Essays audiobooks

The Fabric of the Future

By: MJ Ryan, Woodeene Koenig-Bricker, Marianne Will...

Narrated by: Gayle Madeline Randall, Andrea Thompson, Tracy ...

Length: 5 hours 32 minutes

Abridged: No

Provocative and enlightening essays about transforming our future by such visionaries as Shakti Gawain, Gloria Steinem, Angeles Arrien, Sylvia Boorstein, Joan Borysenko, Z Budapest, Flor Fernandez, Barbara Marx Hubbard, Luisah Teish, Rama Vernon, and Marianne Williamson.Where do we go from here, and in practical terms, what must we do to get... Read more

Please Don’t Eat the Daisies

By: Jean Kerr

Narrated by: Marni Webb

Length: 2 hours 23 minutes

Abridged: No

This collection of essays observes the perils of motherhood, wifehood, selfhood, and other assorted challenges. Since its publication in 1957, it has sold millions of copies and has been adapted into a Broadway play, a film, a TV series, and now an audiobook. Jean Kerr’s parodies of the clichéd 1950s prescription for glamorous or maternal... Read more

The Power of Character - Abridged

By: Michael Josephson, Wes Hanson, Warren Bennis, S...

Narrated by: David Ackroyd

Length: 14 minutes

Abridged: Yes

There is no higher praise we can give people than to say they have good character. But what does this mean, really? What makes this quality so essential to achieving personal success and fulfillment? More importantly, how can we build our own character and live more satisfying lives? Reflecting society's diversity, the contributors to this... Read more

Mother Father Uncle Aunt

By: Garrison Keillor

Length: 3 hours 9 minutes

Abridged: No

"...where the women are strong, the men are good-looking, and all the children are above average." There's a reason all those children in Lake Wobegon are above average. It might be the clean prairie air. It might be the wholesome wheat that's grown by the Norwegian bachelor farmers. And it just might be their strong, good-looking... Read more

Wait Till Next Year - Abridged

By: Doris Kearns Goodwin

Narrated by: Doris Kearns Goodwin

Length: 2 hours 52 minutes

Abridged: Yes

By the award-winning author of Team of Rivals and The Bully Pulpit, Wait Till Next Year is Doris Kearns Goodwin’s touching memoir of growing up in love with her family and baseball.

Set in the suburbs of New York in the 1950s, Wait Till Next Year re-creates the postwar era, when the corner store was a place to share stories and neighborhoods were... Read more

My Most Unforgettable Character

By: Reader's Digest

Narrated by: Mason Adams

Length: 1 hour 37 minutes

Abridged: No

From Reader's Digest magazine's popular series, “The Most Unforgettable Character I Ever Met” comes a collection of stories about people who made a big impact on the lives of these contributors. Each individual shares something in common: They struck home in the memory of the storyteller. These figures enriched lives through humor, wisdom,... Read more

Thoreau & Emerson

By: Henry David Thoreau & Ralph Waldo Emerson

Narrated by: Russ Barnett

Length: 2 hours 12 minutes

Abridged: No

The timeless wisdom of two of America's most celebrated philosophers is captured in this anthology containing selections from Thoreau's Walden and On the Duty of Civil Disobedience and Emerson's Introduction to Thoreau, Self-Reliance, Nature, The American Scholar, Education, and Politics. The distinguished voice of Russ Barnett brings the great... Read more

Charles Kuralt's Summer - Abridged

By: Charles Kuralt

Narrated by: Charles Kuralt

Length: 1 hour 10 minutes

Abridged: Yes

After almost four decades of life on the road, Charles Kuralt has visited every corner of the country, sharing with us his fascinating encounters with the people he's met along the way. Now in Charles Kuralt's Summer, he douses the heat with breezy tales of our most extraordinary summer celebrations.

Drawing on pieces from his years at CBS News... Read more

Apocalypse Wow - Abridged

By: James Finn Garner

Narrated by: James Finn Garner

Length: 1 hour 25 minutes

Abridged: Yes

As the year 2000 bears down, the best-selling author of Politically Correct Bedtime Stories, James Finn Garner, confronts a series of monumental questions: Will we remember to order new checks from the bank? Did our invitation to the Kennedy New Year's party get lost in the mail again? Are we all poised on the brink of worldwide enlightenment or... Read more

Roger Kahn: Memories of Summer

By: PBS NewsHour

Narrated by: PBS NewsHour

Length: 8 minutes

Abridged: No

Interview between David Gergen and Roger Kahn, author of the book Memories of Summer: When Baseball Was an Art and Writing About It a Game. Read more

Charles Kuralt's Spring - Abridged

By: Charles Kuralt

Narrated by: Charles Kuralt

Length: 1 hour 6 minutes

Abridged: Yes

GRAMMY AWARD-WINNER FOR BEST SPOKEN WORD ALBUM!

Throughout his almost four decades of life on the road, Charles Kuralt has introduced us to people and places that have warmed our hearts. Now in Charles Kuralt's Spring, he disposes with winter's chill by recounting some of the most miraculous rites of spring he has witnessed over the years.

... Read more

The Naturalists

By: Diane Ackerman, Gerald Lordhal, Sharon Matola, ...

Narrated by: Diane Ackerman

Length: 1 hour 13 minutes

Abridged: No

This collection of nine performance pieces reflects the inspirational words of Margaret Mead, who said, "Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful individuals can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has." Together, these performances memorialize the diversity, beauty, and fragility of our planet. Poet Terry Tempest... Read more

Exploded

By: Tom Bodett

Narrated by: Tom Bodett

Length: 1 hour 55 minutes

Abridged: No

There are certain defining events that occur to people— the sort of things we use as markers in the timetables of our lives: Birth and Deaths. Marriages and Divorces. Windfalls and Calamities. For Tom Bodett, it was the day he got electrocuted. On May 27, 1975, about seven o'clock in the morning, Tom Bodett was “ ... Read more

Political Incorrections - Abridged

By: Bill Maher

Narrated by: Bill Maher

Length: 1 hour 20 minutes

Abridged: Yes

The Best Opening Monologues from Politically Incorrect starring Bill Maher
Featuring an introduction by Penn Jillette
For everyone who's had their fill of politicians, TV trials and the daily events seen on the evening news, Simon & Schuster Audio offers some relief with POLITICAL INCORRECTIONS-a collection of the funniest opening monologues... Read more

Charles Kuralt's Christmas - Abridged

By: Charles Kuralt

Narrated by: Charles Kuralt

Length: 54 minutes

Abridged: Yes

Throughout his almost four decades of life on the road, Charles Kuralt has introduced us to people and places that have warmed our hearts. Now in Charles Kuralt's Christmas, he retraces his most memorable Christmas sojourns to remind us of the many marvelous ways that we celebrate this special holiday.

Combining ageless pieces from his years at... Read more

Readers Digest's Humor in Uniform

By: Reader's Digest

Narrated by: Jamie Farr

Length: 1 hour 9 minutes

Abridged: No

From basic training to World War II to the Gulf War, America's veterans share their funniest stories in this collection of Reader's Digest's popular "Humor in Uniform" column. Beneath the horror of war lies a rich tradition of comedy and satire, and these anecdotes have entertained readers for decades. Stars of the TV and movie versions of... Read more

The Oregon Trail - Abridged

By: Francis Parkman

Narrated by: Frank Muller

Length: 6 hours 6 minutes

Abridged: Yes

Francis Parkman's journal—written more than 150 years ago in 1846—provides an eye-witness account of one of the grandest adventures in American history. At age twenty-three, the Harvard-educated Bostonian traveled the Rocky Mountains, living among the Dakota Sioux. In his journal, he captured the color, spirit, and perspective of his era, as... Read more

Charles Kuralt's America - Abridged

By: Charles Kuralt

Narrated by: Charles Kuralt

Length: 4 hours 38 minutes

Abridged: Yes

Grammy Award Nominee for Best Spoken Word Album!

All New Journeys From The New York Times Bestselling Author Of A Life On The Road
I keep thinking I will find something wonderful just around the bend.
Ever since October 1967, when he set off in a battered motor home to explore America and talk to its people, Charles Kuralt has been one of our... Read more

Once Upon A More Enlightened Time - Abridged

By: James Finn Garner

Narrated by: James Finn Garner

Length: 1 hour 3 minutes

Abridged: Yes

The hilarious sequel to the #1 phenomenon Politically Correct Bedtime Stories.
"If we can cleanse these stories and put an end to the lies our children are spoon-fed while being spoon-fed...the world may finally become a decent place for persunkind and other, equally important species." -- James Finn Garner
Spurred by the overwhelming success of... Read more

Such, Such Were the Joys and Other Essays

By: George Orwell

Narrated by: Frederick Davidson

Length: 12 hours 23 minutes

Abridged: No

Viewed as too libelous to print in England until 1968, the title essay in this collection reveals the abuse Orwell experienced as a child at an expensive and snobbish boarding school and offers insights into his lifelong concern for the oppressed."Why I Write" describes Orwell's sense of political purpose, and the classic essay "Politics and the... Read more

The Voyage of the Beagle

By: Charles Darwin

Narrated by: David Case

Length: TBA

Abridged: No

In 1831, Charles Darwin embarked on an expedition that, in his own words, determined my whole career. The Voyage of the Beagle chronicles his five-year journey around the world and especially the coastal waters of South America as a naturalist on the H.M.S. Beagle. While traveling through these unexplored countries collecting specimens, Darwin... Read more

Among the Mushrooms

By: Bailey White

Narrated by: Bailey White

Length: 57 minutes

Abridged: No

In this collection of stories about life and living from Bailey White— the former first-grade teacher, avid gardener, and frequent host of NPR's All Things Considered— recalls anecdotes about her rural upbringing, her eccentric mother, and other tales tinted with her southern charm. In addition to “ Among the... Read more

Sweet and Sour - Abridged

By: Andy Rooney

Narrated by: Andy Rooney

Length: 2 hours 50 minutes

Abridged: Yes

For more than thirty years, Andy Rooney had the last word on the most-watched television program in history. "A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney"— a segment on 60 Minutes— aired from 1978 to 2011. A man of wit, gruffness, and common sense, Rooney spoke candidly about what drove him— and us— crazy, what... Read more

Loving Kindness and Active Peace

By: Dalai Lama & H.E. Tai Situpa Rinpoche

Narrated by: Michael Toms

Length: 58 minutes

Abridged: No

Recipient of the 1989 Nobel Prize for Peace, the Dalai Lama has emerged as one of the great spiritual figures of this century. Here, in an exclusive interview with Michael Toms, he speaks of his positive impressions of Costa Rica, the purpose of religion, and his memorable meeting with Thomas Merton. Read more