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Title: Beethoven

Author: Darren Henley

Narrator: Marin Alsop

Format: Unabridged

Length: 22 mins

Language: English

Release date: 12-04-13

Publisher: Naxos AudioBooks

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

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

Publisher's Summary:

This is a story from the Famous Composers collection.

Following on the success of The Story of Classical Music, Darren Henley and Marin Alsop combine forces again to tell, in more detail, the lives of six key composers: Bach, Vivaldi, Mozart, Beethoven, Dvorak, and Shostakovich. Their colourful lives and their love of music are told against the backdrop of some of their finest works, an ideal combination.

Editorial Reviews:

David Henley provides a delightful mix of biography and music lesson in this profile of German composer Ludwig van Beethoven, a selection from the collection Famous Composers. A dramatization of Beethoven's difficult childhood, complete with a demanding father who forced his son to play the piano, shows how Beethoven developed his love and mastery of the piano. Throughout, Marin Alsop uses a relaxed style that proves amiable to neophytes of Beethoven's work, and her demeanor is educational even as it is informal. The inclusion of some of Beethoven's famous pieces, like "Moonlight Sonata" and "Fur Elise", makes this a complete experience.

Critic Reviews:

2005 Audie Award Winner, Original Work

Members Reviews:

An introduction to the lives of 6 Great Composers with music!

This is a delightful audible book on the lives of 6 famous composers for grades 3-6. Along with a biography of the artist there are samples of the composers works to introduce young people to classical music.

The composers are:1.Vivaldi

2.Bach

3.Mozart

4.Beethoven

5.Dvorak

6.Shostakovich

Each section explains the challenges and eccentricities of the famous composer and it will keep children entertained. Marin Alsop does a wonderful job of narrating along with the occasional sound effects thrown in for good measure.

I recently took a classical music course for adults and it awoke in me a new love of classical music and I believe this book could do the same for young people.

Very Interesting!

My 10-year-old son LOVES listening to these CDs, and I have to admit that my husband and I both enjoy them as well. Many hours in the car have been pleasant because my son is engaged in listening. The accounts of each composer are tastefully done and give quite a bit of interesting detail into the composer's life and personality. We have checked them out from our library many times and my son would now like us to purchase them because he enjoys listening to them so much. I only wish they would make more as there are many more composers still to study.

Embarrassingly bad, even for a seven-year old

This is clearly a presentation intended for children, but it is not indicated what age group is being targeted. The narration assumes no sophistication on the part of the listener, nor does it attempt to broaden or encourage more focused listening skills on the part of the child. Among the musical selections played are the most un-Shostakovichian work of the composer's, the variations on "Tea for Two" and the Romance from the film Gadfly, evidently in an attempt to sweeten the presentation. A portion of the Second Piano Concerto is played, and then the child is asked if the quote of the song, "What Do We Do With A Drunken Sailor" was heard in the score. Why in the world would a child be familiar with this somewhat esoteric World War II era song? A recording of the song outside its compositional context should have been played, which would have made the concerto example more meaningful.

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Title: Report from the Interior

Author: Paul Auster

Narrator: Paul Auster

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 11 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-19-13

Publisher: Macmillan Audio

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 18 votes

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

Publisher's Summary:

Paul Auster's most intimate autobiographical work to date. In the beginning, everything was alive. The smallest objects were endowed with beating hearts

Having recalled his life through the story of his physical self in Winter Journal, internationally acclaimed novelist Paul Auster now remembers the experience of his development from within through the encounters of his interior self with the outer world in Report from the Interior.

From his baby's-eye view of the man in the moon, to his childhood worship of the movie cowboy Buster Crabbe, to the composition of his first poem at the age of nine, to his dawning awareness of the injustices of American life, Report from the interior charts Auster's moral, political, and intellectual journey as he inches his way toward adulthood through the postwar 1950s and into the turbulent 1960s. Auster evokes the sounds, smells, and tactile sensations that marked his early life - and the many images that came at him, including moving images (he adored cartoons, he was in love with films), until, at its unique climax, the audiobook breaks away from prose into pure imagery: The final section of Report from the Interior recapitulates the first three parts. At once a story of the times - which makes it everyone's story - and the story of the emerging consciousness of a renowned literary artist, this four-part work answers the challenge of autobiography in ways rarely, if ever, seen before.

Members Reviews:

Interesting memoir for Auster fans, perhaps not for neophytes

An interesting work. I agree with most of the reviews here. If you are reading this as a fan, as someone who has already read the novels and is very familiar with Auster, you'll probably enjoy this. It would be difficult to recommend this as an example of why you appreciate the genius of Paul Auster, however. For that, you still need to go back to his fiction. But I was pleasantly surprised that he could present his early childhood in such an interesting manner. That first section stands out as the best of this, for me.

If you've never seen The Incredible Shrinking Man or Fugitive From a Chain Gang (I've seen both films several times), you may enjoy those stories being told to you, in great detail. However, it seems altogether a better idea to simply watch those great films, rather than having Auster describe them to you. A meticulous retelling of the narrative of these films might have been more effective (for me) if balanced with an equal amount of "interior" musings about why these films had such a profound effect on him. They made a strong impression on me, as well, so I share his enthusiasm to talk about these films.

It's an eclectic mix of writing here that succeeds by being not quite like anything else, and that's always been Auster's greatest gift, I think. It may also inform the way we look at modern memoir.

Reflective and insightful

Paul Auster is one of the greatest American authors of all time, certainly one of the most important authors still publishing today!

Beautiful

On reading this memoir, I remain captivated by the language, the brilliant choice of second person narrative and the lucid perception through a distant child's eyes. As though re-imagining the past and re-constructing it through the informed retrospection of middle to late adulthood.

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Title: That Close

Author: Suggs

Narrator: Suggs

Format: Unabridged

Length: 7 hrs and 12 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-07-13

Publisher: Quercus

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 9 votes

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

Publisher's Summary:

Suggs is one of pop music's most enduring and likeable figures. Read by the author himself with the assured style and wit of a natural raconteur, this hugely entertaining and insightful autobiography takes you from his colourful early life on a North London council estate, through the heady early days of Punk and 2-Tone, to the eighties, where Madness became the biggest selling singles band of the decade.

Along the way he tells you what it's like to grow up in sixties Soho, go globetrotting with your best mates, to make a dead pigeon fly and cause an earthquake in Finsbury Park.

Members Reviews:

pure genius..written and read by a genius

the cool and calm melodical voice of suggs makes listening to this book an absolute pleasure.filled with fun laughter chaos and macness this book takes you back to times of youth and teenage bungling..thank you suggs your a gem

Fantastic

What did you like most about That Close?

I adored the 'rude boy' charm that came across so well. This is a cheeky, funny, really entertaining book, and Suggs is so humble it's obvious he is a truly, lovely gentleman. It's interesting to listen to, as Suggs has the soul of an urban poet, and a brilliant way of utilising words.

What about Suggss performance did you like?

I appreciated that it was narrated by the author, it really made the book come to life.

Time spent with Suggs

Would you consider the audio edition of That Close to be better than the print version?

I've got both - you can hear Suggs' voice in the book and then get closer with the audiobook - it's like listening to the same story you always love to hear from a pal

What other book might you compare That Close to, and why?

Rock autobiographies, social history books - because that is what it is

Which character as performed by Suggs was your favourite?

Erm, Suggs

If you made a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

It was the cat what made me do it

Any additional comments?

I've always been a fan of Suggs - he's so down to earth and loyal to his roots - and, of course, a great singer/songwriter.

The life of a "National Treasure"

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

Having just watched Suggs at the Garrick Theatre delivering a monologue and music, I was slightly disappointed to hear word-for-word the same sections within the book. However, it was entertaining and had me listening to it over a short amount of sittings.

What was your reaction to the ending? (No spoilers please!)

Ending? Not sure an autobiography actually ends but how it finished was slightly disappointing. It was as if he had made it to the promised word count and fired it off to his publisher. The clever circular narrative of the live performance involving the singer's search for his dead father and inner-meaning to life lingered longer in the mind than a quick anecdote about being the last band to play at the BBC Television Centre.

Which character as performed by Suggs was your favourite?

Suggs himself. He managed to chart the amazing success of Madness without giving off an air of smug gloating. He came across as genuinely suprised at his achievements. Proud but humble.

Could you see That Close being made into a movie or a TV series? Who would the stars be?

Well it did make the Theatre, but it won't be commissioned as a film.

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Title: Johnny Cash

Author: Robert Hilburn

Narrator: Charles Pittard

Format: Unabridged

Length: 21 hrs and 40 mins

Language: English

Release date: 11-01-13

Publisher: Orion Publishing Group

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 5 votes

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

Publisher's Summary:

People don't just listen to Johnny Cash: they believe in him. But no one has told the Man in Black's full story, until now. In Johnny Cash: The Life, Robert Hilburn conveys the unvarnished truth about a musical icon, whose colourful career stretched from his days at Sun Records with Elvis Presley and Jerry Lee Lewis to his remarkable, brave and deeply moving 'Hurt' video, aged sixty-nine.

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 Cash and his wife June Carter for the final time just months before their deaths in 2003. Hilburn's rich reporting shows the remarkable highs and deep lows that followed and haunted Cash in equal measure. A man of great faith and humbling addiction, Cash aimed for more than another hit for the jukebox; he wanted his music to lift people's spirits.

Drawing upon his personal experience with Cash and a trove of never-before-seen material from the singer's inner circle, Hilburn creates an utterly compelling, deeply 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, whose personal life was far more troubled, and whose musical and lyrical artistry much more profound, than even his most devoted fans ever realised.

Members Reviews:

The unblemished, unflinching truth

First of all, if you've watched 'Walk the Line' (the 2005 Hollywood film of Johnny Cash's life) - that's the fairy story narrative of this man's life.

A generation of people will understand that Johnny Cash's life was basically a story of how he married young, to the wrong woman, Vivian. She resented his music and gave him a hard a time. He hit the drugs to keep going on the road and found the affections of June Carter - who he fell in love with. He divorced Vivian, and June understood him and saved him from his demons, which included drugs and the bitter memories of losing his brother as a child, and his equally bitter relationship with his father.

Ok - park that story there. Not only is it incredibly unfair on Vivian Cash, it's also incredibly indulgent on Johnny Cash. It also paints June as a saintly figure - and she was far from that in the way she went after the married Johnny Cash.

Johnny Cash was a bad man. Make no mistakes about it. He was wild. There were more women in his life than just Vivian and June. The film doesn't really look at his temper, his violence, his drugs, his missed tour dates (at one point he was missing more bookings than he turned up for). Somehow his incredible talent pulled him through both professionally and personally.

You have to read/listen to this book because the full story, the anecdotes, the legends are as incredible as they are true - and Robert Hilburn is unflinching in his determination to tell the fact from the fiction.

Johnny Cash is a great human being. He experienced the hell of surviving all his personal, emotional and psychological wrong doings and he distilled them to become bitter sweet dark dark chocolate sound of his country, rockabilly, folk and pop music.

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Title: Al Capp

Subtitle: A Life to the Contrary

Author: Michael Schumacher, Denis Kitchen

Narrator: Mike Ortego

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 18 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-31-13

Publisher: Audible Studios for Bloomsbury

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 6 votes

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

Publisher's Summary:

More than 30 years have passed since Al Capp's death, and he may no longer be a household name. But at the height of his career, his groundbreaking comic strip, Li'l Abner, reached 90 million readers. The strip ran for 43 years, spawned two movies and a Broadway musical, and originated such expressions as "hogwash" and "double-whammy." Capp himself was a familiar personality on TV and radio; as a satirist, he was frequently compared to Mark Twain. Though Li'l Abner brought millions joy, the man behind the strip was a complicated and often unpleasant person. A childhood accident cost him a leg leading him to art as a means of distinguishing himself. His apprenticeship with Ham Fisher, creator of Joe Palooka, started a 20 year feud that ended in Fisher's suicide.

Capp enjoyed outsized publicity for a cartoonist, but his status abetted sexual misconduct and protected him from the severest repercussions. Late in life, his politics became extremely conservative; he counted Richard Nixon as a friend, and his gift for satire was redirected at targets like John Lennon, Joan Baez, and anti-war protesters on campuses across the country. With unprecedented access to Capp's archives and a wealth of new material, Michael Schumacher and Denis Kitchen have produced a probing biography. Capp's story is one of incredible highs and lows, of popularity and villainy, of success and failure - told here with authority and heart.

Members Reviews:

Very interesting. Needs to be a movie.

What us the connection between artistic genius and malignant narcissism? We may never know, but it makes for fora fascinating bio of cartoonist AL Capp.

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Title: Making Masterpiece

Subtitle: My 25 Years behind the Scenes at Masterpiece and Mystery! on PBS

Author: Rebecca Eaton

Narrator: Meredith Mitchell

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 hrs and 26 mins

Language: English

Release date: 10-29-13

Publisher: Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 13 votes

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

Publisher's Summary:

The Emmy Award-winning producer of PBS's Masterpiece Theatre and Mystery! reveals the secrets to Downton Abbey, Sherlock, and its other hit programs.

For more than 25 years and counting, Rebecca Eatonhas presided over PBS's Masterpiece Theatre, the longest-running weekly prime-time drama series in American history. From the runaway hits Upstairs, Downstairs and The Buccaneers to the hugely popular Inspector Morse, Prime Suspect, and Poirot, Masterpiece Theatre and its sibling series Mystery! have been required viewing for fans of quality drama.

Eaton interviews many of the writers, directors, producers, and other contributors and shares personal anecdotes about her decades-long career. She reveals what went on behind the scenes during such triumphs as Cranfordand the multiple, highly rated programs made from Jane Austen's novels, as well as her aggressive campaign to attract younger viewers via social media and online streaming. Along the way she shares stories about actors and other luminaries such as Alistair Cooke, Maggie Smith, Diana Rigg, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Daniel Radcliffe, whose first television role was as the title character in David Copperfield.

Listeners will also get to know Eaton on a personal level. With a childhood steeped in theater, an affinity for 19th-century novels and culture, and an "accidental apprenticeship" with the BBC, Eaton was practically born to lead the Masterpiece and Mystery! franchises. Making Masterpiece marks the first time the driving force behind the enduring flagship show reveals all.

Critic Reviews:

"Meredith Mitchell gives voice to the woman who has been the executive producer of the iconic 'Masterpiece Theatre' and 'Mystery!' for more than 25 years. Like the storyteller herself, Mitchell's voice offers a warm invitation into the personal and professional...With low, confiding tones that hint at loss and disappointment, she brings added depth to emotionally charged scenes, demonstrating poise with respectful pauses before a transition." (AudioFile)

Members Reviews:

Engaging memoir

This is a combination memoir of Rebecca Eaton and of Masterpiece Theatre. I have long been a fan of Masterpiece theatre and love the theme music. It was fun to learn where and how the theme music came about and how the program began. Eaton weaves an absorbing story of her own life with that of the Masterpiece Theatre. Eaton tells of her early life as the daughter of a famous actress and a father who was a Shakespeare professor.

She tells of her apprenticeship with the BBC living in England and working for WGBH, the Boston affiliate of PBS. She tells about Downton Abbey and all the other famous mini-series presented over the years; she also includes her failures. Eaton tells of the establishment of Mystery and in 2010 obtaining Sherlock. Throughout the book Eaton comes off as a woman who is remarkable and unskeptical for a veteran TV executive; her love of her work comes through.

The book is well written and a delight to read. The book was well organized and the pace was perfect. The book is written in the first person. Eaton has actors and fellow staffers tell their personal anecdotes in the first person.

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Title: Selected Poems by Robert Louis Stevenson With Biography

Author: Robert Louis Stevenson

Narrator: Kristina Fuller Yuen

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 45 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-10-13

Publisher: Zaafirah El-bey

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

Publisher's Summary:

Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson (13 November 1850 - 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

A literary celebrity during his lifetime, Stevenson now ranks among the 30 most translated authors in the world, just below Charles Dickens. He has been greatly admired by many authors, including Jorge Luis Borges, Ernest Hemingway, Rudyard Kipling, Marcel Schwob, Vladimir Nabokov, J. M. Barrie, and G. K. Chesterton, who said of him that he, "seemed to pick the right word up on the point of his pen, like a man playing spillikins."

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Title: After the Fire

Subtitle: A Memoir in Poetry and Prose

Author: J. A. Jance

Narrator: J. A. Jance

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 49 mins

Language: English

Release date: 09-10-13

Publisher: HarperAudio

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes

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

Publisher's Summary:

New York Times best-selling author J. A. Jance's heartrending collection of poetry and essays recounts a dark chapter of her own life, her first marriage to an alcoholic - a powerful look at the emotional cost of addiction and an inspiring story of courage and triumph in the wake of crushing defeat.

Before she found fame as a best-selling mystery author, Judith Jance wrestled with the anguish of being married to an alcoholic. For years she channeled her pain into words, composing the poems in this moving volume, first published in 1984, a year before her debut novel.

In searing and direct language, After the Fire chronicles the collapse of Jance's first marriage under the weight of her husband's addictionand her own unwitting denial and codependence while she struggled to find herself. "I will not be the price of your redemption," she wrote then. "I will not pay my life to ransom yours."

An intimate, deeply personal look into a wrenching time in Jance's life, After the Fire is a portrait of addiction and its insidious effects on lives and love. It illuminates universal truths about unbearable loss and finding the courage to carry on, and offers inspiration and profound insight into the heart and work of a beloved best-selling author.

Members Reviews:

Perfect for understanding what spouses of alcoholics deal with

I have bought 3 copies of this work by J.A.Jance.

I bought two of this edition and one of the earlier editions.

She says it like it is, and readers can feel her pain as she writes about her life and her husband's alcoholism.

I have kept one of each of the editions, and prefer the annotated second edition as it explains what was going on in her life when she wrote each poem.

I have sent other copies to folks I know who are dealing with the same issues.

Love this book!

Wonderful book!! I took it to a book signing and now it's autographed!!! It will be cherished!

lessons in life

After reading all of her books and meeting her in person, in Bisbee it gave me a great insight to the person she is. When I met her she seemed such a sweet happy person. It is hard to believe her life had been so difficult . May the rest of her life be truly wonderful!

Expressive and moving

Judy Jance's poetry is a clear and beautiful written autobiography of her first marriage. I've lived with an alcoholic and she described the experience and her forced growth from it in poetic form. I've enjoyed her books so much and was afraid her poetry would be a let down. I was wrong. Her poetry is every bit as fulfilling as her prose.

I felt like I was hearing J

Well written. I felt like I was hearing J.A. Jance personally speaking.

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Title: Matt Groening: From Spitballs to Springfield (Legends of Animation)

Author: Jeff Lenburg

Narrator: Charlie James

Format: Unabridged

Length: 3 hrs and 15 mins

Language: English

Release date: 08-29-13

Publisher: Jeff Lenburg

Ratings: 4.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

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

Publisher's Summary:

Matt Groening is a cartoonist, animator, and producer best known for creating The Simpsons, television's longest-running primetime animated series. Although it debuted as a series of cartoon shorts for another television show in 1987, The Simpsons launched on its own in 1989, making the dysfunctional family of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa, and Maggie famous almost overnight. At the time, Groening was already a successful cartoonist, whose Life in Hell comic strip appeared in underground newspapers and book collections. The Simpsons became a cultural phenomenon, and Groening's characters soon appeared in a wide range of products and venues.

Groening went on to create the animated science-fiction series Futurama, launched a Simpsons-based publishing company called Bongo Comics, and produced The Simpsons Movie. Matt Groening: From Spitballs to Springfield describes the life and career of one of animation's most successful artists, known for his unique drawing style and quirky sense of humor.

Check out all of the titles in the

series.

Members Reviews:

Needed for a school project --- it worked!

Soooo it was an expensive book, but I needed it for a school project. Nothing too magical inside, but it's a good summary of Matt and his creativity that's led to some great TV shows.

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Title: William Hanna and Joseph Barbera: The Sultans of Saturday Morning (Legends of Animation)

Author: Jeff Lenburg

Narrator: Barry Abrams

Format: Unabridged

Length: 4 hrs and 47 mins

Language: English

Release date: 07-24-13

Publisher: Jeff Lenburg

Ratings: 4 of 5 out of 14 votes

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

Publisher's Summary:

The seven-time Oscar-winning team of William Hanna and Joseph Barbera created or produced some of film and television's most beloved cartoon characters, including Tom and Jerry, the Flintstones, Yogi Bear, Jonny Quest, the Jetsons, and Scooby-Doo

They also pioneered and revolutionized television animation with a less expensive style of animation that allowed them to produce the hundreds of memorable cartoon series still shown today around the globe. Through the 1960s and 1970s, Hanna-Barbera was a top producer of television animation, and the team also produced numerous animated features and television movies. The 50-year partnership between William Hanna and Joseph Barbera resulted in the creation of some of the most memorable and popular characters in 20th-century animation and pop culture.

Check out all of the titles in the

series.

Members Reviews:

The Narrator was a little over the top

...but maybe that's fine because of the subject matter being cartoons. Otherwise an interesting and enlightening story.

Good read, highly recommended

I loved it, it was a good and easy read and very informative. My only complaint would be the narrator, his voice is rather annoying, but you get used to it after a while. He often stresses words out that don't need to be stressed, and when reading off a list (there are mutiple times when they list off shows and/or characters) he can tend to sound confused. He also randomly starts a sentence over, some times cutting the words in half and repeating the sentence. Also, speaking more of the actual writing of the book and not the narration, there are some parts (primarily when speaking of their childhoods) that some stories seem to be randomly thrown together and it doesn't flow very well. Other than those minor flaws, the book is very good and a must read for Hanna-Barbara fans.