Essays audiobooks

American Rhapsody

By: Claudia Roth Pierpont

Narrated by: Pilar Witherspoon

Length: 12 hours 16 minutes

Abridged: No

Ranging from the shattered gentility of Edith Wharton's heroines to racial confrontation in the songs of Nina Simone, American Rhapsody presents a kaleidoscopic story of the creation of a culture. Here is a series of deeply involving portraits of American artists and innovators who have helped to shape the country in the modern age. Claudia Roth... Read more

Here Is New York

By: E. B. White

Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner

Length: 1 hour 1 minute

Abridged: No

Perceptive, funny, and nostalgic, E. B. White’s stroll around Manhattan remains the quintessential love letter to the city, written by one of America’s foremost literary figures. The New York Times named Here Is New York one of the ten best books ever written about the metropolis, and the New Yorker called it “the wittiest essay, and one of the... Read more

Vanity Fair: Summer 2016 Issue - Abridged

By: Vanity Fair

Narrated by: various narrators

Length: 3 hours 57 minutes

Abridged: Yes

It’s a royal rendezvous for Vanity Fair’s Summer issue! Ahead of the Queen’s 90th birthday, read three intimate reminiscences of her inner majesty, a chronicle of Prince Charlotte’s first year, and about her royal highnesses’ most loyal subjects—her corgis.Plus: Inside Twitter’s $10 billion identity crisisThe mystery of the Ivy League’s Bernie... Read more

Tiger Heart

By: Katrell Christie

Narrated by: Rebecca Roberts

Length: 4 hours 24 minutes

Abridged: No

Katrell Christie was a thirty-something artist turned roller-derby rebel who opened a tea shop in Atlanta. Barely two years later, her life would make a drastic change--and so would the lives of a group of girls half a world away.

"I chose the name of my tea shop--Dr. Bombay's Underwater Tea Party--because it sounded whimsical. India wasn't part... Read more

Old Age

By: Michael Kinsley

Narrated by: Danny Campbell

Length: 3 hours 38 minutes

Abridged: No

Vanity Fair columnist Michael Kinsley escorts his fellow Boomers through the door marked "Exit."

The notorious baby boomers—the largest age cohort in history—are approaching the end and starting to plan their final moves in the game of life. Now they are asking: What was that all about? Was it about acquiring things or changing the world? Was it... Read more

Out of My League

By: George Plimpton

Narrated by: Robert Fass

Length: 4 hours 34 minutes

Abridged: No

This baseball classic that Ernest Hemingway called "beautifully observed and incredibly conceived" includes a foreword from Jane Leavy and never-before-seen content from the Plimpton archives.

The first of Plimpton's remarkable forays into participatory journalism, Out of My League chronicles with wit, charm, and grace what happens when a... Read more

The Bogey Man

By: George Plimpton

Narrated by: Jeff Bottoms

Length: 9 hours 23 minutes

Abridged: No

George Plimpton chronicles his month spent on the PGA tour in The Bogey Man, repackaged and including a foreword by Rick Reilly and never-before-seen content from the Plimpton Archives.

What happens when a weekend athlete -- of average skill at best -- joins the professional golf circuit? George Plimpton, one of the finest participatory sports... Read more

Open Net

By: George Plimpton

Narrated by: Marc Vietor

Length: 7 hours 17 minutes

Abridged: No

George Plimpton takes to the ice with the Boston Bruins in this memorable portrait of the rough-and-tumble world of professional hockey, repackaged and featuring a foreword from Denis Leary and never-before-seen content from the Plimpton Archives.

In Open Net, George Plimpton takes to the ice as goalie for his beloved Boston Bruins. After... Read more

Mad Ducks and Bears

By: George Plimpton

Narrated by: L. J. Ganser

Length: 9 hours

Abridged: No

George Plimpton's follow-up to Paper Lion, one of his personal favorites among his classic books -- repackaged and including a foreword from Steve Almond and never-before-seen content from the Plimpton archives.

In Mad Ducks and Bears, George Plimpton's engaging companion to Paper Lion, Plimpton focuses on two of the most entertaining and... Read more

Shadow Box

By: George Plimpton

Narrated by: Jeff Bottoms

Length: 13 hours 1 minute

Abridged: No

George Plimpton makes his riskiest foray into participatory journalism -- stepping into the ring against a champion boxer -- in Shadow Box, repackaged and including never-before-seen content from the Plimpton archives.

Stepping into the ring against light-heavyweight champion Archie Moore, George Plimpton pauses to wonder what ever induced him... Read more

One for the Record

By: George Plimpton

Narrated by: Rick Adamson

Length: 3 hours 49 minutes

Abridged: No

The inside story of Hank Aaron's chase for the home run record, repackaged and with a foreword by Bob Costas and new material from the Plimpton Archives.

In One For the Record, George Plimpton recounts Hank Aaron's thrilling race to become the new home run champion. Amidst media frenzy and death threats, Aaron sought to beat Babe Ruth's record.... Read more

Far and Away

By: Andrew Solomon

Narrated by: Andrew Solomon

Length: 22 hours 11 minutes

Abridged: No

From the winner of the National Book Award and the National Books Critics’ Circle Award—and one of the most original thinkers of our time—“Andrew Solomon’s magisterial Far and Away collects a quarter-century of soul-shaking essays” (Vanity Fair).

Far and Away chronicles Andrew Solomon’s writings about places undergoing seismic shifts—political,... Read more

Approval Junkie

By: Faith Salie

Narrated by: Faith Salie

Length: 7 hours 14 minutes

Abridged: No

From comedian and journalist Faith Salie, of NPR's Wait Wait…Don't Tell Me! and CBS News Sunday Morning, a collection of daring, funny essays chronicling the author's adventures during her lifelong quest for approval
 
Faith Salie has done it all in the name of validation. Whether she’s trying to impress her parents with a perfect GPA, undergoing... Read more

Your Song Changed My Life

By: Bob Boilen

Narrated by: Bob Boilen

Length: 8 hours 31 minutes

Abridged: No

From the beloved host and creator of NPR’s All Songs Considered and Tiny Desk Concerts comes an essential oral history of modern music, told in the voices of iconic and up-and-coming musicians, including Dave Grohl, Jimmy Page, Michael Stipe, Carrie Brownstein, Smokey Robinson, and Jeff Tweedy, among others—published in association with NPR... Read more

CRUSH

By: Cathy Alter & Dave Singleton

Narrated by: Kaleo Griffith & Lynde Houck

Length: 8 hours 18 minutes

Abridged: No

A star-studded collection of essays from acclaimed and bestselling authors and celebrities that illuminates the lasting power of desire and longing, and celebrates our initiation into the euphoria, pain, and mystery that is our first celebrity crush.You never forget your first crush . . .CRUSH brings together stories of heartbreak, humiliation,... Read more

Vanity Fair: May 2016 Issue - Abridged

By: Vanity Fair

Narrated by: various narrators

Length: 4 hours 17 minutes

Abridged: Yes

Special Sisters Issue with America's kid sister, Amy Schumer! She's smart, funny, and loyal—so why is she such a lightning rod? Plus: Love stories (and even some hate stories) from high-profile sisters The intimate bond between Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret The rivalry between Jackie O and Lee Radziwill Plus: Olivia De Havilland,... Read more

Vanity Fair: January–March 2016 Issue - Abridged

By: Vanity Fair

Narrated by: various narrators

Length: 19 hours 38 minutes

Abridged: Yes

Vanity Fair is a cultural filter, sparking the global conversation about the people and ideas that matter most. With a dedication to journalistic excellence and powerful storytelling, Vanity Fair is the first choice—often the only choice—for the world’s most influential and important audience. From print to social media, the big screen to the... Read more

Ist Shakespeare tot?

By: Mark Twain

Narrated by: Leander Haußmann

Length: 1 hour 45 minutes

Abridged: No

Mark Twain fragt: War William Shakespeare wirklich der Dichter, für den wir ihn halten? Ein Dichter ohne Bücher? Ein Autor, der nicht einen Brief schrieb? Ein gefeierter Dramatiker und Schauspieler, an den sich kurz nach seinem Tod schon niemand mehr erinnert? Das Leben eines gewissen William Shakespeare aus dem englischen Provinzort Stratford... Read more

Billy Connolly's Tracks Across America

By: Billy Connolly

Narrated by: David Monteath

Length: 6 hours 21 minutes

Abridged: No

An epic trip across America with much-loved national treasure and comedy legend, Billy Connolly

Billy Connolly has spent much of his life in the United States, where he now lives. It's a country he knows and loves a great deal, but even someone as well-travelled as Billy can always discover new things about such a vast nation. So he's off on the... Read more

Manifeste romantique. Préface à Cromwell

By: Victor Hugo

Narrated by: Pierre-François Garel

Length: TBA

Abridged: No

Victor Hugo publie en 1827 sa pièce Cromwell qu'il présente comme le premier drame romantique. S'inspirant de l'art théâtral de Shakespaere, il propose une démarche nouvelle débarrassée des conventions passéistes de la tragédie, dont principalement celle de l'unité de temps, de lieu et d'action. Le drame raconte une histoire réelle, les héros... Read more

So Sad Today

By: Melissa Broder

Narrated by: Melissa Broder

Length: 5 hours 5 minutes

Abridged: No

From acclaimed poet and creator of the popular twitter account @SoSadToday comes the darkly funny and brutally honest collection of essays that Roxane Gay called "sad and uncomfortable and their own kind of gorgeous."

Melissa Broder always struggled with anxiety. In the fall of 2012, she went through a harrowing cycle of panic attacks and dread... Read more

Ten Prayers That Changed the World

By: Jean-Pierre Isbouts

Narrated by: Adam Verner

Length: 7 hours 28 minutes

Abridged: No

From time immemorial, prayer has provided comfort in our darkest hours, stirred us to action beyond what we thought possible, and shown us the way through seemingly insurmountable challenges. In this engaging tour of world history, author and historian Jean-Pierre Isbouts takes us on an inspiring tour of ten prayers that played a pivotal role in... Read more

The Breaks of the Game

By: David Halberstam

Narrated by: Brian Troxell

Length: 17 hours 31 minutes

Abridged: No

A New York Times bestseller, David Halberstam's The Breaks of the Game focuses on one grim season (1979-80) in the life of the Bill Walton-led Portland Trail Blazers, a team that only three years before had been NBA champions.
More than six years after his death David Halberstam remains one of this country's most respected journalists and revered... Read more

Vanity Fair: April 2016 Issue - Abridged

By: Vanity Fair

Narrated by: various narrators

Length: 4 hours 30 minutes

Abridged: Yes

Becoming Meryl Streep: how personal tragedy and offscreen battles fueled the multiple Academy Award winner’s breakthrough performancePlus:On the road with the Rolling StonesAl Sharpton on the election and the controversies he can’t shakeSumner Redstone’s last chapterThe F. Scott Fitzgerald of CartooningPlus: Titus Burgess, Elizabeth Barlow... Read more