Essays audiobooks

Alphabet Juice - Abridged

By: Roy Blount, Jr., Jr.

Narrated by: Roy Blount, Jr., Jr.

Length: 5 hours 24 minutes

Abridged: Yes

Ali G: How many words does you know?

Noam Chomsky: Normally, humans, by maturity, have tens of thousands of them.

Ali G: What is some of 'em?
— Youtube.com


After forty years of making a living using words in every medium, print or electronic, except greeting cards, Roy Blount Jr. still can't get over his ABCs. In Alphabet Juice, he celebrates the... Read more

From Baghdad to America

By: Jay Kopelman

Narrated by: Christopher Lane

Length: 3 hours 24 minutes

Abridged: No

Lieutenant Colonel Jay Kopelman won the hearts of readers with his moving story of adopting an abandoned puppy named Lava in a hellish corner of Iraq. For this Marine and his comrades, the puppy served as an important emotional touchstone in a grim and seemingly endless war.



Kopelman now writes about what it's like to be home. He credits his... Read more

In Morocco

By: Edith Wharton

Narrated by: Anna Fields

Length: 4 hours 53 minutes

Abridged: No

"To step on board a steamer in a Spanish port, and three hours later to land in a country without a guidebook, is a sensation to rouse the hunger of the most replete sightseer. The sensation is attainable by any one who will take the trouble to row out into the harbor of Algeciras and scramble onto a little black boat headed across the... Read more

Sparring with Charlie

By: Christopher Hunt

Narrated by: Grover Gardner

Length: 8 hours 41 minutes

Abridged: No

When Christopher Hunt set off in search of Vietnam's notorious Ho Chi Minh Trail, he hardly expected to end up on a rickety, Russian-made motorcycle navigating 5,000 kilometers of paths rarely traveled by tourists and on roads missing from maps.Hunt left the United States expecting to explore the 1,700-kilometer highway that was once the supply... Read more

This I Believe II

By: Jay Allison & Dan Gediman

Narrated by: Full Cast

Length: 4 hours 46 minutes

Abridged: No

A new collection of inspiring personal philosophies from another noteworthy group of people

This second collection of This I Believe essays gathers seventy-five essayists—ranging from famous to previously unknown—completing the thought that begins the book's title. With contributors who run the gamut from cellist Yo-Yo Ma to ordinary folks like a... Read more

Fresh Air Fiend

By: Paul Theroux

Narrated by: Norman Dietz

Length: 22 hours 48 minutes

Abridged: No

Internationally acclaimed author Paul Theroux adds Fresh Air Fiend, named a New York Times Notable Book, to his highly praised travel writings. A collection of essays, this intimate and fascinating book explores five continents and many cultures, while delving deep into the mind of Theroux. From one adventure to the next, listeners will be... Read more

Don't Let My Mama Read This

By: Hadjii

Narrated by: Beresford Bennett

Length: 5 hours 52 minutes

Abridged: No

Writer, director, and starring actor in Sundance Grand Jury Prize nominee Somebodies, Hadjii remembers the trials and tribulations of youth in Don't Let My Mama Read This. From the havoc that a boy's crusty underwear can wreak on a family's reputation to the first time getting caught coming home drunk, Hadjii covers all the aspects of a... Read more

Sunrise with Seamonsters, Part One

By: Paul Theroux

Narrated by: Norman Dietz

Length: 8 hours 21 minutes

Abridged: No

Quintessential travel articles and thoughtful essays by the observant, witty and skeptical travel writer and novelist. Part One: 1964-1978 includes: Winter in Africa; Leper Colony; V.S. Naipaul; Memories of Old Afghanistan; The Night Ferry to Paris; and A Circuit of Corsica Read more

Best of News of the Weird - Abridged

By: Chuck Shepherd, John J. Kohut & Roland Sweet

Narrated by: Various

Length: 1 hour 28 minutes

Abridged: Yes

For news junkies and fans of the bizarre-but-true, here is an outrageous collection of all-real, all-weird news stories culled from the nation's mainstream newspapers! Read more

The Men Commandments - Abridged

By: Christian O’Connell

Narrated by: Christian O’Connell

Length: 3 hours 10 minutes

Abridged: Yes

'Women have Bridget Jones. Men have no one. Until now.' Ricky Gervais In the best-selling tradition of Clarkson and Moyles, this is TV and Radio personality Christian O’Connell’s take on all things men. For ten years Christian has dispensed his wisdom and advice to millions of lucky radio listeners on every topic... Read more

Bob Schieffer's America

By: Bob Schieffer

Narrated by: Bob Schieffer

Length: 6 hours 22 minutes

Abridged: No

Unbridged CDs * 6 CDs, 7 hours

Wise, rueful, candid, graceful commentaries from one of journalism’s most stylish and respected writers. Read more

The Dog Says How

By: Kevin Kling

Narrated by: Kevin Kling

Length: 3 hours 38 minutes

Abridged: No

A popular storyteller and National Public Radio commentator weaves scenes of childhood antics and adult absurdities into tales that provoke laughter—and elicit tears.

Kevin Kling is a master storyteller, as anyone knows who has seen him perform or heard him on National Public Radio's All Things Considered. Drawing on his memories—an eventful... Read more

Autumnal Tints

By: Henry David Thoreau

Narrated by: Brett Barry

Length: 1 hour 11 minutes

Abridged: No

From the purple grasses of August, to the yellow elms of October, to the scarlet oak leaves of November, Henry David Thoreau casts his eye on the brilliant colors of autumn and guides us on a journey through the season’s bounty. In this classic essay, first published in 1862, Thoreau delights in fall’s foliage and reveals both a practical and... Read more

Belle Weather

By: Celia Rivenbark

Narrated by: Celia Rivenbark

Length: 4 hours 49 minutes

Abridged: No

No matter what side of the Mason-Dixon line you live on, you will find Celia Rivenbark's hilarious observations about Southern living as easy as a tall drink of sweet tea on a hundred degree day. In this latest collection of laugh-out-loud essays, you'll experience:
*The joys of Remodeling Tara
*Harry Potter Bitch-slaps Nancy Drew
*Britney's To Do... Read more

Die rätselhaftesten Todesfälle - Abridged

By: Erik Berg

Narrated by: Detlef Bierstedt & Anna Dramski

Length: 2 hours 43 minutes

Abridged: Yes

Wer gab Mozart Gift? War Jack the Ripper ein Deutscher? Wurde John F. Kennedy von Lee Harvey Oswald erschossen? Wer wollte, dass Marilyn Monroe starb? War Lady Dianas Tod wirklich nur ein Unfall? Von König Ludwig II. über Elvis Presley, Napoleon Bonaparte bis Abraham Lincoln - die Geschichte ist voll ungeklärter Tode, die die Menschen immer... Read more

Much Depends on Dinner

By: Margaret Visser

Narrated by: Suzanne Toren

Length: 14 hours 56 minutes

Abridged: No

Best-selling author Margaret Visser holds a doctorate in classics and appears frequently on television and radio shows. Much Depends on Dinner was chosen as one of the best books of the year by The New York Times Book Review and Publisher's Weekly. As the subtitle suggests, here she uses the framework of a simple meal to show us how our food has... Read more

A Few Seconds of Panic

By: Stefan Fatsis

Narrated by: Stefan Fatsis

Length: 11 hours 37 minutes

Abridged: No

In Word Freak, Stefan Fatsis infiltrated the insular world of competitive Scrabble players, ultimately achieving expert status (comparable to a grandmaster ranking in chess). Now he infiltrates a strikingly different subculture—pro football. After more than a year spent working out with a strength coach and polishing his craft with a gurulike... Read more

We're Just Like You, Only Prettier

By: Celia Rivenbark

Narrated by: Cynthia Darlow

Length: 6 hours 28 minutes

Abridged: No

Celia Rivenbark's hilarious observations of life below the Mason-Dixon Line have made her a Southeast Booksellers Association best-selling author. In this collection of essays she shows how to be a true Southerner. For starters, don't forget that Chuck E. Cheese's is a place where a kid can be a kid- while mommie gets hammered on watered-down... Read more

Lost on Planet China

By: J. Maarten Troost

Narrated by: Simon Vance

Length: 10 hours 48 minutes

Abridged: No

Troost charmed listeners with his humorous tales of wandering the remote islands of the South Pacific in The Sex Lives of Cannibals and Getting Stoned with Savages. When the travel bug bit again, he took on the world’s most populous and intriguing nation.As Troost relates his gonzo adventure—dodging deadly drivers in Shanghai, eating yak in... Read more

You Can Observe a Lot by Watching

By: Yogi Berra & Dave Kaplan

Narrated by: Dale Berra

Length: 5 hours

Abridged: No

What does it take to be a real team player, especially in a society that glorifies selfishness and a corporate culture that often uses "team player" as a buzzword but rewards only the showboaters and prima donnas?  Well, You Can Observe a Lot by Watching.  In this happy and hilarious guide to teamwork, sportsmanship, and winning, Yogi Berra... Read more

Black Wave

By: John Silverwood & Jean Silverwood

Narrated by: Carrington MacDuffie & Joe Barrett

Length: 7 hours 29 minutes

Abridged: No

When John and Jean Silverwood, both experienced sailors, decided to give their four children a taste of life on the high seas, they hoped the trip would offer important learning experiences, not only about the natural world but about the beauty of human life stripped down to its essence, far from civilization. But the adventure that awaited them... Read more

When You Are Engulfed in Flames

By: David Sedaris

Narrated by: David Sedaris

Length: 9 hours 2 minutes

Abridged: No

Once again, David Sedaris brings together a collection of essays so uproariously funny and profoundly moving that his legions of fans will fall for him once more. He tests the limits of love when Hugh lances a boil from his backside, and pushes the boundaries of laziness when, finding the water shut off in his house in Normandy, he looks to the... Read more

Me of Little Faith

By: Lewis Black

Narrated by: Lewis Black

Length: 5 hours 48 minutes

Abridged: No

Abridged CDs * 5 CDs, 6 hours

From the hilariously mad-as-hell Daily Show regular and New York Times– bestselling author comes a ferociously funny exploration of religion and faith. Read more

Walden

By: Henry David Thoreau

Narrated by: Mel Foster

Length: 11 hours 42 minutes

Abridged: No

Walden is the classic account of two years spent by Henry David Thoreau living at Walden Pond near Concord, Massachusetts. The story is detailed in its accounts of Thoreau's day-to-day activities, observations, and undertakings to survive out in the wilderness for two years. Thoreau's journal is an exquisite account of a man seeking a more... Read more