Art audiobooks

Andy Borowitz Presents The Funniest American Writers

By: Jennifer Allen, Nora Ephron & Calvin Trillin

Narrated by: Andy Borowitz

Length: 1 hour 30 minutes

Abridged: No

Award-winning comedian and New Yorker humorist Andy Borowitz presents an evening of literary laughter and a look at the new Library of America collection he edited, The Fifty Funniest American Writers—a hilarious collection of American humor writing from Mark Twain and James Thurber to David Sedaris and The Onion.

Borowitz, who has been called... Read more

Work! Consume! Die!

By: Frankie Boyle

Narrated by: Angus King

Length: 8 hours 45 minutes

Abridged: No

Brace yourself, Frankie’s back, and he’s more outspoken and brilliantly inappropriate than ever. There are fears that this year could see the start of a double-dip recession, or worse still a double-dip-with-misery-sprinkles and f**k-where’s-my-job?-sauce. Why not chuckle into the howling void as taloned fingers reach up to... Read more

Small Man in a Book

By: Rob Brydon

Narrated by: Rob Brydon

Length: 8 hours 45 minutes

Abridged: No

Brought to you by Penguin.

Rob Brydon - star of Gavin and Stacey, Steve Coogan's partner in The Trip, and one of Britain's favourite comedians - tells the funny and frank story of his slow ascent to fame and fortune in Small Man in a Book.

A multi-award-winning actor, writer, comedian and presenter known for his warmth, humour and inspired... Read more

Deepest Thanks, Deeper Apologies

By: Stephen Shortridge

Narrated by: Stephen Shortridge

Length: 4 hours 4 minutes

Abridged: No

For all who dare to be honest... Most Christians are content to spend their lives in churches where mystery is denied and doubt is unwanted. Where uncertainty is shunned and honest questions are stuffed into a corner, never to be brought out again. This audio book is for the rest of us. For those who live with distinct doubts . . . but whose... Read more

Shatner Rules

By: William Shatner

Narrated by: William Shatner

Length: 4 hours 26 minutes

Abridged: No

You love William Shatner.

You admire his many and varied talents.

You appreciate his creativity and willingness to take risks.

You want to learn his master negotiation techniques.

You wish you could hang out with him.

Admit it. You want to BE William Shatner.

And now...you can (almost).This collection of rules, illustrated with stories from... Read more

Lost Property: The Complete Series

By: Katie Hims

Narrated by: Alex Tregear, Edna Dore, Full Cast, Gary Beadle...

Length: 2 hours 11 minutes

Abridged: No

This history of relatives lost and found was originally broadcast on 3, 10 and 17 May 2011 in the 'Afternoon Play' slot. The first play, 'The Wrong Label', is set in London in 1941. Alice knows that to stop your children from being evacuated is tantamount to siding with Hitler. In 'The Year My Mother Went Missing', it's 1979, and not the first... Read more

The Bat Man

By: Amelia Bullmore

Narrated by: Bill Nighy, Georgia Groome, Jenny Agutter, Kath...

Length: 44 minutes

Abridged: No

A BBC Radio 4 'Afternoon Play' starring Bill Nighy as widower Christopher, originally broadcast on 20 April 2011.When his wife died three years ago, Christopher fled London for a simpler existence in Cornwall, where he has settled on bat protection as his mission. Colette and her noisy daughters rent the holiday cottage next door and disturb the... Read more

Care

By: Clara Glynn

Narrated by: Anne Downie, Carol Ann Crawford, Colin McCredie...

Length: 43 minutes

Abridged: No

A BBC Radio 4 drama in which a Children's Hearing has to decide if Nicole (13) and Scott (4) should be taken into care or be allowed to return to live with their mother. But is she fit to look after them now? 'Care' was originally broadcast as the 'Afternoon Play' on 8 March 2011. Michelle has been in drug rehab for the last few months, Dad... Read more

Anna Of The Five Towns

By: Arnold Bennett

Narrated by: Charlotte Riley, David Schofield & Full Cast

Length: 1 hour 53 minutes

Abridged: No

A BBC Radio 4 dramatisation of Arnold Bennett's tale of love, tyranny and rebellion, 'Anna of the Five Towns'. Brought up in the repressive tradition of Methodism by her miserly father, Anna Tellwright dreams of independence and freedom. On coming of age she learns that she is to inherit a fortune and realises that she is loved by the... Read more

Ten Lessons In Love

By: Various

Narrated by: Alex Tregear, Daniel Rabin, Femi Oyeniran, Jane...

Length: 43 minutes

Abridged: No

Ten short BBC Radio 4 plays from an eclectic mix of writers, including Josie Long, Nick Warburton and Tim Key, exploring one of the most important human emotions. 'Ten Lessons in Love' was originally broadcast as the 'Afternoon Play' on 25 April 2011.This accumulation of mini-plays encompasses romance, heartbreak and some adult themes; each play... Read more

The Long Goodbye

By: Raymond Chandler

Narrated by: Full Cast & Toby Stephens

Length: 1 hour 27 minutes

Abridged: No

Fast-talking, trouble-seeking private eye Philip Marlowe is a different kind of detective: a moral man in an amoral world. California in the ’40s and ’50s is as beautiful as a ripe fruit and rotten to the core, and Marlowe must struggle to retain his integrity amidst the corruption he encounters daily. In The Long Goodbye, Marlowe forms an... Read more

The Janitor

By: Ed Jones

Narrated by: Catherine Kinsella, Chris Jack, Gerard Fletcher...

Length: 43 minutes

Abridged: No

A morality tale from BBC Radio 4's 'Afternoon Play' slot, about a struggling chef in Salford. 'The Janitor' was originally broadcast on 6 May 2011. Kevin is struggling to keep his new restaurant afloat in posh Salford Quays. But then Jonno turns up. The boy he was a dad to for a couple of years when he was shacked up with his mother. He... Read more

The Year They Invented Sex

By: Caroline Stafford & David Stafford

Narrated by: Clare Corbett

Length: 1 hour 8 minutes

Abridged: No

A BBC Radio 4 drama focusing on three very different women who find their lives transformed by taking part in the 1960 trials of the contraceptive pill. Originally broadcast as the 'Woman's Hour Drama' from 17 – 21 January 2011. It's 1960 in Birmingham and Lella Florence is looking for women to help with trials of the contraceptive pill.... Read more

My First Ladies

By: Nancy Clarke & Christie Matheson

Narrated by: Nancy Clarke

Length: 5 hours 3 minutes

Abridged: No

In My First Ladies, Nancy Clarke reveals the touching, funny, and illuminating story of what it was like to serve under six administrations and to help each first lady find her own personal style when it came to planning flower designs, state dinners, and holiday festivities in the White House. Learn how Nancy gave comfort to Nancy Reagan when... Read more

The Life of Lee

By: Lee Evans

Narrated by: Lee Evans

Length: 10 hours 15 minutes

Abridged: No

Brought to you by Penguin.

Lee Evans is one of the best-loved comedians in the country; a Hollywood star able to sell out arenas in the blink of eye.

But he was not always such a roaring success.

Read unabridged by the man himself, and with the humour (and the voices!) that he brings to the stage, the audiobook edition of The Life of Lee is his... Read more

Drama

By: John Lithgow

Narrated by: John Lithgow

Length: 10 hours 18 minutes

Abridged: No

""A memoir as finely crafted as one of Lithgow’s performances.""
—Steve Martin Emmy Award-winner John Lithgow presents a charming, witty, and revealing memoir about his family, his work, and his life in Drama—an intimate story of insights and inspirational reflections from one of America’s most beloved actors. Lithgow pays tribute to his father,... Read more

Belieber!

By: Cathleen Falsani

Narrated by: Cathleen Falsani

Length: 5 hours 20 minutes

Abridged: No

Are you a Belieber? Justin Bieber’s meteoric rise from a regular kid in small-town Canada to “the most famous teenager on the planet” has captivated the imagination of a generation of young devotees known as “Beliebers.” With record-setting album sales, more than 11 million followers on Twitter and the highest-grossing concert film of all time,... Read more

Life Is Not a Stage

By: Florence Henderson

Narrated by: Florence Henderson

Length: 8 hours 46 minutes

Abridged: No

For millions of people around the world, Carol Brady is synonymous with motherhood, but growing up as the youngest of ten children in rural Indiana in the aftermath of the Great Depression, Florence Henderson lived a life quite different from that of the quintessential TV mom she later played on television.
Florence's father was a dirt-poor ... Read more

Billy Connolly's Route 66

By: Billy Connolly

Narrated by: James McPherson

Length: 8 hours 44 minutes

Abridged: No

Follow much-loved Scottish comedian and bestselling author Billy Connolly across Route 66, on this unforgettable journey filled with music, modern history and hilarious stories.

Billy Connolly first dreamed of taking a trip on the legendary Route 66 when he heard Chuck Berry belting out one of the greatest rock 'n' roll records of all time - and... Read more

Pygmalion (Classic Radio Theatre)

By: Bernard Shaw

Narrated by: Full Cast, Imelda Staunton & Simon Cadell

Length: 1 hour 26 minutes

Abridged: No

When phonetics tutor and linguist Henry Higgins meets Cockney flower girl Eliza Doolittle, he makes a bet with his friend Colonel Pickering that he can teach her to speak so well that she will be able to pass herself off as a Duchess at a society ball. Eliza agrees, seduced by promises of chocolates and taxi rides - but her transformation from... Read more

The Blessed Lens

By: Joseph Luzzi

Narrated by: Joseph Luzzi

Length: 7 hours 50 minutes

Abridged: No

Professor Joseph Luzzi, the director of Italian studies at Bard College and an award-winning author, offers a comprehensive look at Italian cinema from its inception in 1895 through its major periods and influences. Having altered the landscape of Italian art and society, as well as inspiring filmmakers the world over, Italian cinema proves a... Read more

The Capture Of Cerberus

By: Agatha Christie

Narrated by: David Suchet

Length: 1 hour 22 minutes

Abridged: No

Two recently-rediscovered Hercule Poirot short stories byAgatha Christie, read by David Suchet.In 2004, a remarkable archive was unearthed at Agatha Christie’s family home, Greenway – 73 of her private notebooks, filled with pencilled jottings and ideas. Hidden within this literary treasure trove were two rare, never-before-published short... Read more

Poetry: The Unfolding of What Is Hidden

By: Jane Hirshfield

Narrated by: Justine Willis Toms

Length: 57 minutes

Abridged: No

Jane Hirshfield points out that many people turn to poetry in times of great life transitions. She says, “You know when people fall in love, or when they lose love, or lose someone they loved, that is when they want a poem. When they get married, they want a poem. These great transitions are larger than the normal, ordinary consciousness. And... Read more

The Good, The Bad and The Multiplex

By: Mark Kermode

Narrated by: Mark Kermode

Length: 7 hours 57 minutes

Abridged: No

In It's Only a Movie, the incomparable Mark Kermode showed us the weird world of a film critic's life lived in widescreen. Now, in The Good, The Bad and The Multiplex, he takes us into the belly of the beast to ask: 'What's wrong with modern movies?'

If blockbusters make money no matter how bad they are, then why not make a good one for a... Read more