Kathleen Rooney draws on her own experiences working as an artist's model, as well as the famous, notorious, and mysterious artists and models through the ages. Through a combination of personal perspective, historical anecdote, and witty prose, Live Nude Girl reveals that both the appeal of posing nude for artists and the appeal of drawing the naked figure lie in our deeply human responses to beauty, sex, love, and death.

Critic Reviews:

"A compelling memoir that blends observation, personal revelation and scholarly inquiry." (Los Angeles Times)

"This esoteric, organic meditation on life as an art object is itself a model of personal writing, perfect for those on either side of the easel." (Publishers Weekly)

Members Reviews:

Lovely

An interesting piece on non cliché topics. A good book for thinking, or just learning things from a different perspective about a world some people don't know about.

Poor reader, interesting memoir

The reader has very strange diction, robotic and disjointed. Interestingly, she was fine when reading other voices than the author's. Very distracting.

Loved the narrator, Eva Hamilton!

If you could sum up Live Nude Girl: My Life as an Object in three words, what would they be?

Very well done!

Any additional comments?

I appreciated the research that must have been done, concerning art history. The novel was well thought out, nicely written, and presented in such a way to keep my interest.

Awesome!

What made the experience of listening to Live Nude Girl: My Life as an Object the most enjoyable?

Lovely memoir mixed with critical essay. Rooney's prose is engaging and illuminating; she expertly crafts her personal experience as an artist's model against an underpinning of art history that makes for an outstanding read.

Have you listened to any of Eva Hamiltons other performances before? How does this one compare?

The narrator's voice was absolutely perfect for this book...engaging with just the right amount of sexiness.

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Title: We'll Always Have Paris

Subtitle: A Mother/Daughter Memoir

Author: Jennifer Coburn

Narrator: Kate McIntyre

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 20 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-15-14

Publisher: Audible Studios

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 19 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

How her daughter and her passport taught Jennifer to live like there's no tomorrow

Jennifer Coburn has always been terrified of dying young. So she decides to save up and drop everything to travel with her daughter, Katie, on a whirlwind European adventure before it's too late. Even though her husband can't join them, even though she's nervous about the journey, and even though she's perfectly healthy, Jennifer is determined to jam her daughter's mental photo album with memories - just in case.

From the cafés of Paris to the top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Jennifer and Katie take on Europe one city at a time, united by their desire to see the world and spend precious time together. In this heartwarming generational love story, Jennifer reveals how their adventures helped vanquish her fear of dying - for the sake of living.

Members Reviews:

Great travel nine says the dead dad stuff

What did you love best about We'll Always Have Paris?

I enjoyed the physical travel experiences, especially in the later parts.

What was one of the most memorable moments of We'll Always Have Paris?

I enjoyed the scenes in Italy and Alhambra the most.

What three words best describe Kate McIntyres voice?

Too over-actorly annoying.

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

I liked when the mom got high in Amsterdam. I think the reader was a serious problem. So much over-actig that it took away from the prose.

Any additional comments?

Yes. I got annoyed with the continual references, not finely woven, about the dead father. Okay he died and ski kept going back to it so much I had to FF over these bits as they were not aligned with a TRAVEL memoir. Would have liked more of the vote of the daughter, not the father. Or even the mother, for that matter.

Great Travel Memoir

I received a free audiobook for an honest review.

Well Always Have Paris isnt my usual genre but I thought Id give it a try. These are Jennifer Coburns memoirs of her travels with her daughter. I admire that even though their home is in need of repairs, shed rather save the money to take her daughter on trips to show her world while she can. Its sad that her reason is because she thinks shell die young and, hopefully, shes wrong. Better safe than sorry, though, I guess.

One of the reasons I dont read about travels very often is because some authors tend to get bogged down in the descriptions of where theyve been. Jennifer Coburn, however, describes their travels very well but doesnt overdo it so it kept my interest throughout. She also has a great sense of humor. I found myself laughing a few times, especially when they were in Panama.

I liked the relationship between Jennifer and her daughter. If I had a daughter, Id want our relationship to be similar to theirs. I also liked the memories of Jennifers parents, especially her father. Its obvious that she loved him and misses him very much. Shes as good at describing relationships as she is at describing Paris.

The narrator of the story was easy to understand. One thing that threw me off a few times was when I didnt realize thered been a change from the present to memories of the past and vice versa. A pause between those changes would have helped a lot.

I definitely recommend Well Always Have Paris even if its not the type of book you usually read.

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Title: Joy and Suffering

Subtitle: My Life with ALS

Author: Martin J. D'Amore MD

Narrator: Kevin F. Spalding

Format: Unabridged

Length: 3 hrs and 55 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-06-14

Publisher: Martin J. D'Amore

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 14 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

Martin D'Amore and his wife are both physicians, so when they began to notice possible ALS symptoms in Marty, they desperately looked for other causes. But after many tests and meetings with experts, Marty finally got the word, he had Lou Gehrig's disease, and the clock began to tick.

ALS robs its victims of their physical abilities, from their muscular activity, to their nervous system, and, finally, their ability to even breathe. All the while, the mind remains intact. It is a brutal, often soul-crushing disease, and yet Marty has persevered and even grown as a result of ALS. Discover how Marty's battle with ALS has led him to a greater relationship with Christ, a better understanding of himself, and, finally, to great contentment and happiness.

Whether or not you or someone you love is battling ALS, this inspiring true story of love and courage will help you find joy through your sufferings.

Members Reviews:

Inspiring

Marty's story is one we all should hear. And I imagine from no one better than Kevin Spalding. Marty's story is inspiring to anyone who might feel lost at times in the hustle and bustle of life, waiting for our next "big plans" to come to fruition. His words and life remind us all, that no matter how difficult the challenges we face, to count our blessings and put faith in the Lord. It is clear from the narration that Kevin's personal interaction with Marty left an emotional impact that resonates through the recording to the listener. I flew through the "pages" of this audiobook, always fascinated and always contemplating how I to manifest the lessons learned from Marty's story in my own life.

Inspiring, Motivating, and Sad

Where does Joy and Suffering rank among all the audiobooks youve listened to so far?

It ranks very high as it demonstrates man's will to succeed in the hardest of circumstances.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Marty, of course, was the reason this book came alive and the key intent of appreciating everything we have in this world was achieved through its pervading premise.

What does Kevin F. Spalding bring to the story that you wouldnt experience if you just read the book?

Narration was great. It really did feel like Marty was speaking to me by casting his true inner voice.

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

I wanted to finish it in one setting, but wanted to grasp the full affect that ALS had on the main character through various sittings.

Any additional comments?

"This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBlast dot com."

"Joy and Suffering" review

"This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of Audiobook Blast."

I found the story of Dr. D'Amore's physical deterioration, yet spiritual growth very moving and inspiring. Being Catholic myself I too had traveled some of the same paths/challenges as Dr. D'Amore. I was so happy that this story was abled to be shared.

A Moving Book and an Inspiration To All

JOY AND SUFFERING: MY LIFE WITH ALS was perhaps the most moving and inspirational memoir I've listened to. MARTIN J.

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Title: Delancey

Subtitle: A Man, a Woman, a Restaurant, a Marriage

Author: Molly Wizenberg

Narrator: Caroline Shaffer

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 20 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-17-14

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 49 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

In this funny, frank, and tender memoir, the author of the New York Times bestseller A Homemade Life and the blog Orangette recounts how opening a restaurant sparked the first crisis of her young marriage.

When Molly Wizenberg married Brandon Pettit, he was a trained composer with a handful of offbeat interests: Espresso machines, wooden boats, violin-building, and ice cream-making. So when Brandon decided to open a pizza restaurant, Molly was supportive - not because she wanted him to do it but because the idea was so far-fetched she didn't think he would. Before she knew it, he'd signed a lease on a space. The restaurant, Delancey, was going to be a reality, and all of Molly's assumptions about her marriage were about to change.

Together they built Delancey: Gutting and renovating the space on a cobbled-together budget, developing a menu, hiring staff, and passing inspections. Delancey became a success, and Molly tried to convince herself that she was happy in their new life until - in the heat and pressure of the restaurant kitchen - she realized that she hadn't been honest with herself or Brandon.

With twenty new recipes for the kind of simple, delicious food that chefs eat at home, Delancey is a moving and honest account of two young people learning to give in and let go in order to grow together.

Members Reviews:

I enjoyed it, but I also love Orangette and "A Homemade Life," so I'm a bit biased!

I first became a fan of Orangette when I was in college, around 2009 or so. I loved her style of writing, and her simple, yummy recipes. She writes with heart and she writes in a very conversational tone. I read her other book a couple of years ago, and enjoyed it sooo much. This one I enjoyed, but not as much as that book. I think I enjoyed this book because it was written by Molly, and Iâm already sort of partial to her writing and recipes. So, first and foremost, if you enjoy the Orangette blog or the âA Homemade Life,â you might enjoy this book. Secondly, if youâre really into pizzaâand I really REALLYâas in youâre interested in the mechanics behind opening your own pizzeria and all that goes into it, I think you might also enjoy this book. But otherwise, Iâm not sure if the typical reader who has never heard of Molly would be too into it. Sure, Molly is a fantastic writer, and sheâs very personable, but the book itself doesnât seem to have much heart like the previous book. It delves into the marital issues and into the nitty gritty of the restaurant, dipping into things but never really fleshing them out. Iâm guessing this is due to it being of a personal nature.

Molly touches in the book about the lack of recipes, because it sort of morphs into this on its own, even surprising her. But there really is a super limited run of them. I would have appreciated more recipes associated with the pizza-making experience, even if very little other recipes were given. Most of the recipes (and again, Molly touches on this in the beginning) were simple in nature and often something a friend would make for them, because there simply wasnât a lot of time while running around trying to open the restaurant.

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Title: Team Spirit

Subtitle: Life and Leadership on One of the World's Toughest Yacht Races

Author: Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, Brendan Hall

Narrator: Stephen Pilkington

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 46 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-03-14

Publisher: Audible Studios for Bloomsbury

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 14 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

Team Spirit is a gripping account of a race on the edge, and a young skipper's determined journey to victory. The Clipper Round the World Yacht Race is the ultimate long distance challenge - a 35,000-mile circumnavigation of the globe, contested by amateur crews in identical racing yachts - and the winners are those who keep their focus the longest.

The 2010 winner was 28-year-old Brendan Hall and his crew in Spirit of Australia. Although Brendan was the youngest and least experienced skipper in the race, the win was no accident - it was the culmination of years of training, skilled navigation and a leadership style way beyond his years.

Members Reviews:

A very worthwhile listen!

The narrator was great. it was a very worthwhile listen, especially if you are a sailor.

Fabulous

I've never been on racing yacht and possibly never well ( who knows) and I found this story utterly fascinating. An adventure of mind blowing proportions, a tale of leadership and skill.

Adventure & Persistence

Persistence and Energy conquer all things. What an outstanding book. I now want to travel around the world on a yacht with Clipper

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Title: Becoming the Kind Father

Subtitle: A Son's Journey

Author: Calvin Sandborn

Narrator: Michael Puttonen

Format: Unabridged

Length: 5 hrs and 2 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-02-14

Publisher: Post Hypnotic Press Inc.

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 10 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

The macho society that held John Wayne as a role model has created an emotional wasteland where 80 percent of men are unable to accurately express their feelings, and that same percentage feel estranged from their fathers. The stifled male, disconnected and out of touch, fills the void with apathy or anger, and the toll is staggering: short, unhealthy lives, ruined relationships, and damaged children. This destructive behavior repeats itself in the next generation as the sins of the father continue the cycle.

In Becoming the Kind Father, Calvin Sandborn aims to break that cycle. His intensely personal story is heart-searing and inspirational. Brought up to fear his father's alcohol-fueled fury and hateful put-downs, the author buried his feelings and fine-tuned his own rage. His father's early death and the collapse of the author's marriage provided catalysts for change.

Interspersing clever literary references with painful childhood memories, intense self-examination, and astute observations, Sandborn provides well-researched psychological findings and self-help tips, including how to:

This guide offers helpful insight for the millions of men who want to become kinder human beings. A must-read for every woman who loves an angry or emotionally distant man.

Critic Reviews:

"...an inspiring book enhanced by a performance that captures every high and low of a childhood from which lesser people might have learned the wrong lessons." (AudioFile Magazine, March 2015)

"From the first page, I was enchanted by this book... Amid so many voices calling on men to be tough, to be manly, Calvin Sandborn calls on them to be kind, to be human. I pray that it is his voice that will prevail." (Rabbi Harold Kushner, author of When Bad Things Happen to Good People)

"Professor Sandborn's well-referenced book is crammed with valuable self-help tips that when practiced will help debunk societys macho myth and give birth to the real man who is loving, sensitive, gentle, and kind." (John Bradshaw, author of Homecoming)

Members Reviews:

Excellent and provocative read!

As a woman reading this book I "saw" so many men in my life described and I feel such compassion and insight now! By the author sharing his own personal journey I found myself moved and wanting to read more. My husband is now also reading it and loving it, wanting to share it with our sons and other male friends. I would recommend this book to all men and the women who love them!

I was pleasantly surprised

I was really touched, softly, by this book. The author has a clear understanding of what a kind father really is and what he does. It is clear this attorney has a deep understanding of cognitive behavioral therapy and can write about it in ways that are easy to understand and motivational to apply.

For men who are religious, it is easy to convert one line of his thinking to Deity in a very effective way.

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Title: Home Fires

Subtitle: An Intimate Portrait of One Middle-Class Family in Postwar America

Author: Donald Katz, Jonathan Alter (introduction), Ricky Ian Gordon (afterword)

Narrator: Joe Barrett, Jonathan Alter (introduction), Ricky Ian Gordon (afterword)

Format: Unabridged

Length: 28 hrs and 18 mins

Language: English

Release date: 05-27-14

Publisher: Donald Katz

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 56 votes

Genres: Bios & Memoirs, Personal Memoirs

Publisher's Summary:

Home Fires is the powerful saga of the Gordon family - real people, names unchanged. Spanning nearly five decades, from the end of World War II to the early 1990s, their story has the scope, depth, wealth of incident, and emotional intensity of a great novel, and an abundance of humor, scandal, warmth, and trauma - the recognizable components of family life. This is also a masterful chronicle of the turbulent postwar era, illuminating the interplay between private life and profound cultural changes.

Donald Katz begins his account in 1945, when Sam Gordon comes home from the war to his young wife, Eve, and their two-year-old, Susan, eager to move his family into the growing middle class. After a few years in the Bronx, Sam and Eve move to a new Long Island subdivision and have two more children. As the '50s yield to the '60s, the younger Gordons fly out into the culture like shrapnel from an artillery shell, each tracing a unique trajectory: Susan, early into rock 'n' roll and civil rights, Vassar girl, feminist, author of "The Politics of Orgasm", and recovering drug addict; Lorraine, teenage beatnik and leftie, one-time member of a women's rock band, longtime follower of an Indian religious teacher; Sheila, the "good" daughter who married then remarried, with a big suburban house, two kids, and a therapist; and Ricky, the youngest, witness to the family traumas and cause of a few himself, openly gay, eclectically New Age, and a successful songwriter and composer. And all Sam and Eve ever wanted - like millions of others who had experienced the Depression and the war - was a "normal family".

Katz tells the Gordons' story - the unraveling of Sam's and Eve's American dream, to the slow, hopeful reknitting of the family - marshaling a vivid cast of supporting characters. Deftly juxtaposing day-to-day family life with landmark public events, Katz creates a rich and revealing portrait of the second half of the 20th century in America.

Members Reviews:

The Way We Were

The word "epic" is thrown around a lot, especially by publicists. This is a rare case where it is wholly deserved.

I first read "Home Fires" around 15 years ago, discovering a monumental work that is really two ambitious books in one. It is the intimate, multigenerational story of a real American family, which in itself would be no small accomplishment. But then Don Katz uses the family saga as a framework on which he hangs the country's entire postwar social history. There is Vietnam, then folksingers and later rock 'n' roll, drugs, economic turmoil and our migration to the suburbs. It is related in such rich detail that countless throwaway sentences must have taken a week's research apiece.

As a new audiobook all these years later, "Home Fires" seems a new experience, somehow even more substantive and insightful than before. Narrator Joe Barrett weaves his way carefully through the twists and turns of each year, one after another. His voicing of characters is superb. Sure, all the Brooklyn males may sound more or less like Sam Gordon, but Mr. Barrett manages boys and girls, women, singers and prominent figures.